MORE tourists are being banned from travelling to Bali due to the condition of their passport.
Australian football player Sam Kerr, 26, was prevented from boarding her Jetstar flight after the airline deemed it was too damaged to fly with – despite having minimal wear and tear.
5
Sam, who is the highest ever paid female Australian football player, was meant to be flying from Australia to Bali with the budget airline.
However, she wasn’t allowed to travel after they claimed her passport was damaged.
The football player wrote on Twitter: “What a joke. @JetstarAirways won’t let me travel due to a damaged passport.”
She then shared images of the passport, which shows just minimal marks and tears on the pages due to standard wear and tear.
5
5
New rules for travellers heading to Bali were introduced earlier this year, meaning much stricter regulations on the condition of the passport.
Others on social media could hardly believe the damage which meant Sam couldn’t fly.
One woman wrote: “Most people’s would look worse than that.”
Another person added: “Wtf, they should produce better quality passports if they consider that damage.”
One man also said: “I’ve had a far more damaged passport and been allowed to fly.”
5
5
Some felt it was a fair judgement due to the strict laws in Indonesia.
One man responded: “If you’re going to Indonesia they won’t let you in with that passport. Jetstar are only covering their backsides here because they cover the return flight.”
Someone else claimed: “Airlines are fined by the immigration if they bring such passengers hence they enforce it strictly to make money.”
A Jetstar spokesperson told Sun Online Travel: “Our crew don’t like being the bearer of bad news but they have to enforce the Immigration requirements of the countries we fly to.
“Some countries are more strict than others on this and won’t let you enter the country with a damaged passport.”
It isn’t the first time tourists have been stopped because of their passports when travelling to Indonesia.
A former Miss Universe was left stranded in Bali after a watermark on her passport stopped her from travelling.
It isn’t just Bali with strict rules – a young man was unable to travel to the Caribbean for having a rip in his passport photo page.
A mum was even banned from travelling to Spain with her daughter because of a half-torn page in the travel document.
