Not allowed to board flight
 

This happened to me last year, but I am still angry about it. Last summer I bought a one-way ticket on United from the USA to Hong Kong and was not allowed to
board. I have flown to Asia 7+ times on one-way tickets using Asian carriers and never had a problem before. United was different, though. I had a three month
Chinese visa, a credit card, and $1000+ in cash. I
am an American and I have lived in Asia for eight years. I don't buy RT tickets because I never know when I will come back to the US. The United employees did not understand that Hong Kong was very unlikely to deport Americans for having one way tickets and on their way to China. The workers were sadistic, unhelpful, petty, and gleeful at my situation. They laughed and smiled as they said "Can't do it". Since I wasn't allowed to take the
flight, I asked for my money back, but they said I had to see Air Canada to get a refund since the flight was a code share. Luckily, I made it to the Air Canada counter a few minutes before they closed. They apologized and put me on one of their flights to HK.

Now I understand the airlines have rules and are in a tough business, but I don't understand why the United workers were so rude. I never plan to take United again and I would not recommend United to anyone.

I would like to know how I could get my money back if I am not allowed on another flight in the future. Should I call my credit card company? I don't want the airline
or credit card company to say I missed my flight because I wasn't allowed to board. If I buy a refundable RT ticket, how can I get my money back if I don't use it?

Thanks!

HI, sad to hear about your experiences.. I too have flown on one way tickets to many parts of asia and the middle east without any issues..

one way might be to buy an open return ticket, not too sure how to do so online, but your TA might be able to advise you better. As for refundable return tickets im sure the place you purchased from will be able to refund you the money according to their T & C's

Sorry to hear this but I first I would check the official visa rules for China. What are the official rules for entering China/Hong Kong on a Tourist Visa? Is a return ticket mandatory at the beginning of the trip? If it is mandatory than the agent was right even so he seemed not to be very helpfull.

Why didn't you just buy a full-Y one-way fare for the "return" on-the-spot to appease? :confused:

Technically, some countries require a confirmed ticket out of the country to be admitted. From my experience, it isn't verified by immigration authorities in Thailand, Philippines, and Singapore. This was when I bought a one-way ticket on one PNR and the "return" one-way on another PNR.

But, my cousin who is a Thai citizen was asked by Singaporean immigration for a copy of her return ticket or e-ticket receipt.

Airlines need to do a CYA out of fear of getting fined.

How likely/unlikely they are to actually expell you shouldn't really impact whether an airline should follow the rules or not. ("But officer, I go 75 in a 55 every day and I haven't received a ticket all year" probably isn't a valid arguement. Neither is "everyone else is going 75 without getting a ticket")

So the real question is whether you are required to have a return ticket. I'm not an expert, but from a cursory search, it certaly appears so, from what I understand.

Hong Kong immigration:

Passport/Visa requirements in Hong Kong

Passport/Visa:Passport Required? Visa Required? Return Ticket Required?
British Yes No/1 Yes
Australian Yes No/2 Yes
Canadian Yes No/2 Yes
USA Yes No/4 Yes
OtherEU Yes No/3 Yes
Japanese Yes No/4 Yes

(c) Valid travel documents (onward or return tickets, unless on transit to China (PR) or Macau (SAR), and accommodation bookings).



II. Requirement for Ordinary Chinese Visas

1.　　　 Tourist/Family Visit (L) Visa: and Business Visit (F) Visa:

Requirements:...
Round trip tickets and hotel


I find that one's emotions tend to get overblown is a stressful situation, but if you really feel the employees were "sadistic, unhelpful, petty, and gleeful" - I suggest contact UA's Customer Service and reporting them immediately, as that unprofessional behavior is unacceptable.

I am curious that AC flew you on - certainly a different interpretation.

By the letter of the contract (at least, for most tickets), you would be able to re-use the value of the ticket, less an administrative fee, on future flights. A refund of a non-refundable ticket wouldn't be standard policy, though they might make an exception in this situation.

For a refundable ticket, you just contact whoever you bought the ticket from and say you want a refund. Unless you have paper tickets, they would just post the refund to your credit card - though there may be a delay of several days/weeks.

Good advice. I did exactly that when I went to board on a one way flight Seattle to Nigeria on NW/KLM. NW would not give me a boarding pass without a return ticket so bought a refundable ticket out of Nigeria to London at the counter and cancelled it shortly after.

Just me being pedantic as it's Friday afternoon and I'm bored.

I'm not sure that you want to discourage us to avoid them at all.

Didn't one FlyerTalker mention in some post awhile back that if we all avoided flying every airline someone had posted a complaint about and told everyone not to fly, we'd all be walking? ;)

Edit: aha!

If you reside in Honk Kong there wouldn't ahve been an issue. If you reside elsewhere in Asia you could've bought a full fare onward flight on UA or a partner airline (either to your destination or anywhere else for that matter) and they would've let you board.

I would say that almost all countries require the passenger to have a ticket out from the country. Immigrations might choose not to ask for it, but it's still required.

If a passenger is refused entry because of a grumpy immigrations officer, guess who will be fined? The airline. United didn't do anything wrong when they refused the OP. However, there's no excuse to be rude.

I appreciate and love FT for this kind of wisdom! Didn't occur to me as I was reading OP, so probably wouldn't have occurred to me in a similar stressful situation at the airport, but makes all the sense.

To OP: BTW, welcome to FT!

i had a slightly different twist on this situation. I was flying to SIN from US and my return ticket was 4 months later. US citizens are only allowed to stay 90 days in SIN, but I knew I would take regional trips and wouldn't violate the 90-day rule. However, United could only see that my return is past 90 days and I didn't have any other short trips booked et (i intended to do it once i got there). they wouldn't let me board although they understood what i was doing but SIN immigration had the right to turn me away. I had to scramble and change my return flight to within 90 days (and later changed it again). silly, but they did the right thing.

That's the difference between good and bad CS - this happened to me once, completely inadvertently (I was on an open jaw ticket, travelling between two countries overland and it just didn't occur to me). The check-in agent spotted it, told me it could be a problem on arrival, but then looked for the cheapest full-Y ticket out the country for me, and sold me it there and then.

That's the way it should be done...

However, airlines do get serious fines for allowing pax to travel without the correct documentation, so they will almost always take a hard line, understandably, however likely it is an immigration officer would use their discrection.

No boarding
 

Agreed.

While the United staff were not necessarily pleasant and 'nice', in their mind it looks like the rules are the rules, clearcut.
It's surely not just a HK entry issue--as you most likely would not be allowed in to the US or Russia on a one-way ticket either.
Hmm...a bit ridiculous to suggest never flying UA.
Better to read up on the legal requirements--fulfil them, perhaps purchase a roundtrip ticket, and take responsibility for your own travel safety and security.

I agree with this, it's the passengers responsibility to comply with the rules. When I travel to the US, I know that I must have a return ticket. I get asked by immigrations maybe 1 in 10 to show it, but I know that it will be problems if I don't have it.

Some years ago, I wanted to travel to South Africa on an one-way ticket. The reason was that I could buy the return ticket much more cheaply once there. I had to deposit $1000 at the South Africa embassy before departure, they then wrote a receipt and I should show this to immigrations.

It's easy to blame airlines for everything but international travel is more complex today than it was 10 years ago. As a passenger you have a responsibility to learn about travel requirements, they're not static and are more strict today compared to pre 9/11.