MontGR

On a recent flight from Billings, Montana to Medellin, Colombia, via Denver and Panama, I was denied boarding the plane in Denver by Copa because I had no return trip ticket. I purchased the ticket from United's website. There was no indication I would need a return trip ticket, and have never been required to have on the 6 or so times I had made the same trip. I ended up having to pay $1350 for a new ticket to continue on the trip. United and Copa refuse to take responsibility for this. I feel that United should reimburse me for the new ticket. Any suggestions on what recourse I might have would be appreciated.

3Cforme

Right from the U.S. State Department consular pages:

You may be denied entry to Colombia if you do not have a return ticket.

https://travel.state.gov/content/tra.../Colombia.html

WineCountryUA

Sorry for your travel problems, as one learns with international travel, the need for a return ticket can be a requirement of the countries you are traveling thru.

It is the passenger's responsibility to have read and understood the transit and entry requirements.
It was not UA's responsibility as it was just operating as ticketing agent and had no idea what visas or other travel documents you might have had that would or would not allow transit / entry.

Similarly for COPA states
and
these are standard statements that all airlines have in their Contract of Carriage.

The onus is on the traveler to have what is required. As UA states as you purchase a ticket and if traveling with UA , states as you check in. Ignoring those generic warnings is at your risk.

In addition to the State Department site you should check the consular sites for each country you are traveling thru

or shortcut approach is TIMATIC , a free airline industry tool (UA provides access to) for checking these requirements

These requirements can change from time to time and past history is no guarantee.

Bottom line answer, neither carrier owes you anything if they are enforcing a requirement imposed by any of the countries you are traveling thru. And it is your responsibility to be aware of those requirements.

In the past, this was a role for the travel agent, but in today's self-service model, it is your job.

jsloan

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

Hope for a schedule change that makes it possible to get a full refund. If you bought your replacement ticket from UA, their schedule change policy is pretty generous and schedule changes are reasonably common.

For future reference, all tickets purchased from United.com can be refunded within 24 hours of purchase. Some travelers in your situation will refund the ticket once they've entered their destination country.

MontGR

I guess I didn't make it clear. I had to buy a new ticket from Denver to Colombia. I tried to buy a return ticket before the copa plane left, but the United site wouldn't work. By the time I got the site to work, it was to late. So after an hour on the phone with a United rep, to no avail, and another hour trying to get the United site to work again, I used skiplagged site and bought a new ticket for $1350.

WineCountryUA

Depending on the reason for the booking issue, you might get a token $50 discount for future travel on UA only flights.


But that does not change the situation on the original denial

mduell

I can't see how that changes anything. Your original nonrefundable ticket is still nonrefundable.

Kacee

That's because it's the passenger's responsibility to be aware of international travel and documentation requirements.

Having a return ticket is a pretty basic requirement of entry to most countries. Sometimes airlines will confirm at check-in that you have one, sometimes they won't. But you always need to be able to prove that you do.

Hipplewm

Some countries require you to have the ticket bought, some require you to "Have the means to buy one". Again as most others have said on an Int'l itinerary above your flight on the website there is a section that pops up with links to all the pertinent data you need to make sure you have the documentation required.

United nor COPA can't possibly give you your exact scenario as there is just too many flying every day for them to bother to look after every single passenger, at some point the passenger has to take responsibility. You could have easily booked a refundable return ticket and cancelled it after you got there (I have NO IDEA if this is legal, just sayin', you would have had a return ticket when you tried to board though)

DetroitFlyer

laxmillenial

Hipplewm

That same message shows up and stays up in the "manage flight" section of the website until you actually fly. It also comes up again when you try and check in

Often1

First and foremost, it is always 100% the responsibility of the passenger to have in his possession all of the documents required for travel. This includes a return or onwards ticket is that is what a country requires. It is not UA's job to tell you what you need. But, UA does give you free access to TIMATIC so that you can check yourself.

https://www.united.com/web/en-US/app...aspx?i=TIMATIC

Had you checked, you would have known that Colombia may require a return / onwards ticket and you could have booked all of this and been done with your problems.

If you were at a CM counter at DEN, why would you not simply purchase the return ticket on the spot, rather that messing around with UA, particularly when you had IT problems?

Bottom line here is that none of it matters. There is less than no chance that either UA or CM will reimburse you for anything.

rolltribe

Expanding upon what others have said... Yes, it's your responsibility to read the requirements and many countries require proof of return. As a precaution I always print out a paper copy of my return reservation if it's not on the same carrier as my departing flight and bring with me or have the reservation screenshot saved on my phone, especially if on another alliance.

pmarrsouth