jphripjah

Let's say I book a flight to India on Airline A and have a separate onward ticket leaving India a few hours later on Airline B.

I have no Indian visa. No checked luggage.

Will airline A let me on the plane to India with no visa if I show them the onward ticket on airline B? Or will they say "Sorry, as far as we're concerned, we're flying you to India and you need a visa for that, we won't accept an onward ticket in lieu of a visa"

Is there a definite yes or no answer to this or is it up to the discretion of the airline check in staff and results will vary greatly?

SK AAR

I don't have a firm answer as I believe it is up to the check-in agents/staff at airport if they will let you travel without visa. There is certainly a risk that that the check-in staff will take the view that according to their reservation/information your destination is India and as you need a visa to enter India you will not be allowed to board. There has been many reports in various threads (not restricted to India) where pax have not been allowed to travel as they had no visa for the destination of the first flight despite declaring their intentions to stay in transit and depart on a separate ticket. I would say that it is very risky and you can't be certain of the outcome until you have the BP in your hand.

irishguy28

Airlines have no discretion in the matter.

If you fly to India on Airline A, they have to assess your ability to enter India. It doesn't matter if you show them another booking on another airline on a completely different ticket - that doesn't change the fact that you voluntarily entered into a contract with them to bring you to India. The airline has its own obligations, to check the entitlement of all of its passengers. You told them you want them to bring you to India, so they have to treat you as if you are entering India.

Airlines are penalised for bringing passengers into a country that they do not have the correct documents to enter, and would be required to remove you from the country again (they wouldn't do it for free; they'd recover the costs from you).

Do yourself a favour - ensure that you have whatever (transit) visas are necessary for you to make this journey. As far as Airline A is concerned, they are flying you to India where their responsibility for you ends, so they have to ensure (for their own sake) that you have the correct documents to enter India.

jphripjah

Thanks. It's actually not me, someone asked the question on Reddit and I didn't know the answer. I imagine this sort of thing has happened before, I just can't remember seeing any online postings from anyone who was allowed to "self-transfer without visa" like this or from anyone in a similar situation who was denied boarding.

GUWonder

It can go either way; but if the separately-booked onward ticket out of India is back to the country/region where attempting to check-in and/or board the flight to India, then the odds plummet for it working out even with a plan for an airside intra-international zone transit.

India does evisas for a growing list of foreign nationals. The last round of Indian evisas which I got done came back with visas approved within 21 hours of paying for the applications.

nomiiiii

While the written rules can be different, in practice this completely depends on what airlines are these (e.g. WizzAir/RyanAir types will absolutely not even consider looking at your other ticket, while airlines within OneWorld alliance etc will atleast entertain the idea or 'check with station manager' before giving you a hard no answer). Often in these cases the written/official rules do not matter at all and what matters the most is the mood of the airline checkin agent. To be safe obviously do not do this, but if the cost savings are huge and your trip isn't critical (i.e. you can afford to miss it) you can give it a shot and try to sweet talk the agent to convince them.

keitherson

Self-transfers happen all the time. And yes, there is always risk, but most of the time it works out. However, India is not a country where you can do self-transfers. It is explicitly written out in Timatic

TWOV (Transit Without Visa)

Passengers transiting through Bangalore (BLR), Chennai (MAA), Delhi (DEL), Kolkata (CCU) or Mumbai (BOM) with a confirmed onward ticket for a flight to a third country within 24 hours. The connecting flight must be booked on the same ticket and the luggage must be checked to the final destination.
They must stay in the international transit area of the airport and have documents required for the next destination.

Passengers transiting through Hyderabad (HYD) with a confirmed onward ticket for a flight to a third country within 24 hours. They must stay in the international transit area of the airport and have documents required for the next destination. Airlines must obtain the approval from the Immigration before departure.

Hotel facilities are available in Terminal 3 at Delhi (DEL) for passengers with a boarding pass for their connecting flight.

Passengers on flight AI 263 transiting from New Delhi (DEL) to Thiruvananthapuram (TRV) and traveling to Male (MLE) can transit without a visa. They must remain in the aircraft in Thiruvananthapuram (TRV).

trooper

Given the consequences for the airline if the passenger then tries to enter country "A" I'd be amazed if they'd take anyones word for it. Whats to stop someone ineligible for a visa trying this route to get in? What possible guarantees could be given TO the airline?

EDIT: I suspect there are good historical reasons for India having those rules as laid out in Timatic.