Stranded by multi city ticket
Nov 13, 2008 | 10:05 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 3
Stranded by multi city ticket
I have a ticket 'MSP-LAX LAX-AMS AMS-LAX LAX-MSP' right now I am in LA without a passport. There is not enough time to acquire a new passport before my flight. I'm OK with not going to Amsterdam but I do want to make it back to Minneapolis and I don't think I should have to pay to do it. Any ideas?
Nov 13, 2008 | 10:09 am
#2
Join Date: Sep 2006
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Posts: 151
Do you think someone else should pay to get you back to MSP?
Nov 13, 2008 | 10:11 am
#3
Join Date: Sep 2005
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I think he's just trying to be able to skip unflown segments of his original itinerary. Even if he loses the value of LAX-AMS-LAX, he still wants to be able to use the final segment: LAX-MSP.
Welcome to FT!
Welcome to FT!
Nov 13, 2008 | 10:15 am
#4
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Did you forget your passport at home? Lose it? Never get one in the first place?
I would think that you might be able to persuade NW to delay the continuation of your trip without penalty if you have a good excuse for not having your passport. If it's at home, for example, perhaps someone could FedEx it to you and you could start your transatlantic journey tomorrow.
I would think that you might be able to persuade NW to delay the continuation of your trip without penalty if you have a good excuse for not having your passport. If it's at home, for example, perhaps someone could FedEx it to you and you could start your transatlantic journey tomorrow.
Nov 13, 2008 | 10:17 am
#5
Join Date: Feb 2006
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There has to be more to this. You must have nested, as I don't believe NW will let you get on the first segment of an itinerary, that includes an international segment, without a DA verification.
Is LAX-AMS going through MEM/DTW/MSP, or is that a KLM direct?
Steve B.
Is LAX-AMS going through MEM/DTW/MSP, or is that a KLM direct?
Steve B.
Nov 13, 2008 | 10:22 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 3
No, there is no time to have the passport shipped or have a new one issued. It is at home in a safe an no one there has the keys.
No, there is nothing more, NW does let you on a flight without a passport if the first flight is domestic. I wish they didn't then I wouldn't be where I am now.
the Amsterdam flights are direct to and from LA.
No, there is nothing more, NW does let you on a flight without a passport if the first flight is domestic. I wish they didn't then I wouldn't be where I am now.
the Amsterdam flights are direct to and from LA.
Nov 13, 2008 | 10:25 am
#7
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Well, you're not stranded by a multi-city ticket, but by forgetting your passport. You can often get a same day passport, if you have your other details (birth certificate, etc). You can call the airline and explain your situation. And hope for some help. Otherwise, it's your fault, and you'll suffer, I'm sure. 
Nov 13, 2008 | 10:26 am
#8
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,298
I have a ticket 'MSP-LAX LAX-AMS AMS-LAX LAX-MSP' right now I am in LA without a passport. There is not enough time to acquire a new passport before my flight. I'm OK with not going to Amsterdam but I do want to make it back to Minneapolis and I don't think I should have to pay to do it. Any ideas?
Maybe you can persuade the LAX ticket counter to accept the LAX-MSP
portion of your ticket without charge to get you back to MSP but usually
a charge for changes. Hopefully you can get back to MSP and get credit
for unused segments toward purchase of new ticket.
Last edited by Boston_Bulldog; Nov 13, 2008 at 10:33 am
Nov 13, 2008 | 10:49 am
#9
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Since MSP appears to be home, if I were you, I'd try to persuade NW to let me substitute LAX-MSP-AMS for the LAX-AMS nonstop so I could swing by the house during a layover at MSP and pick up the passport.
Nov 13, 2008 | 11:50 am
#10
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If this was all one itinerary (no matter which mode of nwa.com you used to book it), and that didn't happen, then someone messed up big time.
Nov 13, 2008 | 11:52 am
#11
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Location: LAX/BOS/HKG/AMS/SFO...hmm, I need a life.
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In my experience, this is not true. Your boarding pass should have beeped when it was scanned at MSP, and the agent should have been alerted that your international documents (eg passport) had not been verified. I have seen this happen, and have personally been called up to the gate for my first (domestic) flight because this information was not in place in the computer system. Once the info is checked, they stamp "D/A OK" on your boarding pass, to verify that they have the information, and that you have your passport.
If this was all one itinerary (no matter which mode of nwa.com you used to book it), and that didn't happen, then someone messed up big time.
If this was all one itinerary (no matter which mode of nwa.com you used to book it), and that didn't happen, then someone messed up big time.
Nov 13, 2008 | 11:56 am
#12
Join Date: Jan 2006
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Just this past summer, I used multi-city to book:
MSN-PDX, PDX-TLS, TLS-PDX, PDX-MSN. The system knew that I was going to France, and knew that I needed to have a passport. And it knew this in Madison (this was the instance I was referring to, where I was called up to the gate).
OP, was there a stopover booked in LA? Or was it just a straight away connection?
Nov 13, 2008 | 12:11 pm
#13
Join Date: Feb 2006
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As I've heard, there's a significant financial penalty against the airlines by foreign governments if a pax is delivered without proper docs (and has to be returned home), hence the efficiency at not letting someone on an international segment without a D/A. If this were a single itinerary, single-PNR, MSP-LAX-AMS-LAX-MSP, and there was no D/A at MSP-LAX, it appears to be a breakdown in process by NW in MSP.
Appears LAX-AMS-LAX is the KL601/KL602 turn (and 747!). Could the international segment of a PNR being on a codeshare have prevented the D/A requirement at initial departure?
Steve B.
Appears LAX-AMS-LAX is the KL601/KL602 turn (and 747!). Could the international segment of a PNR being on a codeshare have prevented the D/A requirement at initial departure?
Steve B.
Nov 13, 2008 | 12:14 pm
#14
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 3
Yes I got into LA on Monday and am supposed to leave tomorrow for Amsterdam. So yes there is a stop in LA which is why they didn't ask for a passport in Minneapolis (I assume). I just bought a one way back to Minneapolis so this is moot now.
Nov 13, 2008 | 12:24 pm
#15
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I think you gave up too easily. For the price of that last-minute one-way ticket, you should have been able to re-route through MSP and grab your passport.