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Did you consider sending the 8 year old home while the rest of you continued on your vacation in Costa Rica? I mean, from a strict utilitarian perspective . . .
Besides, shouldn't he take some responsibility for being born (and not getting a passport)? |
Originally Posted by Doppy
Did you consider sending the 8 year old home while the rest of you continued on your vacation in Costa Rica? I mean, from a strict utilitarian perspective . . .
Besides, shouldn't he take some responsibility for being born (and not getting a passport)? How will the 8 year old ever learn responsibility? add on: I really think it's a shame that when things go wrong, parents can not make it into a positive situation to learn something from. Just take what you get out of it to make yourself a better person next time around. There are many bumps in the road in travel, as well in life. Things don't always go your way, but many "odd" things can make you a better person. It usually starts by taking responsibility for your actions. |
Originally Posted by zresnik
I took note of at least ten passengers who also had American Airlines vouchers. They seem to screw up in Miami a lot.
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Originally Posted by richard
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.
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Originally Posted by tom911
Did you question all 10 passengers with vouchers about their circumstances? Could they have been misconnects, or passengers who volunteered to be bumped? There's a lot of circumstances that lead passengers to hotels with vouchers in hand.
I have been stranded/bumped/misconnect etc at least 5 times myself in Miami. Things happen...I do hate that reaccomodation line though... |
Originally Posted by zresnik
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 don't have much to add here, just my own experience.
Five years ago, British Airways transported me to a country in the Middle East where I landed in the middle of the night, only to be informed that I was lacking a proper visa and could not be admitted. The next 12 hours were hair-raising, to say the least, but the problem was due to my lack of proper due diligence, and I never once considered blaming British Airways (although I did manage to enlist one of their sympathetic employees to get me out the massive hole I had inadvertently dug for myself). |
Flyertalk is a tough crowd. The OP posted on Fodors also and most people were very supportive and understanding.
I guess the FT crowd travel more and don't have much sympathy for amateur travellers. |
Originally Posted by RBCal
Flyertalk is a tough crowd. The OP posted on Fodors also and most people were very supportive and understanding.
I guess the FT crowd travel more and don't have much sympathy for amateur travellers. P.S. Fodors has a lot of softies |
This reminds me of the time when I helped out some hysterical woman.
I took an Amtrak trip to visit a friend. When I got to my final destination via thruway bus, a lady got hysterical. It was her stop also. Problem for her: She booked an Amtrak vacations package (train, thruway bus and accommodations). It didn’t include transportation between Amtrak bus stop and her hotel. She had no maps and had no clue to get to her hotel. She was screaming at the poor bus driver, saying that he can’t leave her at the bus stop by herself. She doesn’t know the area. She doesn’t feel safe. (IMHO, it was one of the safest spots in the city and next to a restaurant.) Fortunately, for her, I walked her to a local bus stop, told her which bus to take and where to get off. She admitted she didn’t ask if there was hotel transportation prior to booking her vacations package. She admitted she didn’t obtain maps of the city prior to arriving, nor did much research as well. Nevertheless, she blamed Amtrak. All I heard on the way to the bus stop was how horrible the Amtrak vacations package was; they didn’t tell her there’s no transportation between Amtrak’s thruway bus stop and her hotel, how she was going to complain to Amtrak, etc. Talk about lack of responsibility. |
Originally Posted by RBCal
Flyertalk is a tough crowd. The OP posted on Fodors also and most people were very supportive and understanding.
I guess the FT crowd travel more and don't have much sympathy for amateur travellers. besides, I don't think the Fodors answers were any more sympathetic... http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...6&tid=34727825 |
Thanks for the link
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Originally Posted by RBCal
Flyertalk is a tough crowd. The OP posted on Fodors also and most people were very supportive and understanding.
I guess the FT crowd travel more and don't have much sympathy for amateur travellers. Growing up, I was very annoyed at times by Mamagoingsomewhere and Papagoingsomewhere, but the more white hairs...or less hair :( ...I have, the more grateful that they got me to take responsibility for some of my boo boos. Just learn what you can and move on. |
Wow, the OP was busy posting. It is posted twice on Fodors. The Latin America crowd is more sympathetic than the Airline crowd
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=6 The above link is the Latin American thread. |
I think the OP's been treated a bit harshly here and do think he has a valid complaint, although the ultimate responsibility to secure the proper documents for travel was his.
Most of us on FT live, eat and sleep travel, yet most people don't and wouldn't automatically know to question an agent or seek additional verification. I just did a quick search on "Costa Rica US Birth Certificate" and it's remarkable how many sites appear stating that entry will be allowed into Costa Rica with a US birth certificate and photo ID. Mexico, Canada, various Caribbean destinations have all allowed US citizens to travel there without passports. I can see how an infrequent traveler would believe what he was told and what he read on an Internet site. Had they denied you boarding in New York, I would feel the airline had done the right thing. Unfortunately, that's not what they did. It's surprising American let your son on that flight. That's the big screw up they made. Airlines basically decided they no longer needed travel agents, which were the ones who in the past would have made sure you would have had the proper documents. Instead, airlines said they could do it all. I think this shows while they set themselves up as the "travel experts"; they aren't, but infrequent travelers don't know that. You, however, should feel very fortunate that you and your family did not somehow manage to get into Costa Rica without your 8-year-old having a passport. Costa Rica is a popular spot in child trafficking and upon trying to exit I suspect you would have had far more problems that what you encountered by being turned away. When my husband and I exited Costa Rica with our teen son, we were sent to a special desk where passports for minors and their parents were scrutinized. Believe it or not, your situation could have been far worse had you gotten into Costa Rica. It's unclear to me what AA is offering you now, if anything. If travelers are delayed we generally receive compensation. You went through more than a delay. I do feel you're at minimum entitled to a refund on your tickets. I'm not sure about much beyond that. In any event, I wish you well and am sorry your family vacation was ruined. I hope the next one turns out far better. |
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