I'm not sure why this matters. :confused:

If I were in a similar situation, I would have just asked to purchase an onward ticket to resolve the issue (and just refund it later). Whether the ticket was bought last month or a minute ago shouldn't matter, as long as a valid eTicket was available. With the eTicket number in hand, DL no longer has any reason to deny boarding to the OP.

If you don't get anywhere with Delta quickly, I would contact the investigative reporter at your local news organization. There are also some larger national advocate groups for travelers... I'd contact them with the details as well.

Well, here is the critical piece of info. Having at one-time been based out of GNV, I can say with authority that these folks (though nice) are not always the most helpful. Though I agree that perhaps it would have been prudent to have actually purchased the onward ticket, I don't think that is the real issue here. After reading the OP, I assumed you were already in ATL at the boarding gate for the international flight. In this circumstance, there is absolutely no reason the agent in GNV counldn't have simply checked you in for only the GNV-ATL portion of your trip. This has happened many times! Perhaps you are traveling with someone else arriving from another city who will provide your password in ATL or any number of other circumstances. It was absolutely incorrect for a DLCX agent at a small outstation to hinder such a trip, IMHO.

I don't know how to handle this correctly at this point. Perhaps try this (if you have a CC available): Purchase a fully-refundable Delta ticket BKK-NRT-BKK (can be had a delta.com for around $1500) that would put you in Thailand for under 30 days. Call in and if an agent over the phone will rebook your trip have them include in the notes section that you have this other ticket and that you are OK to board. If they won't rebook you (without cost), then go back to GNV and try to work with the agent there. There is simply no way they can not permit you to travel when you have purchased an onward ticket with Delta. If all else fails, if they would be willing to rebook you, just have them check you in to ATL. I think you could have handled this a little better (having onward ticket booked and/or having a visa despite not expecting to need one), but I still believe Delta is in the wrong on this one. 1 Agent in GNV has no business disrupting such a trip.

I'd like to explain detail-by-detail what happened yesterday.

There was a problem with our ticket at the GNV check-in counter and a supervisor was called over, who, after a minute of looking at our information told us we "could not get on the plane without a visa." I asked if I could show proof of onward travel within 30 days of entry, then would I be able to board. No. He slammed his fist down, yelled "YOU ARE NOT GETTING ON THIS PLANE WITHOUT A VISA!" and walked away. There was no one at check-in for the next hour to help us as it was 30 minutes before take-off and the next flight out of GNV was in three hours. So we went home.

The other passenger called Delta and we were given the spiel of how the airline would be fined $20,000 dollars if we were deported. Three separate people told us that if we didn't have a visa then we couldn't go, no matter what. "So you're telling me Delta does not allow anyone to get on a plane ending up in Thailand without a pre-arranged visa if their ticket is for greater than 30 days." Apparently they don't.

Today I called Delta and got the same answer. I also called the Thai consulates in NYC and DC and both said that I would not have any problems if I could show proof of leaving Thailand within 30 days. The Delta representative told me that "we have no way of knowing what you will do in Thailand so it does not matter that you have a ticket out within 30 days." I didn't really know what to say to that.

Edit: I did not have an ongoing ticket, but I was not given a chance to even explain the reason behind purchasing one to the check-in guy. I had a droid phone on me to buy one in <5 minutes, or I guess could have booked one through GNV. Instead I got yelling

On an itinerary such as the OP's, is the originating city allowed to check in the pax without what the originating city considers to be proper paperwork, and allow the pax to straighten things out, in the international departure city, in this case ATL? Or in the originating city, if you don't have what the agent considers to be proper paperwork, are you just out of luck? I agree that going to ATL could gave helped things, but I am not sure that was a permissable option.

OP, you're getting screwed. Write letters, keep calling, escalate it up. Don't let them feed you that line of bull. Write/contact the media. It sounds to me like you're being WAY too nice. Get the name of that guy who basically told you to f-off and write to Delta.
Somebody here should be able to provide a contact name/address of someone high up in the cust care dept who can get something done for you.

