I do agree that it is my mistake that I did not check the third party country regulation and I presumably expected that Hong Kong airlines does the same providing the sterile transit at Vancouver as similar to other airlines.

However, hong kong airline is still the worst choice comparably. I felt cheated since this problem won't happen if I booked a flight from competitive airlines such as Air Canada even they used the same route. Having an obvious negative condition different from other airlines, Hong Kong airlines try to offer the same deal but choose not to tell customer about its unique condition in order to gain the market share from this route. This indicates me that the airline is unprofessional and dishonest.

Most importantly, the way the airline treats customer during the airport is unacceptable. Even there are many official at there and they know that I am going to miss my flight, there is no sense of urgency and responsbility at all.

As a hong kong tourist without having phone number, I was told many times to find the telephone box to contact call center by myself even I am in the state of shocking. I needed to spend a tremendous effort trying to fight with their ignorance and make them assist me to get through the problem.

Afterward, they comes with some possible solutions such as changing route to land in LA or San Fran instead, or refunding option. However, I was asked to sit and wait for the confirmation while they went enjoy having their lunch. it totally took 5 hours (10am-3pm) to let me know that changing route option is not applicable. It also took another hour to let me know that refund is not eligible as well (3pm-4pm). And in the end, they just hand over me to a call center and let them explain that it was my mistake and they could not help.

As a result, I needed to wait and stay at the airport for more than 7 hours, without having any food, in order to only get confirmed that I will get nothing. And the airlines does not provide any compensation, not even a drinking water, as they waste much of my time.

​​​​​​For me, this is just not right in all aspects. This is not the way that the company suppose to treat a customer. In fact, It is not a way that human suppose to treat human.

I have zero dogs in this fight, since I could care less about anything that Hong Kong Airlines does since I don't usually head that direction. That being said, plain as day direct from their website:

At the end of the day, it's your responsibility to make sure you have every single piece of travel document prepared and ready for travel. While, yes the airline should provide a reminder, it's still your sole responsibility to make sure its all ready.

Someone should have told you that you can typically get a Canadian evisa in minutes on their website. I was flying through SEA today and they had signs up from the Canadian government letting people know that they typically get the approval email in less than 5 minutes

OP is correct that Thai passport holders do not need visas to transit Vancouver to the US as long as they are flying some specific airlines. Hong Kong airlines is NOt one of them.

Actually, international to international or international to transborder (US) connections are quite messy in both Canada and the US. There is a lengthy list of all sorts of requirements listed on the Government of Canada's website where you need to meet certain requirements by passport, airline, even terminal, etc.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...igibility.html

I also don't think HX has any duty to move you to their SFO/LAX flights and find another connection for you. They probably need to wait for last minute availability before even considering a move out of their generosity. After all, it is your responsibility to make sure your visas/paperwork are sufficient to board.

Maybe it depends on the passport you use for Canada Visa. Just had a friend applied and rejected. Submitted paperwork showing they worked in management, submitted bank account statements, submitted air ticket / hotel reservation details (5 star hotel), submitted copies of Visa from 15-20 different countries including USA, EU, AU, NZ. Got rejected and it said "We do not think you will leave Canada".

Anyhoo, we encountered this exact same problem with YVR some years back doing a AA-CX transfer, and fortunately the airline re-routed us after finding out some member of party couldn't transit in canada. I'm surprised the airport is still in the stone ages when it comes to airside transfers, and not so surprised Hong Kong Airlines was not so helpful. I can't tell if Hong Kong Airlines is a LCC or not, but not being helpful certainly leans toward yes, lol.

At the end of the day, regardless of how good or bad the airline is, its the responsibility of the traveler to make sure they can travel to/thru the countries... had my fair share of close calls within the last 500 flights so now I read fairly carefully.

HX doesn't have many partners in North America. They're not in any alliance so the choices for rerouting are very limited and will be very costly for them just to give some ignorant customer goodwill.

Ignorant Customer comment is a bit harsh

Probably easier just to remember not to fly Hong Kong Airlines

+ all the major international airlines who are not obliged to rebook or accommodate you as it is the passenger's responsibility to obtain all the visas/paperwork for their itinerary.

please don't blame the airline for your own mistake. Maybe you should have used a real live travel agent.

your own fault. Nothing to do with HK air

I'm sorry to tell you that airlines are not responsible for any travel documentation. It is always up to the passenger to do the research and obtain the docs. This is a terrible way to learn about this; a good travel agent would have given you all the required information. While I understand why the airlines don't post details on needed documentation, I cannot understand why they don't just put up a banner reminding you when you purchase the tix. We see far too many travellers wasting their good money and their time because they didn't ascertain what docs would be required.