worldtrav

And the relationship between this post and the UNited Mileage Plus forum is?

OMNI perhaps?

WineCountryUA

OP may have hope there was support to put the responsibility on UA since UA accepted the travel docs.

mduell

I think this belongs in another forum, perhaps Travel Safety/Security > Practical Travel Safety Issues or Destinations > Americas > Central America. There's nothing United-specific or MileagePlus relevant here.

You are the only person responsible for having the appropriate documentation to enter a country.

I bet the Costa Rican embassy or consulate could have told you the letter was not acceptable, if you had asked before travel. That's what they're for.

TerryK

Many threads of posters blaming airlines for denied boarding while they, in their view, had valid travel documents. Now, posters also blaming airlines for allowing them to travel while not possessing valid travel documents.

Some thread I can think of:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...nsit-visa.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/jal-m...tnam-visa.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta...ding-visa.html

Funny world.

Often1

1. This isn't about fault, it's about responsibility.
2. It is 100% the responsibility of the traveler to have in hand the correct entry documents as determined by the country to which entry is sought. If CR requires, as it apparently does, a green card with at least 6 months' validity, that's what's required. If OP didn't have that, as the CR website notes, all he needed was a tourist visa.
3. As others note, UA checks docs in order to protect itself. Here UA may well have been or will be fined.

To add insult to injury, UA may well come after OP for both any fine which is imposed and the walk-up fare for the "must fly" back.

Miles Ahead

Suppose this went the other way - United denied you a seat on the plane, citing visa issues. Would you accept that, or would you be unhappy that UA denied you travel erroneously?

TerryK

Precisely my point.:-:

Airlines are to blame if anything goes wrong. It is neither the immigration authorities, nor the passengers' responsibilities.

cynicAAl

just curious...what is your home country that requires a visa to visit CR ?

dreamfool

Well, it still would have sucked a lot, but at least I didn't have to fly there with the hopes of starting my vacation and be disappointed, then got sent back on the plane watching people happily going home except me. Of course, this is NOT only sucky part, but it hits me deeply at this point of my life.

I am not saying I am blaming UA for it. I doubt they would have known that even with a valid piece of extension document, Costa Rica immigration would have not considered it as a valid proof of PR status.

I hold both Hong Kong SAR passport and Taiwan passport.

I wish I have seen that during my research. I did look up the entry requirements of Costa Rica at various websites but obviously didn't see this one - other websites simply stated US permanent resident + home country passport is OK.

Yes, I started my application last August and ironically got an email from them saying the card is on its way to me 2 days ago.

Geez, I hope they will not do that...life is hard enough for me already.

SeriouslyLost

.....

mkt

Several countries in the Americas consider US LPR status as equivalent to US citizenship for short term immigration purposes.

SeriouslyLost

I did not know that. But I do now.

mkt

No worries. I go through this all the time down here when I put together family trips across the Caribbean islands. Most of my relatives are US citizens, but a few aren't.

tanja

Many years I ago I and my son went into a immigration office in California to remover our conditional green card to a resident card.
I was told by the female immigration officer that it would take 3-4 months for the new card to arraive in the mail.
In the mean time we could travel outside USA without a problem since we still had the permit in our passports.
We flew to Sweden for a months . Coming back to USA we got stopped by immigration asked why we flew without the residentcard. They admitted that they knew it would take months for it to come. And according to this immigration officer it was not ok to travel with just a stamp in the passport.
He also stated that he did not agree or approved of CA. way of doing it.
Even if CA. was the one issuing it.
So it sometimes depends on the immigration officer what they will do.

cordelli

It's not up to the airline to ensure you have everything you need to get into a country. It's up to the traveler. Yes the airline checks documents, but just because they let you on the plane doesn't mean you can get into the country. It's always the traveler's responsibility to have the proper documents they need to enter the country they are visiting.

This is just silly. You are lucky they didn't charge you a one way walk up fare to get you home.