Originally Posted by
BigFlyer
It wasn't Northwest or KLM that checked the passport at SFO. After KLM was bought by AF, they took the ground handling away and gave it to Swissport. I think it has changed since then to another contractor.
This doesn't affect the liability situation, but I thought I would at least set the record straight on this point.
While I don't think that the airline is liable, it is strange that any government would state a visa expiration date in numbers only, given the potential for confusion.
I guess there is not much hope to get any refund from the airline here. But on the issue of dates it is really frustrating as you could have a visa from the German consulate that says date of issue 02-02-09 and date of expiry 06-02-09 and I am sure folks can be confused there.
That way, US issued visas are better as they mark the date as 4-Jan-09 and not 04-01-09 or 01-04-09. I also have visas from Japan, Singapore and Malaysia and in all cases they write the dates as 01-Jan-09. Maybe I will write a letter to the German consulate to change the way they write dates so that people do not make the same mistake I made in the future.
Anyway I understand that I cannot expect a compensation and will live with it. :-(