Denied boarding, tricky one
Nov 30, 2020, 1:22 am
#61
Join Date: Nov 2020
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But I will avoid QR as much as possible as they have the worst customer service, just take a look at the complaint thread in their forum and also the reviews all over the net. Some say the on-board service is good/ok, but customer service for me is more important as we all know how much of a nuisance airlines can be when they don't treat their customers properly.
Nov 30, 2020, 1:27 am
#62
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OP should have booked LHR x/DOH MLE x/DOH LHR instead (provided he has a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR test 96 hours prior to departure).
The x/ on the ticket's fare calculation line is very important.
The x/ on the ticket's fare calculation line is very important.
Nov 30, 2020, 2:14 am
#63
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 2,660
If that were the case, I'd have no quibble. Unfortunately, I'm neither being offered offered the Avios back nor a voucher. I'd prefer the Avios, but I'd settle for a voucher.
Similar thing here, a couple of hours sitting about before getting the no-can-do.
The BA rep on the phone when I returned home made a number of wild assumptions about the trip before I was allowed to explain, particularly that she was saying it was a one way ticket, when it wasn't, it was on the same PNR, and that it was the "next day" I was returning, well yes, it was... arriving at 5pm and leaving at 1:40am, not at all an unusual transit time for DOH. That was what frustrated me the most to be honest, the BA rep jumped to several conclusions without trying to understand the situation.
Truth be told, I've done similar trips outside of covid many times where I never step landside, including three or four times to DOH, in fact DOH is one of the better airports for doing it as you can transfer through security without even having a boarding pass.
I guess I'll file a complaint and see where that gets me!
Similar thing here, a couple of hours sitting about before getting the no-can-do.
The BA rep on the phone when I returned home made a number of wild assumptions about the trip before I was allowed to explain, particularly that she was saying it was a one way ticket, when it wasn't, it was on the same PNR, and that it was the "next day" I was returning, well yes, it was... arriving at 5pm and leaving at 1:40am, not at all an unusual transit time for DOH. That was what frustrated me the most to be honest, the BA rep jumped to several conclusions without trying to understand the situation.
Truth be told, I've done similar trips outside of covid many times where I never step landside, including three or four times to DOH, in fact DOH is one of the better airports for doing it as you can transfer through security without even having a boarding pass.
I guess I'll file a complaint and see where that gets me!
When you miss a flight on your itinerary it will cancel other flights in itinerary or in your scenario airport may even delete the outbound flights. So its likely that when you called the BA agent was simply reacting to what the itinerary looked like. When I retrieve a PNR i would say something like “I can see you are travelling to X” to help identify its the correct PNR.
Also if a flight is missed either you NOSHOW or you are denied boarding then in contact centres we arent able to rebook and fare rules apply.
In this scenario the options would have been to change ticket the ticket or take a voucher. The important thing to note is that either option needs to be done before check in closed for the first flight.
Nov 30, 2020, 2:39 am
#64
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Being booked on an "impossible itinerary" when using separately ticketed PNRs isn't commonly used by QR to cancel one or both flights/itineraries. I am pretty certain that a UK passport user who is admissible to Turkey would be able to do just what cauchy covered without any cancellation being done by QR just because it may be perceived as an "impossible itinerary".
Last edited by GUWonder; Nov 30, 2020 at 2:47 am
Nov 30, 2020, 3:44 am
#65
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Nov 30, 2020, 5:28 am
#66
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Just wanted to clear some things up about this.
When you miss a flight on your itinerary it will cancel other flights in itinerary or in your scenario airport may even delete the outbound flights. So its likely that when you called the BA agent was simply reacting to what the itinerary looked like. When I retrieve a PNR i would say something like “I can see you are travelling to X” to help identify its the correct PNR.
Also if a flight is missed either you NOSHOW or you are denied boarding then in contact centres we arent able to rebook and fare rules apply.
In this scenario the options would have been to change ticket the ticket or take a voucher. The important thing to note is that either option needs to be done before check in closed for the first flight.
When you miss a flight on your itinerary it will cancel other flights in itinerary or in your scenario airport may even delete the outbound flights. So its likely that when you called the BA agent was simply reacting to what the itinerary looked like. When I retrieve a PNR i would say something like “I can see you are travelling to X” to help identify its the correct PNR.
