A COUPLE have received a payout from holiday firm TUI after being stopped from jetting off on their dream engagement trip.

John Swallow, 55, and his fiancée, Amanda Bickerstaffe, 48, only learned they were not allowed to board the plane an hour before departure.

The couple, of Wyndham Avenue, Middle Hulton, had booked to fly from Manchester to Goa with six friends in 2016 to celebrate their engagement.

But while enjoying celebratory drinks in the VIP lounge Amanda was called out. She was told that her passport was five days out of date for the six months required to travel, despite having in writing that as long as her passport had 180 days from the time of the visa application, it would be fine.

TUI offered them the option of getting Amanda’s passport renewed and flying to Goa from London Gatwick the following week, but this would have cost £450 extra so the couple declined.

The couple were then escorted out of the airport in front of onlookers.

Mr Swallow said: “It was so embarrassing, we were treated like criminals”.

Plans for Amanda to renew her passport so the couple could take an alternative flight a few days later had to be abandoned. TUI said that if they flew out with another airline, they wouldn’t be allowed to fly back on their pre-booked return flights from Goa.

As the couple already booked time off work, they booked another last-minute holiday to Fuerteventura which cost them another £1,000.

Mr Swallow spent a year attempting to contact TUI for answers numerous times.

The company responded months later to say that neither of them were eligible for compensation or the cost of their holiday refunded.

Frustrated, Mr Swallow contacted solicitors Bott and Co, which last month secured him a £524 payout.

Coby Benson, solicitor at Bott and Co, said: “Under EU law passengers are entitled to compensation of up to €600 if their flights are cancelled, delayed or they are denied boarding –as was the case here.

“This is a sad example of how in some cases the compensation does not come close to compensating Mr Swallow for the distress, inconvenience, loss of enjoyment and financial loss that he and his partner suffered as a result of TUI’s erroneous decision to not let them board the flight. He added: “Hopefully this compensation pay-out will go some way to compensating them for the horrible experience that they endured.”

Mr Swallow said: “Our dream engagement celebration holiday was ruined. We wanted compensation for all the stress the horrible experience caused. TUI just said it was our own fault. Although the compensation is good, a holiday worth over £2000 was wasted and I wanted them to answer my questions and accept responsibility.” Amanda is now also seeking compensation.