fomc

Wouldn't all airlines have this policy? Do you know if Ryanair or Easyjet allows you?

nancypants

Dave Noble

As soon as you have documents that permit travel, BA will permit travel

Alternatively , as suggested, if it is BA being awkward, rebook with another airline

Rather thanblaming BA for UK immigration policies, perhaps ask UK Embassy to show its humane side and give you documents that show that you will be permitted entry to UK with travel on expired documents

Yes , they do , I am almost certain - It isn't BA being awkward, it is that you have no documentation for travel

Can you get to the country where your passport is from and perhaps address at your local immigration office

A BA member of staff may have made an error in permitting travel, but it is not the agent's fault that the passenger had an out of date document - that is 100% the fault of the passenger

reclusive46

You're not Maltese or a Cyprian are you? British embassies can issue emergency passports to Commonwealth citizens. If not, they might also be able to issue you a travel document as a resident of the UK (I know Canada will issue emergency travel documents to PRs).

Dan72

Yes, but only in countries where the Commonwealth country has no representation. As the OP has been to their embassy in Hungary, I think we can assume that option won't work.

Doppy

I once discovered when filling out an arrivals card on a flight that I accidentally brought an expired passport with me. United hadn't checked IDs at any point in the process, and I got my boarding pass on the mobile app using a stored, valid passport. Seemed like a major screw up on their part not to check anyone's travel documents, but anyway it was entirely my fault and all the blame falls on me. Needless to say, I am obsessive about checking to ensure I have all the right documents with me these days.

(Long story short, some strings were pulled and I was let into the destination country anyway, and got a temporary passport issued from my own embassy so I could return home. Actually this was the best outcome; had United turned me away, by the time I got my valid passport and took the next flight, which was the following day, the trip would have been in vain.)

SQTraveller

Good luck OP.

I feel your frustration, but I kinda feel you should have had your passport anyway,

callum9999

You're moving the goal posts. It's 100% the OPs fault for having an out of date document, yes.

It is however partially BA's fault that the OP is in Hungary without ID. If they did their job correctly, he would not be there. Period.

I can't remember if I've ever seen BA do this before, but on at least two occasions on the show "Airline", easyJet did the same thing. Their response is no doubt influenced by being on national TV at the time, but they immediately accepted responsibility and made arrangements to get the passengers back home on their expired passports.

Keep shouting about how it is the OPs fault all you like - I do not remotely care. It doesn't change the fact that it's also partially BAs fault, and BA is in the position to be able to help if they want to.

Dave Noble

[QUOTE=callum9999;30466418]You're moving the goal posts. It's 100% the OPs fault for having an out of date document, yes.

It is however partially BA's fault that the OP is in Hungary without ID. If they did their job correctly, he would not be there. Period.[/qupte]

In which case it is also the Hungarian immigration officer's fault - since he did not refuse entry to the country - if admission had been refused, he would have been sent back to where he had originated I believe

And , on any show where I have seen such a case, it is after the airline checked to see whether the country would allow admission that the person was allowed to travel

The OP has stated that the member of staff said that he had asked and that it was refused

The refusal does not seem to be a surprise when it is a non British Citizen wanting to travel to the UK on invalid documentation ; if he was a British Citizen and had arrived with expired documents, the respomse might well have been different

rooivalk

OP can keep blaming BA but in these instances, I find that you get more empathy and support if you're nice and not blame the party whom you require help from.

I mean, at the end of the day, BA could be completely wrong but they're not the one that's stuck in Budapest and frustrated. OP is. And if I were OP, I would not be blaming them now.

LTN Phobia

Have your wife get the passport back and courier it to you. Or, get the birth certificate issued by your country of birth, or consult them about what they can do to help with the ID. Have your wife courier your UK residence card.

I suspect the best course of action, if the OP really cannot get any of those above done is for the OP to obtain in writing an entry clearance from the British authority (which might possibly need to come from the UK). Getting a clearance to leave the country from the Hungarian authority does nothing in terms of ensuring that you would be able to show that you can legally enter the UK. You need a form of clearance from the UK side, and preferably a written authority (which a valid EU ID/passport can act as).

I strongly recommend the OP immediately stop blaming others for their part in the situation. The only thing it will do is to alienate them when you might need their help, and end up with a worse outcome. When people stop blaming others and accept full responsibility for themselves and apologise for causing others the inconvenience, people tend to be much more helpful in trying to come up with a solution for them.

Energy would be much better spent making arrangements to have the proper documentation and accepting the full responsibility for the situation than to try to threaten BA or to go to the media (going to the media may well simply cause embarrassment for the OP without anything productive to come of it).

Documentation check, as I understand it, is essentially an obligation of an airline to itself, by virtue of the fact that it gets fined if they miss something being amiss and the immigration authority does not permit that person into the country and the airline gets fined, not an obligation towards the passenger to ensure that he/she has the correct documentation.

The only people/entity BA has failed here is themselves by putting themselves at risk of being fined, as they did not have the obligation towards the passenger in the first place.

The airline is not responsible for ensuring that the the passenger has the correct documentation for the passenger's sake. In fact, the Conditions of Carriage makes that clear.

In particular, 7a15), 13a1) https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb...ns-of-carriage

It could not be clearer.

simons1

An unfortunate set of events, started by the schoolboy error of OP not having correct documents and compounded by other errors and unhelpfulness along the way.

Airlines face a fine (£2,000) for every passenger that arrives in UK without permission to land and BA will always give priority to anything that has a £ sign on it. The issue of the 'code' from UK immigration sounds like story telling really.

Not sure why Sky would be interested, a story about 'man denied travel for having expired documents' doesn't sound that interesting to me.

navylad

PAX_fips

Just assume (technically equal?) EU ID was lost/stolen. Everyone of you has a birth certificate while on travel? I dont even have one at home.. the embassy is a bit out of "help" here, too?

lcyguy