Also if a flight is missed either you NOSHOW or you are denied boarding then in contact centres we arent able to rebook and fare rules apply.
In this scenario the options would have been to change ticket the ticket or take a voucher. The important thing to note is that either option needs to be done before check in closed for the first flight.
I didn't get the chance to change the ticket or take a voucher before check in closed, I was still sitting at check in waiting for a decision, but QR were offering to put me on the next flight an hour or so later if necessary at that time.
I received a fairly standard reply yesterday surprisingly quickly from the complaints dept, mostly a rubber stamped one, but to be fair it was with an acceptance from BA that the evidence showed I wouldn't be going through through immigration, and that entry requirements can be difficult to interpret: 90 minutes for trained airline staff in my case. Of course, nothing offered other than a refund of taxes etc, no Avios or voucher. I now strongly suspect I'm flogging a dead horse.
Nov 30, 2020, 5:58 am
#67
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 398
Even if there was such mechanism OP could have booked a TK flight instead. I am not sure if a transit on two tickets is allowed via DOH currently, but if it is they would have admitted him onto the flight. He could have then cancelled the TK flight and flown the initial itinerary. Presumably he would then have violated some Qatari immigration law and might have been flagged upon boarding his return. So presumably not the best idea.
Even easier would been to book LON-DOH-FRA and he would have been fine. Funny how inconsistent rules are...
Nov 30, 2020, 6:15 am
#68
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I don’t think so actually. I occasionally had two conflicting bookings (not with QR but other carriers) mostly stemming from the fact that some ticket was non refundable and I just booked something else.
Even if there was such mechanism OP could have booked a TK flight instead. I am not sure if a transit on two tickets is allowed via DOH currently, but if it is they would have admitted him onto the flight. He could have then cancelled the TK flight and flown the initial itinerary. Presumably he would then have violated some Qatari immigration law and might have been flagged upon boarding his return. So presumably not the best idea.
Even easier would been to book LON-DOH-FRA and he would have been fine. Funny how inconsistent rules are...
Even if there was such mechanism OP could have booked a TK flight instead. I am not sure if a transit on two tickets is allowed via DOH currently, but if it is they would have admitted him onto the flight. He could have then cancelled the TK flight and flown the initial itinerary. Presumably he would then have violated some Qatari immigration law and might have been flagged upon boarding his return. So presumably not the best idea.
Even easier would been to book LON-DOH-FRA and he would have been fine. Funny how inconsistent rules are...
* I know QR is accepting two separate tickets on QR but not sure about a QR flight followed by a flight operated by a different airline.
BA is one of the generous airlines that allows people that have a transfer to a third country on a separate ticket on a different airline but most other airlines are not generous like BA accepting passengers who doesn't meet the criteria for their final destination on their first ticket and have an onward flight to a third country.
By the way, LHR-DOH-FRA or something similar would have worked without issues.
Nov 30, 2020, 6:18 am
#69
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BA is one of the generous airlines that allows people that have a transfer to a third country on a separate ticket on a different airline but most other airlines are not generous like BA accepting passengers who doesn't meet the criteria for their final destination on their first ticket and have an onward flight to a third country.
Nov 30, 2020, 6:42 am
#70
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On paper yes, but in reality you would probably have nervous QR staff reluctant to commit on that one. It could be seen as an open jaw to and from DOH, even if the transit time was under 24 hours. So had the OP checked with this forum before booking I would have advised an IST or similar option rather than FRA.
Nov 30, 2020, 6:44 am
#71
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If you are flying:
LHR-DOH with BA followed by a separate ticket with Ethiopian to Tanzania, BA would allow you to board the LHR-DOH flight if you show your onward DOH-ADD-DAR ticket with ET as UK citizens are allowed to enter Tanzania at the moment.
If you're flying IST-DOH with TK followed by a separate ticket with ET to Tanzania, TK would not allow you to board the IST-DOH flight stating that the passenger is not eligible to enter Qatar which is his final destination on his ticket with TK.
