The Lev

Some thoughts then answers... I am amazed that this isn't a daily occurence at airports. With infrequent travellers buying from online websites, I've got to believe that more than a few per day forget to get their ETA ahead of time. I'm assuming that when she checked in a WAW she was given boarding passes for both flights, so would have assumed that all was in order until she had tried to board the flight from BUD-YYZ, by which time it was very late in the game. You indicate that she doesn't speak English. I'm going to also assume that she doesn't speak Hungarian.
Now was to your questions...
1. She should not have been allowed to board in WAW - so LOT screwed up the checkin, though I'm not confident they are legally responsible - they likely would be responsible for returning her ot WAW.
2. BUD is a rouge outpost that would not be handled by AC personnel at the check-in counter or at the gate. They would be local Hungarians doing what the computer tells them to do. They may not know what an ETA is and how to apply for it - they just know she doesn't have the required documents. If the OP's friend speaks neither English nor Hungarian, helping her with a non-standard problem like this would be a challenge at the best of times, let alone in the middle of the boarding process. Is this exemplary customer service? Not even close, but from the reaction on this board, I don't think too many of us are surprised.
3. LOT may have an obligation to get her home, but that's about it.

If I were your friend, I would apply for the ETA, call AC's call centre and explain what happened and ask as a goodwill gesture whether they would be willing ot honour the ticket for the next available departure. They are under no obligation to do so - this is a case where pleading for some human kindness is likely to be more effective than threatening legal action.

ellylex

sorry, made a mistake which site I copied from my history. Regardless, I read conflicting info about ETA. The treshhold is not clear. I made an assumption that ETA form could have been filled at the airport and people here confirmed it.

I am an Immigration lawyer???!!!! That is a very strange conclusion You made. It faaar more obvious - but You do not need to struggle with it.

ellylex

An hour ago I decided to see how that form is designed and how much time it would take to fill it in. I have to say, in my opinion, it is very poorly designed. The first pages one has to seek where the continue button is.
But regardless, the passenger did not even understand where and how to apply for it to begin with.

MSPeconomist

danielonn

The ESTA has been in place for years. If you Google ESTA you will find articles on it. Just because you have not heard of it does not men it does not exists.

nancypants

ChrisA330

MSPeconomist

ellylex

the ticket is nonrefundable and lost its value. I spoke with AirCanada yesterday, they stated it was "a no show" on their end. The agent after an hour of conversation seemed willing to help but his colleague with whom agent consulted - declined. So I wrote to Customer relations.

To me it is important to know the correct answer to my first question. Did LOT make a mistake or not? If they did not - then I do not have any arguments, if they did - then I do have the grounds for argument.

24left

It is unfortunate your friend did not know to ask, or no one told her, or she didn't check the various sources.
It also doesn't matter if it's poorly designed. That may be although I found the link from the Air Canada main page to the ETA page to the Canadian government pages fairly simple to follow and there are even links in multiple languages (including Polish).





There is also a page with info on applying with a video (and a link to the YouTube version)

ellylex

Oh, I see. No, if I was contacted - I would have immediately googled and tried to fill in that form. I do not have any special skill - i am a regular person and passenger with common sense.

RangerNS

Any argument that you may have with LOT is with LOT, not AC. Many PAX would be delighted to get partway through their travel. Apparently, pick your poison, I guess.

Ultimately the only relevant fact is your friend did not have authorization to enter Canada, and Air Canada has an obligation to verify that before flying her to Canada.

I appreciate there may be language issues at the acute critical time. But not asking the question "how can I cross international boarders successfully?" seems a question that transcends language concerns, and asked long before standing at the gate.

Your friend tried to sneak across international boarders, period.

That the airlines are not well equipped to deal with recovering from that isn't surprising, or anywhere in the top dozen customer service areas they should focus on.

mapleg

I am a bit surprised that someone on FT since 2004 would be totally unaware of the US requirement.. The Canadian one I can see not knowing since Canada is a smaller market than the USA.

ellylex

I was under impression that any issues should be resolved with the airline that issued the ticket. On the credit card statement, even though it was purchased via agency - the charge is from AirCanada.
Correct me if I am wrong.

FinsToTheLeft