Originally Posted by
DominicB
Well, that's fascinating. And it is bizarrely laid out on the website. Took me two attempts to see the relevant clause. Why on earth is it not a substantive part of the first paragraph?!? (I note that even C-W-S didn't notice it!)
But for all that, whatever AA might think about it, I hardly think it unreasonable of me, in receipt of a specific document personalized to me with specific instructions on it to be under the impression that if I followed what I had been told to do by the Israeli government, I was eligible for admission to Israel. My document comes directly from the MFA, which is the responsible body in Israel.
And I have to say a colleague of mine went three days ago, flying on Delta, and this was never raised with her and her COVID test has no passport number on it, and she sailed through Ben Gurion at the other end. So there's all sorts of issues about the relevance of this, and whether my permit superseded general instructions, etc, but at least I see where Timatic was coming from.
But had AA dealt with me more expeditiously, including telling me that once we hit t-60 I would have a new string of problems with the validity of the ticket, and/or if BA had presence at ORD these days, etc, I would not have lost the value of the ticket. That's what really leaves a sour taste in the mouth. I can see that it will be the rather unlikely concept of goodwill and mercy I need in all this, rather than anything more legalistic!
If the correspondence from the Israeli consulate explicitly granted the entry with a COVID report without a passport number on it, that will be a good point to argue about.
Otherwise it’ll satisfy immigration requirements (your one way ticket). Unless something is explicitly granted exception, it isn’t exempt. I’d go back to the consulate and ask for clarification.
by the way - isn’t passport number a standard thing to put on COVID reports?