At that point, it sounds like your only hope would be to get to Atlanta where you might find some sanity. I would have insisted that they check mr in to ATL, and if they would not, I would have purchased a separate ticket to ATL that they would have had to sell me and check me in on.

Delta and its agent are in the wrong. Foreign immigration in any country can ask for ongoing tickets. It does not have to be on the same carrier or on the same ticket that the passenger is flying in on. In fact, the passenger could be leaving a cruise ship. People fly into all sorts of foreign place to catch a cruise. In particular, Bangkok is an entry point to the rest of Southeast Asia with many travelers chosing to go overland or by boat to Laos or Cambodia, for instance, and departing from those countries. I work in thee travel industry. Delta's agent is wrong.

I'm not near the authority on this issue as other posters are (notably B747-437B; sorry to see his contribution removed because the mods saw fit to move the thread, but that's water long under the bridge), but I will add that if this occurred in GNV, it was not a Delta agent who made the mistake, but an ASA agent.

FWIW, if it were me, and I really needed to get out that day, I would have purchased a walk-up fare GNV-ATL on the spot, and dealt with the mess in ATL.

Are you saying the departing airline simply cannot ask for proof that you are leaving within the 30 day period? No onward airline tickets, cruise tickets or anything, even if your RT DL ticket on it's face puts you in violation of the 30 day rule as it did in this case?

the OP didn't present onward travel he said he was going to buy itthen and there.

This is a particularly scary contention. To all the documentation holier-than-thous, your view of when an air carrier should accept someone makes no sense whatsoever. Many people, particularly in Southeast Asia, drive or jet around from country to country. Particularly on a US passport this presents no problems whatsoever. It's also common to purchase a ticket a few days before flying, particularly given how cheap and easy southeast asia's LCCs are.

If the more-documented-than-thou crowd was right, only people with documented onward air travel or trips less than X days would be allowed to fly anywhere. It would be impossible to fly into a country, while planning on driving or bussing it to another country, fly on an LCC, and then returning to fly out of the original country. Anyone who flies oneway would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they would leave by the proper time. But yet purchase the fake Y ticket and refund it five minutes later fixes the problem?

This literally makes no sense and even a well-meaning DL agent should have the common sense to realize that OPs scenario happens about 100 times a second, and he should be allowed to fly. The agent (and OP) should keep escalating the issue to find someone who will give it the green light. If the World's Premier Global Airline can't handle people who occasionally travel outside Atlanta, find a new airline.

Even if the agent wanted to enforce what s/he saw as the letter of the law, OP's purchase of an onward ticket then and there ends the discussion. Delta has no leg whatsoever to stand on.

Gainesville - say no more.
 

Once you get about 5 miles away from UF, it's a whole 'nother country.:rolleyes:

Next time drive to JAX. Just be careful along 301 in the infamous town of Lawtey, and the other fine speed traps along that road. Fine selection of 65-55-45 MPH drops in about 1/4 mile span to help the local budget. Don't get fooled once out of Lawtey and think you're safe back at highway speed.

Go Gators! (son and daughter both are Gators.)

Sorry the OP is Wrong and DL are Right.

The OP only had an Itinerary and a plan to purchase a RT Ticket to Malaysia, this is not sufficient, the OP needed a Confirmed Onward or Return Ticket within 30 Days. Even if it was on The Orient Express Train. Whilst other prople have mentioned its unlikely any Arrivals Immigration officer would check, the DL Agent was 100% correct in complying with the Regulations.

Incidently as Thailand Count the Day In and Day Out as part of the 30 Days its always only 28 Nights Maximum Stay. I once missed this on my Must Depart by date stamp and then had to pay an overstay fine at Departure Immigration.

Finally the Old Visa Runs no longer work as they did, Visitors are now restricted to a total of 90 Days in any 6 months. But thats a whole new Ball Game.

The OP was willing to purchase the ticket that was reserved. This outstation DL agent apparently did not care.