reidlewis

I live in NYC but was in Pittsburgh for the holiday weekend. My wife and I were supposed to fly a one way itinerary, PIT-JFK-YQB on DL on 7/6.

The evening prior to the trip, Mrs. ReidLewis and I realized we left our passports in NYC. With a 3 hour layover at JFK, we figured that would be more than enough time to have a friend/family member drop off passports during our layover there.

I should also mention our passport info was attached to the reservation because we provided it during online check-in. We called DL to make sure we wouldn't have an issue getting on the PIT-JFK flight. Their response was that since we were successfully checked in for both flights, we were fine from DL's perspective to fly the domestic segment but they recommended checking with TSA to be certain. We called TSA and were given the all clear since all they are looking for is that the boarding pass matches the government issued ID (in this case, we would be using driver's licenses).

The next day, we got through security in PIT with no questions asked. When we arrived at the gate, we decided to notify the gate agent that we were flying the domestic leg of our trip without passports and that we had cleared it with the airline the night before. We simply didn't want any surprises during boarding. Stunningly, the gate agent told us we were on her "passport swipe list" and she could not let us board the plane to JFK without physically swiping our passports. She checked with a supervisor and then came back with the same response - we could not board that plane. This effectively left us stranded in Pittsburgh.

I asked the gate agent if she could separate out the two legs into two separate reservations to isolate the domestic flight from the international one. She said she could not. I asked if she could modify the reservation so that it terminated in New York so we could at least return home, retrieve our passports and then attempt to be re-booked to YQB. Again, the answer was no. The gate agent did not offer any sort of re-accommodation. We were left completely on our own.

We purchased walk up tickets on US Airways to LGA so that we could at least get home. Once home, I called Delta and the agent was dumbfounded about what transpired in PIT. During that call I was able to confirm there was a record on my PNR of my phone call to DL the night before. The agent refunded the tickets but could only offer $100 in travel credit. I accepted the refund but declined the travel credit since, based on her reaction and the money we spent out of pocket to leave PIT, it sounded like perhaps more could be done for us if we write in to DL share this experience.

Obviously someone was wrong here: either the agent we spoke to the evening before or the gate agent and supervisor at PIT. Does anyone know if a passport is required for a domestic flight if that same itinerary includes an international flight as well? If not, is this considered an IDB situation?

Any comments, suggestions or advice would be welcomed and appreciated.

MSPeconomist

It's not officially IDB since you weren't left behind because the flight was oversold.

There have been several threads about this on FT recently.

IME in the past there might not have been a passport check before domestic connecting flights, especially for overnight connections, but last month I needed to show my passport to the GA when my boarding pass beeped as I was boarding MSP-DTW connecting to a flight to Europe.

mbwmbw

Not an IDB. Technically you need your passports.

rwoman

For domestic legs of LAX-MSP, SAN-JFK, and others connecting to LHR, I've needed to show my passport at the originating airport. I usually do so when I drop my checked bags and again at the connecting point as I board the plane.

rylan

I don't think having your passport info entered in your DL profile or at online check in does anything... I've entered my info into my intl travel profile, yet when I do OLCI, it still asks me for it with blank fields. I enter it there, and when I get to the airport I also am told they need my passport info since it isn't confirmed in my record.

Pretty crappy you were given bad info and then stuck having to buy a last minute ticket to get home. When it was apparent the GA wouldn't help, you probably needed to call and have an agent help split up or reticket over the phone.

rwoman

Right. At OLCI, I'm pretty sure my BP (iPhone, paper, etc.) states INT'L-VERIFY PASSPORT until it's been seen at the airport.

CDKing

Even if it were oversold it falls under an exmeption to the IDB regulations

MSPeconomist

Yes, but it's scary when instead it says INT'L - VISA REQUIRED when a visa is not required.

ND76

It has been my experience that the airline is required to check your passport wherever you board your first flight on an international itinerary, even though you are flying a domestic segment to get to the hub from where the international segment departs. Where I checked in on line and didn't have to go to the counter to check a bag but went straight through TSA to the gate, Delta paged me and when I got to the podium at the gate, they asked to see my passport.

TerryK

deja vu.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...ve-lesson.html

dd1612

Strange!

I have not needed my passport verified to board any domestic flight MSP-ORD/DTW/ATL/JFK when connecting to an international flight, and mind you have checked 2 bags all the way through.

Yes, at boarding at the gate before getting onto the aircraft for the international sector have needed to have passport verified.
(last travel internationally was April'14)

Again, unless this is a new regulation by Delta and/or TSA.

orca15

Always have been required to check passport on first leg. But I think this is policy, rather than regulation, to prevent folks from getting to the second leg with no PP. On the Intl leg they become responsible for taking you back if the docs are bad.

It seems the first Delta agent didn't realize the policy could be bent in your case, while everyone else did. Unlucky.

woodenshoe101

You would probably have shown your passport to the person who checked your bags. The "official" check is only needed once, either when obtaining boarding pass, or at the gate at the originating airport (even if the first leg is domestic) - sometimes you get paged, if you don't and don't show it proactively to the gate agent, the scanner WILL beep to verify you passport.

That said, it is common practice to verify passport with a simple visual check when boarding an international segment. It may also be required, but the main idea is that you don't board someone accidentally without a passport. Someone boarding without a passport - people do lose things, even between the check-in counter and the gate - is a very expensive error for the airline.

As mentioned above - it is rather annoying that the app does not remember passport info even if stored in your profile. they could build in an additional pin security to verify passport info if they are worried about data security.

baccarat_king

Story of my life.

I get that all the time, because I fly AMS-USA-AMS.

But, a visa is required, technically.

CMK10

I can't really blame DL for this one. Everyone has an excuse and while yours may be true, how many people's aren't? Let's say you get to JFK and then for whatever reason, couldn't get your passport. Whose responsibility is it to get you home? Or what if JFK didn't check because they thought PIT had and you got all the way to YQB? I can see why they wouldn't allow you to board, sorry for the experience though