Deported from Costa Rica
 

My family and I had a vacation planned to the Paradisus Playa Conchal for December 10th-15th, but we never got the oppurtunity to experience it because we were deported from the country at Liberia Airport. I have nothing negative to say about the resort or about the airport in Liberia, and we are still eagerly looking foward to our rebooked vacation in February, but I'm looking for advice concerning action to take against American Airlines. Trust me, the story of our nightmare on December 10th is very long, so I will not go into gritty details, and I will just explain the gist of the situation. I had booked our vacation online in October, and later called American Airlines reservations to see what proper documentation my eight year old son needed to enter Costa Rica. I was put on hold, and then told that an original birth certificate with a raised seal would suffice. Seeing that all the other memebers of my family had passports, I had no reason to distrust the "expert" adivice of American Airlines and spend the extra money on a passport for an eight year old when he didn't need it. Subsequently, I called the the Costa Rican tourism board to see if my family needed any vaccinations, and I was politely told no. When we arrived at Laguardia airport at 4AM on Saturday morning, December 10th, we were officially checked in by an American Airlines employee, who told us that after December 31st, 2005, anyone leaving the United States will need a passport to return (the validity of this statement is now in question, and I think that rule goes officially into effect in a year). Anyway, we were checked in by American Airlines for an international flight with insufficient documentation. We connected in Miami after a two + hour layover, and actually flew to Liberia, Costa Rica, and were promptly turned away and put back onto the nest flight back to Miami. I cannot express the emotional stress and devastation this event has caused my family, and the series of events that followed once we returned to America (including a lost bag that went from Miami to Liberia to BOGOTA to Liberia, and then on Delta to Atlanta to Laguardia, and gotten to us on December 14th). We have rebooked our vacation to Costa Rica for February on American Airlines at the Paradisus Playa Conchal, but we are looking for everything to be covered by American Airlines, Contacting a customer service representative at the airlines was very challenging, seeing that there is no customer service phone number. After a lot of research and prying, we were finally put in touch with Tim Rhodes, a senior executive of customer service at American Airlines, who informed us on December 12th that the situation would be resolved by December 14th. This wasn't the case, and we are still told that out mishap is being investigated, and ultimately it is the passenger's responsibility to find out what documentation is required for travel. However, this is not what we were told by American Airlines in October, and once they checked us in at Lagauardia, it is my opinion that the fault rests with them. Please, any feedback or advice on the next step to take would be greatly appreciated.

I'm very sorry for your ordeal, but as you say it is indeed the passenger's responsibility to determine what documentation is required for international travel. See http://www.aa.com/content/travelInfo...horEvent=false for more information.

Begin by using paragraph spacings, logical and chronological flow in your presentation of facts, and a separation between fact, fiction, commentary, and opinion. And, please stop omitting relevant facts, of which I can already sense there are a few.

Lastly, if you were really "deported", I don't think you should be planning a vacation to Costa Rica anytime soon. If you were "refused entry" without prejudice, then say so. Even your title is tendentious.

You may begin your redemption by telling us what nationality and residency you and/or your children hold. If US citizens, you'd need a passport, period. If AA did not tell you this, or misinformed you, then shame on them, but the ultimate responsibility lies with you. I am also very surprised AA let you check-in in LGA without a passport for your child.

I'm sorry but you honestly thought that your child didn't need a passport for international travel? Aside from the AA rep, does that really make sense to you? :confused:

We connected in Miami after a two + hour layover, and actually flew to Liberia, Costa Rica, and were promptly turned away and put back onto the nest flight back to Miami.

The most pivitol sentence in this story kind of misses the point.... just why were you turned away? ...because your son didn't have a passport? because you didn't have the proper vaccinations?...somehow I got lost.....

While I completely agree with you, I will clarify that I did do my homework, and seeing that it was my first trip to Costa Rica, I didn't think there was anyone who would know better than the airline about documentation requirements. Once I was given concrete information from American Airlines, I had no reason to distrust them. However, I agree that it was still my responsibility to find out any information I needed. I believe it would've been one thing to have been turned around at Laguardia, and told that we could not fly to Costa Rica without proper documentation, but the fact of the matter is that an American Airlines employee made a grave error by sending us to Costa Rica, but she put the responsibility of our initial errors into the airline's hands, and the airlines is now being sued $10,000 for a secuirty breech (they made a copy of my sons birth certificate in Liberia as proof). The fact is, American Airlines screwed up big time by flying us without proper documentation to an international country, and I am looking to take massive action against them for what they have done.
Again, I agree. It is not even this information that I am disputing, I definitely know for next time to contact the country I am visting. However, American Airlines checked us through to Costa Rica, and they definitely shouldn't have seeing that it is against American and Costa Rican law, and that there are now extreme monetary penalites that they have to pay. Again, if American Airlines had turned us away in New York, there would've been almost nothing we could've done. But because two American Airlines employees made grave errors, we flew to Costa Rica and were deported, and granted the information should've been different from American Airlines, why should we have distrusted them at all?
By the way, I really don't understand what the point is to waste time and energy trying to find flaws with the way I'm posting and wording my issue. Just so you know, Webster's definition of deportation is "the removal from a country of an alien whose presence is unlawful or prejudicial," which is exactly what the case was. We didn't have proper documentation, so we were deported. So don't try to impress anyone else reading the forums, and don't try to sound superior by getting clever with me, when you are ultimately wrong.

