You're right. I realized just after making that last post that it was, in fact, 2003! So it's not such a recent change (I edited my last post to reflect that). Good luck!

I tend to agree with B747 here...AA made a huge mistake by letting you board at lga..However you made the mistake of not checking yourself what were the requirements to enter CR...
-howie

zresnik, welcome to FT!

I am very sorry about the experience you've had on your trip, and I am equally sorry about the reception you have received at FT.

Let's be reasonable here, folks! I think it is entirely reasonable for the not-so-frequent flyer to trust visa advide provided by an airline. Why would the average person double-check different sources? Hell, the average person probably doesn't check at all. Similarly, the agent made a huge mistake when checking zresnik in. The fact that this wouldn't have happened to most of the 100,000+ mile crowd is really irrelevant. Stop judging the OP. Similarly, the after-the-fact advice on how to grease the palms of some Costa Rican official isn't of great value now; picture a family of inexperienced travellers in this situation and imagine their fear and desperation!

So, zresnik, don't feel discouraged by the responses you have received here. You did not ruin your family's vacation. It was a series of unfortunate events. I am not so certain what advice I would give with respect to compensation. Pause for a minute and be grateful that you did not have to spend the night in an immigration holding cell, and that you got (most of) your hotel money refunded. I think it would be more than fair for AA to (a) credit the original miles and (b) agree to fly you back to Costa Rica for free, and perhaps (c) give you a little something to cover your Florida expenses.

Good luck!

My goodness! Had you planned some once-in-a-lifetime surgical procedure in CR? Did your dog die from excitement upon your early return?

You have enough web-savvy to post here, and apparently enough travel-savvy to locate and book a resort in Central America, but not enough to google "costa rica travel requirements"?

What exactly is the basis for your lawsuit? Have you actually found an attorney willing to accept the case on a contingency basis? Wouldnt buying some Lottery tickets be easier?

For the sake of your family's happiness when you go there next year, I hope the resort doesnt accidentally screw up your breakfast order, or loan you a tennis racquet with an incorrect grip size

Deported in Costa Rica
 

I think you should quit blaming others for your lack of proper planning. Face it, you screwed up.

My sympathies, zresnick. It does sound like you and your family had an absolutely miserable experience and that AA, having flown you to a country when your son didn't have the right papers, could have handled it a little better in Miami. Airlines are running on paper-thin margins these days (well, most of them are actually losing money every day) and they've gotten pretty cheap about what they do when things go wrong unless you fly with them a lot. That's not just AA.

I hope you get some recompense and that you get your son a well-deserved passport!

I cleared immigration back to the US last night from Mexico. The immigration officer was friendly and remarked how many people don't have a passport who travel to Mexico.

Anyway, welcome to FlyerTalk, zresnik. Visit and post often.

Whoa, In the past month I flew to CR (San Jose) 4 times either to remain in the CR-Once, or in order to connect. I flew out of JFK with TACA, each time we had at least 1 person that Immigration was sending back and NOT allowed in for whatever reason, this is the 1st time I heard about it happening in reverse.

I spoke briefly with the Officers who were with the person being sent back. And the US at least Fines the Carrier $10,000 if they carried someone who doesnt have the proper Documentation in order to enter the U.S.


As per AA, since AA doesnt fly Intl from LGA I can understand their Agents possibly not being fully aware of ALL the Requirements that are necessary for Entry into another Country. I think AA flies only to Canada from LGA and it has been that one needed a Drivers License or Birth Certificate in order to gain Entrance into Canada. So I can understand if they let you board the Flight that went to MIA. But Im surprised that they didnt ask upon boarding for the flight to Liberia to see proper documentation. NOT so that the Passenger wont be turned away, but in order to Avoid being Fined by that Country for having transported someone w/o proper Documentation. Plus the Airline doesnt get paid by that the Country that refuses entrance for the tkt back to point of Origin.