Similar situation for Russia;
Pre-COVID, on BA services to DME, people were able to fly LHR-DME without a Russian visa by showing an onward separate S7 ticket to the check-in and gate agent whereas some airlines like TK would not allow a UK citizen to board a flight to Russia without a visa unless the passenger has a connection to a third country on the same ticket.
Nov 30, 2020, 7:34 am
#72
Join Date: Dec 2016
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Sorry for the confusion; what I meant was;
If you are flying:
LHR-DOH with BA followed by a separate ticket with Ethiopian to Tanzania, BA would allow you to board the LHR-DOH flight if you show your onward DOH-ADD-DAR ticket with ET as UK citizens are allowed to enter Tanzania at the moment.
If you're flying IST-DOH with TK followed by a separate ticket with ET to Tanzania, TK would not allow you to board the IST-DOH flight stating that the passenger is not eligible to enter Qatar which is his final destination on his ticket with TK.
Similar situation for Russia;
Pre-COVID, on BA services to DME, people were able to fly LHR-DME without a Russian visa by showing an onward separate S7 ticket to the check-in and gate agent whereas some airlines like TK would not allow a UK citizen to board a flight to Russia without a visa unless the passenger has a connection to a third country on the same ticket.
If you are flying:
LHR-DOH with BA followed by a separate ticket with Ethiopian to Tanzania, BA would allow you to board the LHR-DOH flight if you show your onward DOH-ADD-DAR ticket with ET as UK citizens are allowed to enter Tanzania at the moment.
If you're flying IST-DOH with TK followed by a separate ticket with ET to Tanzania, TK would not allow you to board the IST-DOH flight stating that the passenger is not eligible to enter Qatar which is his final destination on his ticket with TK.
Similar situation for Russia;
Pre-COVID, on BA services to DME, people were able to fly LHR-DME without a Russian visa by showing an onward separate S7 ticket to the check-in and gate agent whereas some airlines like TK would not allow a UK citizen to board a flight to Russia without a visa unless the passenger has a connection to a third country on the same ticket.
Now that you mention it, I once did a TWOV in PVG departing from BEG with QR and continuing to HKG. The BEG agent needed a lot of convincing to issue boarding passes but ultimately did (after checking with QR supervisor on the ground and DOH office). I figured it might have just been the case of a third party checkin agent that likely was not very familiar with timatic/ TWOV in China.
Nov 30, 2020, 8:12 am
#73
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So you saying BA agents tend to be more confident? Good to know, I wasn’t aware, although I am guessing that might depend on the individual agent/ supervisor? Any other airlines that are more accommodating in your experience?
Now that you mention it, I once did a TWOV in PVG departing from BEG with QR and continuing to HKG. The BEG agent needed a lot of convincing to issue boarding passes but ultimately did (after checking with QR supervisor on the ground and DOH office). I figured it might have just been the case of a third party checkin agent that likely was not very familiar with timatic/ TWOV in China.
Now that you mention it, I once did a TWOV in PVG departing from BEG with QR and continuing to HKG. The BEG agent needed a lot of convincing to issue boarding passes but ultimately did (after checking with QR supervisor on the ground and DOH office). I figured it might have just been the case of a third party checkin agent that likely was not very familiar with timatic/ TWOV in China.
Nov 30, 2020, 8:47 am
#74
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Until today, I never took the risk of two separate tickets where I am not admitted into the final destination of the first ticket but from my experience from the forum reading other people's posts, I could tell that the US3 is also lenient. Not sure about other airlines.
The best fun itinerary was LHR-FRA-PVG-ZRH-LHR without visa under the 6 day TWOV rule.
Nov 30, 2020, 9:14 am
#75
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By the way, I remember that someone told me that WOW Air ( RIP ) denied boarding a mutual friend ( a friend of a friend ) when flying KEF-LGW ( WW ) and LGW-IST ( TK ) on separate tickets because the passengers didn't have the correct documents to enter to the UK ( UK visa in this case ).
I don't know if checked baggage was involved or not and I don't know the logic why they didn't attempt transferring from a Schengen country rather than the UK where they wouldn't had any issues. I also don't have information on how did they get to Iceland on their outbound from Turkey. My guess is that they bought the cheapest combination on Skyscanner or somewhere similar as IST-KEF fares are generally the double price compared to transferring somewhere in central Europe on separate tickets.