Check the Consular Information Sheets
 

In the future, you should always check with the Dept. of State for the most up to date advice regarding entry requirements for US citizens. The best source, in my opinion, is the Dept. of State Consular Information Sheet for the country concerned. See http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_p.../cis_1093.html
where it clearly states that:

"For entry into the country, Costa Rican authorities require that U.S. citizens present valid passports that will not expire for at least thirty days after arrival."

I believe this is a new requirement (a birth certificate used to suffice), and indeed the Consular Information Sheet reflects at the bottom that it was updated on October 13, 2005 to reflect changes to Entry & Exit Requirements, among other sections. So, depending on when you inquired with AA, you may have actually received correct advice at THAT time. It's a shame that Costa Rican immigration didn't make an exception, but certainly not AA's fault.

What was wrong with YOUR documentation? Your narrative seems to imply that only your son had insufficient documentation to permit entry to Costa Rica.

You're right that AA made a big mistake in letting your son on the plane without a passport- I find that surprising but, as you noted, they're getting hit with a fine for that. This is not "being sued for a security breach" but being fined for transporting someone to a country without proper documentation to get into that country.

But, next time you travel to "an international country", check with the consulate- or check here! The people on this Board are usually more knowledgable than your random airline employee, anyway.

Let me be clear with you, once and for all. I know quite a bit more about this than you do, and I'm not going to argue with you, except now. You were not "deported". You never entered or were admitted to the country. You weren't removed from Costa Rica, you were turned away from Costa Rica. The fact is that if you intend to enter Costa Rica again for your vacation, and Costa Rica is not objecting, then you weren't deported. People who get deported usually don't just up and legally re-enter a country from which they have just been deported.

Now, it sounds to me like AA made an error allowing your family to get on at LGA. And as you mention, they will be fined. I am very surprised something like this was not caught by AA in LGA, and so they made you fly all the way there so you could get bounced back, as opposed to getting turned away in LGA. If it was indeed, their fault, then I assume you'll get something for your troubles of having to fly all the way there and back for no reason. At least, I'd like the flown miles...

I am having a little trouble understanding a) why you are suing American Airlines for $10,000
and b) why is photocopying your child's birth certificate a security breech?

If AA determines their check-in agent was at fault for accepting a birth certificate rather than a passport, they most likely would comp you new tickets or return your money. But threatening a lawsuit isn't going to do it for you - not when they have a small army of in-house and on-retainer attornies to deal with petty annoyances such as this. And to AA, your threat is a petty annoyance.

As for the breech of security you're claiming, I just don't see it. An unticketed passenger would constitute a breech of security - but not a child who had been checked in and issued a boarding pass. Okay the child may have been improperly checked in, but that still doesn't mean the child was a security breech.

I understand you are upset at having your trip ruined, but truthfully most of the fault is yours for not double checking the Costa Rican requirements for entering the country and obtaining a passport for your child.

I think the OP has obfuscated by his presentation style. I assume what he's saying here is that Costa Rica is "suing" AA for $10,000, which I mean to take that this is the fine Costa Rica imposes on airlines who transport people ineligible to enter the country. As for the photocopy, I assume this is the evidence Costa Rica will present to AA when sending the bill for the 10 large.

If things transpired as the OP claims, then AA will pay a fine, and they'll make the OP whole some way or another, depending on how how generous they may be. A return of their money plus miles for actual flown/inconvenience is probably the least AA will do.

Thank you for clarifying that, Pickles. I was getting awfully confused there! So the OP isn't the one doing the suing, right?

From what I read, the OP also threatens "massive action" against AA, which may mean legal action, but who knows. If his arguments are as solid as he's let on so far, he better have Johnny Cochrane on his team for this one.

You're coming to a Web site for frequent fliers and telling us what to think?