We were booked (via KLM) on a KLM/Air France flight yesterday, BHX-CDG-AUH.

We were turned away at check in, despite my polite and assertive protestations, because my kids only have 5 months remaining on their passports. We live permanently in Abu Dhabi and we were trying to get home after the summer so the kids could go back to school.

As AUH residents, we only need 3 months remaining on our passports. I have double and triple checked this requirement, and it has also been confirmed by running our details through Timatic - green tick. We have lived in the Middle East for 11 years and I have never had this issue before.

There was nobody available to help me at the airport (no managers or desks open) and the check in girls claimed to have no supervisor on duty.

It became clear that I wasn't going to win the argument and I walked away and phone KLM, but the lady from the Philippines who I spoke to on the phone couldn't help me at all. I ended up paying $400 over the phone to change our flights to Tuesday, because I didn't want to lose the flights altogether and I didn't know what else to do.

It's now the day after this all happened, and I've been home and had a good sleep to recover, and I need to seriously think about how to get to Abu Dhabi. I am thinking of visiting BHX later today to try and speak to an actual human to see if they can be persuaded to accept the kids' passports on another flight.

Does anyone have any other ideas of what I can do? We really need to get back to Abu Dhabi ASAP but we can't find/afford any alternative flights as every other carrier is fully booked.