Originally Posted by fomc

Good morning everyone! Glad my story keeps you entertained
Let me just make a few things very clear.

1. I never said I KNOWINGLY exited the UK with an invalid ID. I ALWAYS travel with my passport, I know exactly when my passport expires. Because the passport was not with me at the time, I decided to take my EU ID....I Forgot to check the expiration date. Probably because in my mind I had this idea that my passport is 5 years away from expiring. Who knows, anyway my fault for not checking the validity. I only discovered the ID was invalid upon arrival in Hungary.
2. Didn't express myself clearly. What I meant to say by "too much pain to renew", is that my embassy wont give me a temporary passport without a birth certificate
3. I agree that I'm the main one responsible for this but maintain that BA has some fault for letting me board in the first place. Since they didn't bother to check the validity when I left, why can't they return the same "favour" for my return to the UK? The annoying part is also that my wife mentioned that when she boarded the plane, the guys at the gate were looking at IDs super quickly and wasn't looking like they were checking validity, just for the name to match the ticket. Classic!