I am nobody's boss :) but may I ask the OP if ICE gave him a hard time in MIA because his 8 year old didn't have a passport coming back into the country from LGA?

What would have happened if apon arrival in Liberia the immagration agent is told that apparently my 8yr olds passport has been mis-placed somewhere between here and NYC,I would think in most cases that some kind of temp,visa could have been arranged,I am sure this type of thing has happened to other travelers,or do they simply send you back to your starting point?

Travellers can be turned back for having a passport but no visa, so I don't think that lie would work. Try entering the US using that excuse.

First of all, I too think you've been mistreated by a number of other posters. I completely understand the stress to which you're referring. I also agree, however, that your best bet is to try and catch as many of the AA flies with honey as you can, because vinegar won't work.

That said, I think the real lesson here is that if you're going to take your kids on a big trip in honor of a Bar Mitzvah, don't take them to Costa Rica for heaven's sake, take them to Israel! :D (I'm sure you would have wound up getting him a passport if you were heading there.)

No, I don't work for the Israel Ministry of Tourism. I just wish I did.

I Dont Get It
 

Now I Just Dont Get It

Ive reread thru this thread and am I the Only one who doesnt get it?

What I dont get is the OP says this was their 1st Intl trip and have flown twice or three times before. YET, he knew enough to find both FT and Fodors and RANT on both of them!!

If he knew about Fodors, did he read or buy the Costa Rica Edition, and does it say what type of Documentation is needed in order to enter, maybe the OP should be going after Fodors as well. LoL

How did the OP find US here at FT and Fodors for that matter, I even didnt know that Fodors has a way to post such things. For someone claiming he didnt know anything, heck he sure learned pretty quick about FT and Fodors. Sorry, as I said, I dont get it- somethings missing.

How hard is it to go to Embassy of Costa Rica's website
and read this?

http://www.costarica-embassy.org/con.../documents.htm

Entering Costa Rica

WITHOUT EXCEPTION, all adults and children require the following documents to enter Costa Rica:

a valid passport valid for at least 30 days (expiration date has to be 30 days or more after arrival date). In the case of minors, if they do not have a passport, they should be included in the passport of one of the parents.
***********************************************


While I understand the frustration of the OP, it is no excuse.

(1) Airlines are NOT responsible/authorized to determine
your eligibility to enter a foreign country. Period.

(2) Even if you have a valid passport and/or visa, you are
still NOT guaranteed entry. It is up to the immigration
officer at point of entry to grant you admission into their
country

(3) AA's webiste clearly direct everyone to the Department
of State website, which says you must have a passport
to go to Costa Rica

(4) Did AA's agent at LaGuardi make a mistake by letting
the family check-in? Possibly. The agent should have
realized that a passport was required, even for the
8-yr-old kid.

(5) Does Costa Rica have the right to fine AA for this
incident? Absolutely.

(6) Does the family have the right to sue AA for damages?
Absolutely. However, they are very unlikely to win.
Nor does it seem financially feasible to sue.(unless
someone in that family is an attorney)

(7) Should AA make any good-will gesture compensation
for the family? Yes. AA should let the family re-book
the trip for any other date without any change fees.


(8) Why does the 8-yr-old kid not have a passport? It's
not that much money. If someone can't even afford
the passpot fee, maybe they should consider domestic
travel only. Having a passport will also enhance the
safety of the kid during any int'l travel.

You have just described the first day curriculum of the "How To Fraudulently Claim Political Asylum 101" course. :)

I have sypathy for your family, but honestly you as a FF should be shot. Maybe it is ignorance or is it arrogance ?? of US citizens, thinking their great cournty will provide them all the rights in the world, and have differnet standards in other countries (e.g travel with out propper documetnation) How the F*ck is anybody to know that the flimsy piece of paer you are presenting is a birth certificate (in Costa Rica)

Any child entering the US needs a passport. So why not vice versa ??? I think it was plain stupid to think that you can travel oversaes and not needing a passport, irrelevant of age.

Again, one more person educated ...

Actually, although I would never travel without a passport, I bet a lot more than just "one more person" was educated after reading this thread... at the expense of this family's misfortune and naive approach to international travelling....

Passport
 

I'm a regular reader of Fodor's and Flyertalk and I must admit that I directed the poster to Flyertalk by giving him the information for this website on the Fodor's Cruise Forum.

passport
 

Oops, I meant the Airline Forum.

OK LouiseMc so we now know how the OP got to FT, but how did he get to Fodors? And does Fodors either Online or in Print mention that a passport is needed? Ive read them as 1 of my places to get info before I travel and gather much info from them about where Im heading to.

If the OP did read it but an old Edition then for sure he should have made inquries other then the Airline to make sure , what if anything has changed. I do this when the Fodors in my Library is an old edition. and I want to make sure I have the Up to date Info.

AA messed up by allowing the 8 yr old to travel, they will pay for that by being fined by CR. To be nice they can offer a new set of tkts back to CR, but I dont feel they owe the OP or anyone else much more then that.

I might be wrong but all the talk of being in a "lock up" seems harsh as Im sure that they flew on the exact same aircraft that left back for MIA 1 1/2 hrs after it arrived, otherwise they overnighted it in CR, and there was no mention of that. AA has but 1 flight a day from LIR, and Im sure if they were forced to remain overnight the OP would have been Yelling Bloody Murder about that.

Why don't you people just calm the f*ck down? Sheesh.

Quit beating around the bush. Tell us how you really feel, :D

let's keep this discussion cool, please

--richard, moderator