To Fellows FlyerTalk Forums Members,

We planned a sporting trip from USA to the Russian Federation at the end of August and booked flights on United with a layover on Brussels Belgium onto Moscow. Some of the members of the sporting team have encounter denial of boarding pass at check-in locations due to IATA miss information stating that “Nationals of USA must arrive on a direct flight from USA.” Does anyone know how to compel IATA to remove their FALSE and misleading information regarding the direct flight?

We have Called Russian Embassy at multiple occasions and consulted with US Embassy in Moscow they are not aware of the direct flight restriction. Therefore, we know that the direct flight restriction is FALSE.

If you use the IATA Travel Centre link and pretended traveling from USA to Russian Federation. You will get a warning about the direct flight requirement. The issue is Airline gate agents looked at IATA as an authoritative guide related to all things travel. Some gate agents will simply denial the issuing of boarding pass and force customers to rebooked last minute direct flight or cancel trip. All based on FALSE and misleading information provided by IATA TIMATIC system.

Any Fellows member that has dealing with IATA or have worked at Airlines please help. Time is of the essence.

I’ve tried the following.

1. Contacted IATA – no positive acknowledgment on the issues.

2. Contacted United – the reservation desk has generated an internal memo to IT without positive result yet.

What else can we do??

Thanks in Advance for your time

Howie Li