Denied check-in/boarding because of incorrect entry requirements
 

hello all,

i was wondering if there were any experiences you'd like to share where you were (almost!) denied check-in or boarding to a plane because they had incorrect entry requirements info regarding the country you were travelling to.

here are two examples that happened to some friends of mine.

1. friend was flying to taiwan on a us passport. at that time i believe the max stay without visa was 2 weeks. however it was possible to apply for a landing visa at tpe valid for one month. my friend had a ticket booked for three weeks, because of ignorance regarding the landing visa process his date of return was changed during check-in. he then had to change it again once he arrived in tpe. annoying.

2. friend was flying to vietnam on a us passport with a valid tourist visa recently issued in it. during check-in the agent insisted that in addition to the valid visa the vietnamese immigration authorities required that an additional id style picture be affixed in the passport next to it. all attempts to challenge this proved fruitless. how do you prove that something is n o t required? they also refused to fly him to hkg where there was a stop-over.

it is nigh impossible to find id picture machines anywhere in the us. eventually he was saved by remembering he actually had an id picture with him somewhere. thereupon they stapled it in and all was good. needless to say that the vietnamese border guards did not even look at the picture, nor seem to care about it.

ladies and gentlemen, your experiences? what did you do in similar cases?

al

Well, while living in Germany full time, I and a friend were flying from DUS to CTA and upon check-in (at different counters) for TUIlfly I did not have any of my documents pawed through, just bags tagged and on my way. My friend sat there as the agent tried to tell him he overstayed his 90 days in Europe, which is incorrect. We worked for a multinational org which does not need a Visa, just travel on an Official passport-however this was a tourist flight so my friend was just using a tourist passport for ID. It was entertaining to watch such things explained to the agent, back and forth, but my friend eventually received his boarding pass.

Ciao,
FH

that's odd indeed, why would the agent care since it is an intra-schengen flight and you're already in... must have been a particularly ordnung-muss-sein german. oh well. amusing!

al

That was the point I brought up...twice, but once the other passport was produced all was well (even though it had no stamp).

Of course, the TSA id checkers have fancied themselves junior immigration agents in the USA for years, many many times incorrectly.

Ciao,
FH

What? Impossible to find ID picture machines? Try any FedEX store, Walgreens, Walmart, Kinkos... I don't know how long to make this list. I live in the ghetto now and there are a dozen places advertising passport photos within a 5 minute walk. What are you looking for? One of those old ID photo booths? Any of those places mentioned above will give you a double set of photos for $10 to $20.

I LOVE statements like this. Huge blanketing comments. "It is impossible... anywhere in the US." The same comment about Kandahar or anywhere else in 2009 would make me laugh as well.

my dear friend i challenge you herewith to find an id picture machine near the ord united airlines check-in counters that you can reach in 15 minutes.

besides, trying to get your picture take at all FedEX store, Walgreens, Walmart, Kinkos that i know requires talking to people and would probably take at least 30 minutes.

al

Ha that is actually where I live! ;)

There is a Kinko's closer than ORD long term parking.
9504 W Higgins Rd, Rosemont, IL 60018

However!!! Better than that, there is a UPS store with Passport Taking capability in the ORD Hilton!

O'Hare Hilton O'Hare Int'l Airport
Chicago, IL 60666

Okay boys, play nice ;-)

I think you both have points. If you are pressed for a quick check in and not familiar with ORD you might not be able to take 20-30 mins to walk over and get the photos...but the other point is those booths do exist around the country in many locations :):):) :p

Ciao,
FH

i stand corrected.

at the same time, if you don't know these places exist, and where they are, they will be quite useless. i was implicitely comparing with many places and especially airports in europe where such machines will simply be present in or near terminals or train stations etc. within walkable distance.

cheerio,
al

AF computer details...
 

I was almost refused boarding at LHR by AirFrance once as I was checking in for LHR-CDG-RUN. I'm a British passport holder and RUN is a French Island in the Indian Ocean (on which I also happen to live!). It is part of France and has exactly the same immigration laws as France if you are a European passport holder. Unfortunately for me, Air France's internal computer system kept sending the check in assistant a warning that I had to have a valid visa in my passport in order to travel there. It was only after huge discussions with the groundstaff at LHR and proof of my living and working on the island for the past 3 years that I was allowed to board. The most annoying thing in this situation was that the airline was substituting its own ideas on immigration over the official rules and just flat out refused to believe anything I was saying.

I have got you. I understand :D I am not sure what happened to those little kiosk booths. They disappeared years ago from everywhere except Dave and Busters and other amusement type venues. Maybe it has something to do with the EXACT proportions ID photos have to be now to be digitized.

But as a traveler, your best friend needs to become google on your smart phone. I am sure that Iphone would have some sort of search app. Google mobile has saved me on numerous occasions and even allows me to surf Flyertalk while on the move.

By the way, Flyertalk has one of the worst mobile sites ever...but it is improving...slowly.

They exist. On entry to TXL last Saturday, I handed border drone #1 my passport opened to p. 16, the first page with free space. The drone dutifully flipped through each page looking for an earlier spot.

On departure from TXL Tuesday, I handed border drone #2 my passport, and said "page 16" when she started flipping through the pages. Drone #2 continued flipping through the pages until she reached ... page 16.

Neither drone said a peep to me. I need to return to TXL after I get a supplement added & almost full. :D

How I wish the folks in the US/India/<you name it> would do that. Too many stamps in my passport, all scattered everywhere and even under the wrond headings. No sir, I don't like it. Why can't they stamp from beginning to end, in order?

I renewed my passport this fall and got the pictures done at CVS, it took me five minutes. They use a digital camera and print the picture, I didn't have to talk to the person who took the picture I just asked for a passport picture.

A child's Canadian passport is required to remain unsigned. The signature line says something like 'signature not required.' In fact, if a child's Canadian passport is signed it's made unvalid. Last October my wife, 7-month old daughter and I were flying from RSW in Florida home to Vancouver. However, the check-in clerk refused to check us in because our 6-month old child's passport was unsigned.

We tried to explain that Canadian child's passports remain unsigned, but she would have nothing for it, claiming she'd 'been to a course and knew the facts' and that she'd 'pay a huge fine if she let us through'.

Finally we convinced her to phone head office, which she did, only to discover we were correct. Even then she told us we'd be turned away at security. We weren't of course.

We now have the relevant explanatory pages from the Passport Canada web site printed and folded up inside our daughter's passport.