Coffee Stain Costs Couple $3,000 for New Flight to Bali

An Australian couple was stopped from boarding a Virgin Australia flight from Sydney, Australia to Bali, Indonesia after gate agents noticed a "microscopic coffee stain" on one of their passports. The couple claims the airline canceled their boarding, resorting to them having to pay for "stupidly expensive" impromptu tickets.

"Tiny Bit Of Water Damage"

Australian DJ and music producer Sean Ferres was slated to fly with his girlfriend, Brooke Ashe, to Bali. The agent at the check-in counter, however, noticed a coffee stain on the right side of Ashe's passport, which was enough to keep the couple from flying. The influencers wasted no time in expressing their feelings to their social media followings. 

Ferres posted this message to Facebook to his 9,000 followers: "Virgin Australia decided that this microscopic coffee stain on Brooke’s passport made it 'unreadable' and denied us boarding our flight to Bali...Virgin then promised us they will reschedule us onto another flight at no cost once we sort the passport out."

Ferres claimed that the airline later marked the two of them “no-shows,” and they were told they had to pay for new tickets on a new flight.

"Of course, all flights the next day are either sold out or stupidly expensive,” Ferres added. Ashe posted a video of herself to social media, revealing further details on their trouble at the airport: "So I've just been rejected my flight to Bali and I'm currently stranded in the middle of Sydney airport. No idea what to do or where to go. I literally just got told if they let me into Bali, the military and the security in the airport would have put me into a cell."

"Basically, there was a tiny bit of water damage at the bottom of my passport... I travel all the time and it's never been mentioned to me before... Obviously, I'm really upset."
 

Of all the couple's options, they opted to fly with Jetstar to the tune of around $3,000 AUD.
 

Despite the flight being delayed for two hours, Ferres pointed out that the couple managed to check in and board the plane "without interacting with a single human". He added that Jetstar didn't have any problems with Ashe's passport and never have for any other international flight in the past.

The couple was able to make it to Bali. Ferres documented that there was no problem getting through the airport's e-gates. Contrary to what agents apparently told Ashe, the airport security at Bali didn't reprimand the couple for the mark on her passport.

Ferres had one more thing to say on social media about the Sydney-Bali flight:

“Absolutely blows my mind that 25 years after the invention of the internet – in an age where even a $500 phone has advanced facial recognition – we still rely on a flimsy ass piece of paper to leave the country.”

Virgin's Passport Policies

Virgin Australia responded to questions from news.com.au regarding the incident. A spokesperson stated that passengers need documents that are in good condition to be permitted on flights:

The spokesperson adds that the Conditions of Carriage section on the company website has more details on passports and what constitutes as good or bad condition.

In Virgin's Conditions of Carriage, the New York Post has found that Indonesia will fine airlines for $3,290 if they allow passengers to travel using a "damaged" passport. So it didn't seem like the Sydney airport agents were making claims up regarding cell time. Indonesian law also states publicly that travelers can't use damaged passports. This also includes passports that are considered “wet”.