Regardless of what AA Agents should have done in order to protect their Airline from being Fined, they are NOT responsible for making sure you have the Proper Documents in order for you to enter said Country. I use to live Overseas on a Tourist Visa. My tkts started from that Country when I flew back here to the States. Once when using a Free Award tkt from AA in conjunction with a BA(flight since AA Metal didnt fly into the Country I was living in), they refused to let me travel unless I had Proff of a return tkt from the country I was living in. I explained that I lived there and I would take my chances of being Turned away when I got there as I knew there was no chance of that. Still I had to show proff that I had an actual Return tkt to leave within 6 months of Entering, WHY? cause they would be Fined $10,000 if they let me go and I was NOT allowed to Enter cause I had no return tkt as per the Law. I was lucky in that I had in my carry-on , a free TWA tkt from that Country so they let me travel. I still fly into and out of that country till today on tkts that Originate from over there, and besides taht 1 time yrs ago have never been denied Paasage due to a lack of a tkt back out.

I dont Blame AA if I didnt have the other Tkt, they arent doing what they do to prtect me but in order to Protect their Carrier from being Fined.

If AA is nice at all they might give the OP a new set of tkts to fly back there in Feb. But as others have posted, it was/is FULLY the Responsibility of the Passenger to know what is and isnt needed in order to gain Entrance into another Country. Yes certain Agents with AA might have misinformed you BUT the OP has learned a very costly lesson (more then just a Money one) that airline employees are NOT the people to ask what is needed and what isnt needed. Ive been to CR a few times since 2000, and I never even thought that a person could Enter w/o a Passport, I always thought that the only Exemptions were Canada and Mexico when traveling from the US.

Im sorry to read of the ruined vacation and hassles you went thru, but theres BUT 1 person to blame and Unfortunately its the OP for having asked the wrong party the questions.

You made the choice to stay in Miami. AA shouldn't pay for any of those expenses.

If you had been turned away in NY, how would that change the higher cost of rebooking your hotel in February? AA shouldn't pay for the difference in price. The extra money you spent in Miami was due to your decision to stay there, not AA leaving you stranded. You should get a couple of vouchers for compensation for being allowed to board the flight in NY, but that is about it.

It is terrible when something like this happens and I'm sorry your family's vacation didn't turn out as you planned. But suck it up and take personal responsibility for the mistakes YOU made.

Stick around FT, read and learn, and you will be able to make good travel choices in the future.

Just because it is "policy" doesn't mean AA couldn't have flown them all the way back to their original departure point (or anywhere else in the continental US for that matter), especially considering that it was AA who appears to be responsible at this point for having had the OP ride all the way to Costa Rica on a trip to nowhere.

On the other hand, the OP does mention that he "figured he would stay in Miami", which both implies he could have been flown back to LGA, and weakens his case for compensation of expenses incurred in Miami. But he can always try, if it is in a nicely worded (no "emotional distress equivalent to the death of Smidgen, I am shocked, shocked to hear that there's gambling going on in here", etc.) letter. I wouldn't expect much, but who knows.

I rarely chime on these posts, but here goes:

This quote doesn't exactly boost your credibility.

Did American make you rebook in February? Do you honestly think American owes you the difference between what I believe are the shoulder and peak seasons?

Did AA make you stay in MIA? If not, why should AA have paid for your expenses? You didn't have to incur the costs -- you could have cut your losses and regrouped for another trip.

And...you want AA to reimburse you for an additional night because you didn't have the foresight to find out when the next flight to LIR departed? Or the resourcefulness to consider flying into SJO (and arranging flight or rental car to your final destination?)

---

In my opinion, AA owes you an apology and rebooking of your tickets for your desired travel dates. As a goodwill gesture, I would hope they would reimburse you for your one night's deposit and offer a few vouchers for future use as well.

Any expectations of reimbursement of Miami expenses you chose to incur, or payment for the difference in hotel charges for dates you selected are unrealistic.

I can't even fathom how disappointing and stressful the whole trip was for your family (although I have spent 5 hours stuck on a plane at LIR), but I think it's time for you to look at the situation realistically, take ownership where applicable, get the basics outlined above covered by AA, and move on -- it's been three weeks, and you're not probably not doing yourself or anyone around any good by continuing to fight this battle.

