A Ryanair passenger is warning fellow travellers to check their passports 'well before flying' after a small tear in her document got her booted off a Ryanair flight. 

On 4 June, Rachael Norton-Voysey, 33, from Erdington, travelled to Birmingham Airport with a friend for a long-awaited five-day break to Lanzarote.

The pair excitedly made their way to the boarding gate, where Ryanair staff checked over the documents - only for Rachael to be informed she would not be flying due to a 1.5cm rip in her passport. 

Photos show the tear on the top right of the photo page, though the Brit claims it does not obstruct any pictures or details.

The holidaymaker was left 'gutted' after she was barred from flying by 'petty' staff, resulting in a miserable train journey home and the holiday ultimately being rearranged for a later date. 

She said: 'It was gutting for us both. We got to the gate and handed in my passport at that point to get onto the plane and he said it was ripped and they wouldn't let us through.

'It was horrible. That feeling where your stomach just drops knowing we wouldn't be going on holiday at that point. There's no arguing with them once they do that.

'We had to sit there and wait for them to finish boarding and then they escorted us out. We had to watch everyone get onto the flight. 

'My friend could've gone but she didn't want to go without me.'  

According to advice shared on the UK Government's website, a travel document with pages 'missing, cut or ripped' is counted as passport damage. 

To ensure travel plans go smoothly, travellers are advised to secure a replacement before heading to the airport or risk being denied boarding. 

Describing the damage to her document, she explained: 'It's a tiny rip really. It's not on any of the details and it doesn't obscure anything.

'The rip is on the right side of the picture page sort of just down from the top. It doesn't go through any information but it is a rip on the picture page.'

She went on to call the decision 'really petty', adding: 'Even when they took us back through immigration to the airport, even the immigration [staff member] said it was harsh.'

The artist continued: 'The journey home was so sad. Both of us had worked so hard to get up to that point. It was so painful.

'I did put in a complaint letter just saying that I thought it was a little bit mean and that they should be a bit more consistent considering they've let me fly on this passport before.

'I had no reason to worry about it, which is the thing that's annoyed me. I've had the passport for eight years and don't know when the rip happened.

'I think it might've happened when I was abroad before, hence why I just never thought of it because I managed to get home fine and I didn't think about it until I went abroad again. I should've thought about it but I never did.'

Rachael stated that she and her friend aim to fly to Lanzarote this September, having secured a new date for their Airbnb.

But, for now, the holidaymaker is spreading awareness about her experience and urging holidaymakers to check their passports for rips and invest in a protective cover to prevent damage.

She said: 'Check your passport well before you're going to travel, put it in a case and get travel insurance because we also didn't have travel insurance which could've saved us a bit.

'Everyone should check their passports because it might be fine nine times out of 10 but that one time might ruin a holiday.

'When I get my new passport I'm going to be locking it away and getting one of those new passport holders. Everyone should get a passport holder.'

A spokesperson for Ryanair told Daily Mail: 'This passenger was correctly refused travel from Birmingham to Lanzarote (4 Jun) as her passport was damaged and therefore not valid for travel.'

It comes after a schoolboy was turned away from a Qatar Airways flight over a 'luggage sticker mark' on his passport - and his mother said the 'stressful' experience almost cost them their £3,000 holiday to Thailand.

Meghan Law, 33, from Aberdeen, was due to fly to Phuket for a two-week break with her two children in the beginning of October 2025. 

But as the family were about to board their plane from Edinburgh Airport, the mother was informed by Qatar Airways check-in staff that they had spotted an issue with her son's passport and that he would not be permitted to fly.

According to Meghan, staff claimed 13-year-old Alix's passport was 'damaged' due to a 'luggage sticker mark' they had found on one page.

She said: 'We got to the airport and were checking in my bags when the [check-in staff member] looked at my passport then just walked away from the desk. She didn't say anything.

'We were standing there for 20 minutes before I asked what's going on. She came back and said that my passport was damaged.'

Meghan added: 'What they were trying to say was that the luggage check-in stickers that had been stuck on one of the pages [and] had damaged the page. But it wasn't even on the photo page.

'There were no rips, it was just where the sticker marks had been. They said we couldn't travel with it.'