Hey so yesterday when i was checking in for my flight HK-AMS-LHR, the check in agent suddenly stares at his screen and asks me, “do you have a visa for London”.

I laugh a little and answer no cuz I’m a euro and don’t need one. He, however, insists and says i need a visa for the UK because according to his screen they have received a notice that citizens from my country now need a visa.

Flabbergasted, I proceed to show him the gov.uk website where it clearly says that i don’t, but alas, he stands firm and i need a visa. (I think he was new. He looked quite young too so who knows.)

In any case, his colleague comes over and checks my passport and tells him he looked up the info for the wrong country and all is resolved with an apology and tix quickly printed. I’m not fussed. Thought it was quite funny.

But this got me thinking. What if a less astute passenger just accepts what is presented as fact? Will they be denied boarding because some kid wasn’t paying enough attention in geography class? Who will be held responsible?

oh and the Lufthansa flight was cancelled and I think that’s the reason i got upgraded to fancy class for all those who decided to transit via AMS instead. So all in all quite a positive experience.

Which country did he think your passport was from?

No idea. I’m guessing he typed in the first 3 letters and then went with the first thing that popped on the screen. Not sure how it works but it gave me a little fright once he insisted so much lol

Switzerland Swaziland

This happened to me in Europe, flying on Ryanair with their obsessive visa checks for US passport holders. You'd think they might assume US persons have visa-free access to the UK, but no. I only managed to resolve the situation by showing them my UK residency card; I wonder what annoying bureaucratic mess would have ensued if I wasn't able to satisfy the gate agent with that.

It's happened quite often the past month that I've been to and from HK. I have dual passports and obviously always present the one that is visa free. My passport is also a less common one and often find check in agents whipping out their phones to double check all sorts. I think many check in agents are pretty new in HK now.

On a side note, I had an agent even whip out her class manual or some sorts to double check something for me once. It was old and wrinkly and I was surprised she had it on her. She made lots of notes in it, I was actually impressed

I’m just trying to figure out the mistake that happened. SWA country code really?

But then again HKG can make mistakes like that pre-pandemic also NZeTA required from 1 October 2019 to visit or transit New Zealand