I'm a loyal AA flyer, but have had a few "run-ins" of my own with them in the past -- sometimes, you've just got to move on.

This may not have been the welcome to FT you were expecting, but welcome aboard nevertheless. :)

Thanks for everyone's advice so far, people have been a little more polite to me.

We rebooked in February because that was the first time the resort had avaialibity.

We flew back to Miami from Costa Rica because that was the only place American Airlines flew from Liberia. Obviously, if anyone was in that situation, they would want to speak to some airline respresentative as soon as possible, and seeing as there were none in Liberia, we flew back to Miami to find someone. Onboard the plane back to Miami, the flight attendants and pilot were very accomodating in contacting Miami and explaining our story, in hopes that a representative would be waiting for us at the gate. The flight attendants and pilots wrre astonished and shocked about what happened, and they had never seen it before.

When we arrived in Miami, we had to wait through Customs and Immigrations almost two hours before we could reach the representative. When we finally began speaking to her, she reccomended we stay in Miami until at least Monday when we could contact American Airlines customer service and attempt to work out our issues before a flight left on Monday. She even rebooked us on a flight back to Liberia on Monday leaving us hopeful that it was possible to get a passport by 11AM Monday morning (which even I was skeptical about).

At this point, American Airlines gave us vouchers for hotel, food, and transportation to the hotel. Once we arrived, we had problems checking in because they would only give us one room for the five of us. After an hours negotiation, they finally gave us two rooms. We went to the rooms, and went to go get food. We were starving because the only thing we had eaten all day were the little bags of tostitos they give you on the plane. All eating establishments at the resort were closed at this point. We just decided to go to bed. While I was reading, I noticed the air condtioning was not working, so I went to call down to see if someone could fix it. As I picked up the phone, bugs crawled all over the nightstand, and on to the bed. At this point, I went downstairs to get a room change, where I took note of at least ten passengers who also had American Airlines vouchers. They seem to screw up in Miami a lot.

I know any of our experiences in Miami had nothing to do with the passport, but it just added to upset to our miserable day. One thing after the other kept happening, and it was almost like a movie where bad things keep happening to travellers. Come Sunday morning, when we again couldnt get any food, and couldnt get a taxi to take us off the Indian Reservation we were on, we decided to go back to Miami International, speak with another American Airlines representative, and perhaps rent a car so we could have a little more control.

The reason I labled American Airlines reservationists as "experts" is because while you are waiting for them, that's what the pre-recorded voiceover says. "American Airlines travel EXPERTS will help you with ALL your travel needs." I had NO reason to distrust them.

I think someone made a good point before. My family and I are NOT experienced travellers. We fly once a year to West Palm Beach on JetBlue or Song to visit my inlaws, and we fly once a year to California on the same airlines. This is the extent of our travels. I have NEVER travelled internationally with my family before, and it would never even have occured to me to call the US Embassy or the Costa Rican tourism board to ask about documentation requirements. Obivously I will never make this mistake again. But if an airline is flying you internationally, I would expect to trust whatever information they give you. If the policy of the airline is for the passenger to find out information himself, tell him that. If a minor is not allowed to enter a country without a passport, and an original birth certificate does not suffice, tell the passengers with insufficient documentation to go home before they are flown internationally.

I guess I don't understand why you just wouldn't pay the money in the first place to get your 8 year old a passport. They last for 10 years I belive. At some point in time he was going to be needing one anyways. I had a passport since I was 4 and I know it saved a lot of hassles since then.

Bottom line: you got to be proactive in making sure that the information that you recieve regarding proper documentation is correct. I don't trust airline employees any farther than I can throw them...and that isn't far.

Threatening to sue is also silly. Big waste of money.

It is amazing but the following information is available on http://www.aa.com/content/travelInfo...horEvent=false


Planning on traveling internationally? Visit the U.S. State Department's website* for passport services and information.

Because documentation requirements vary based on the countries included in your travel, we strongly recommend that you contact the nearest applicable Consulate(s) for the latest updates.


and

U.S. and Canadian citizens require a valid passport for travel to Costa Rica.

Agreed. Look at all the trouble and hassle that could have been avoided just by having a passport.