Thanks for the responses.
Originally Posted by
ryman554
I'm also a little confused here.
Did John renew online and travel, including carrying, the older expired passport that presumably still had validity on it?
Or did John use the expired passport in the reservation and travel with the new passport?
If the former, that is a failure mode of the new online passport renewal which does not require one to send in the older passport. Destroy/punch a hole in the expired passport. And the issue is entirely on John, as the passport appears valid upon looking at it -- but in reality it has been pre-expired when applying for a renewal.
From what I understand he had his old passport information attached to his itinerary (I assume he booked prior to renewing) and he says United allowed him to check in. Then he travelled with his old physical passport as well. So a double screw up (he's clearly not a seasoned international traveler).
Originally Posted by
RobOnLI
"John" could have boarded with one of those picture-taking boarding gates where they don't even bother asking for or looking at your passport. I had this several times on European flights ex-IAD. I could have landed in FRA/LHR/AMS/etc. without a valid passport and UA would have been fined a lot more heavily than to Mexico (my guess).
This is part of the reason why these picture-taking boarding gates are an awful idea unless they are used in conjunction with checking physical passports for validity.
To the OP: UA owes him nothing. UA will already be fined for transporting somebody clearly inadmissible to Mexico but it's the traveler's responsibility to make sure all documents are in order and valid.
-RM
I've often wondered this as well. I find I am taking my passport out more and more rarely. When departing the US I rarely get more than a cursory glance, if that. When departing from many international locations they at least make sure the passport name and picture matches my BP.