My children and I were denied boarding our flight to South Africa due to not having their birth certificates upon check-in, even though the South African government updated the policy December 1st 2018 (which no longer requires this document as mandatory). Not only did Emirate not indicate at any time during the booking process about this law they refused to reason when I showed them South African's government recent update. Due to the busy Christmas season, we were unable to fly to South African until 3 days later, missed the cruise we were to join and had to embark the ship in Namibia 6 days after the original travel date. We were meant to meet my husband on board the ship and missed out on Christmas because of this mistake. The kids were devastated. We were over EUR€4,500 out of pocket since I had to book hotels, new flights and transfers, all because they hadn't updated the policy. Their customer service department is a joke as the only way I could submit a complaint was through their website online form. Their response (claiming zero responsibility and therefore denying me any compensation) was from a "non-reply" email address. Even after speaking to them on the phone I was directed to send another complaint through their online platform. I sent a follow-up response correcting their false claims (that I didn't have a travel letter from my husband, which I did have) and I haven't heard back. My husband and I have been working in the travel & hospitality industry for 25+ years and I am extremely knowledgable in luxury customer service; this is what I do for a living. This by far is the worst I have ever experienced. I will never fly Emirates again.