Originally Posted by
njf63
I think you might have to mostly suck this one up and move along.
If the police officers on the spot were sufficiently unmoved to take action, then your legal options are pretty limited...ultimately it would come down to your word against hers and you might well burn through a lot of time and money making your point
I also completely disagree.
The only concern of the police officers at that time was to defuse a situation that was escalating (raised voices, shouting, possible unlawful detention of a passport).
They are not there to ensure that Schengen/Spanish immigration law is being correctly applied, or that Easyjet is properly upholding their end of a valid contract of travel.
Originally Posted by
njf63
On the visa side of things, the EZ people you spoke with were probably (I'm sorry to say, and in the specific context of your interaction) in the right. After all, there are swingeing fines for carriers which allow boarding to international pax without proper documentation and staff are under strict instructions to follow the rules and tbh quoting Spanish law at UK check-in staff is almost the definition of wasted breath
Again, this is wrong. A US passport holder attempting to enter Schengen with a just-expired student visa has therefore not used up any of their "stay", in the context of the visa-free entry extended to US citizens, as the OP clearly and concisely explained - even showing the relevant legal basis!
Again, this clearly shows that these staff members need training, at the very least. The way she handled this was incredibly unprofessional.
To the OP: this is one of the most woeful cases I have ever read on FT in the past 10-odd years. You
clearly have a case against Easyjet, and if your depiction of that employee's behaviour has not been embellished (and I don't think it has been!), then she really needs to be called up for it.
You are also entitled to compensation for the involuntary denied boarding - your travel documents
were in order, and you had a valid ticket - yet she denied you travel.
I would definitely take this up in writing.