A trip to Bali has turned into a warning for other travelers after Australian Bronte Gossling was denied boarding.

After spending A$4,000 on Covid tests, flights and all-inclusive hotels, Gossling showed up at Sydney Airport and was told she couldn’t board her Jetstar flight.

The reason? His passport was too moldy.

According to Gossling, the Jetstar office said she could not board her flight to Bali due to passport damage.

“I handed over my passport and the Jetstar desk clerk said ‘I can’t let you on the flight’ and he pointed to my photo ID page and there was a bit of mold there- low,” Gossling told the 2GB radio show.

“He told me Bali customs won’t let me through with this water damaged photo page and I was shocked.”

In previous years, this may not have been an issue. But in 2019, Bali introduced much stricter regulations regarding passport requirements.

Indonesian authorities can now fine airlines up to £3,292 if their passengers have damaged their passports. In serious circumstances, passengers may be held up at Bali airport and put on a return flight.

Gossling said her passport was damaged due to a combination of flooding in Australia, which brought heavy rain and high humidity and left her passport in a draw at home for two years due to restrictions of travel.

Despite the lost vacation and money, she said things could have been “much worse” had she been stranded in Bali.

Other travelers have made similar mistakes since Bali tightened its laws.

Australian soccer player Sam Kerr was barred from boarding her Jetstar flight in 2019 after her passport was found to be too damaged. That same year, on Christmas Day, a man with a nine-year-old passport described as “slightly damaged” was barred from boarding a Batik Air flight from Perth.

Also that year, an English couple saw their dream holiday ‘ruined’ and lost £7,500 due to damaged passports.

Three weeks of Richard and Ann Lane’s three-month holiday have been missed after a small hole in one of their passports barred them from entering Bali and Malaysia.