Can I make a compensation claim over arbitrary passport rule?

Have a question? Ask our expert Simon Calder

Singapore requires six months remaining on travel identity (Getty/iStock)

Q My wife and I recently fell foul of the rather arbitrary rule, applied by some sovereign nations and airlines, that an additional six months be added to otherwise valid passports. Our intention had been to fly out to Australia to see our two young grandsons, with a four-night stopover in Singapore.

What infuriated me further was that British Airways, my carrier of choice, knew for a period of six months that they could not, or would not fly me; nor did they fly me.

A simple no-cost email alert, on all Singapore bookings, that “the Republic of Singapore requires that the traveller has a full six months remaining on the passport at their time of departure”, would have been basic good customer relations advice.