FWIW, and adding to the nomenclature confusion, the US green card is often referred to as an LPR (Legal Permanent Resident) card.

As the holder of such a card, I have had no problems flying into Canada on AC. On the last occasion, no one even asked me about my status, and my traveling companion, who holds an ETA, was not asked either. We had not been asked for any details at OLCI and were issued BPs without issue. Is it possible that AC matches one's passport number against a database of some kind? If so, presumabvly UA could do the same.

Questioning on arrival by an immigration official was quite aggressive, though. He, too, did not ask to see any details of authorization to enter the country but was more interested in our reason for being there (a family wedding, as it happens, not that we could have proved that if asked to do so).

Canada immigration can be awful. YVR is the worst. I've been sent to secondary multiple times, presumably for insufficient groveling.

It's nt just you. As a US citizen entering Canada, I've gotten similar questioning.

Tell me about it. I showed them my Canadian passport and got asked great questions such as "Why are you coming to Canada?"

I've had some fun ones... flying into Montreal for a weekend in a January... why am I coming to Montreal in the winter? Well, it's 45 and sunny out and it's dirt cheap and no tourists around. They then started asking me about what I did, found out I worked for an airline, then were baffled I was flying on an airline I didn't work for (because the ticket on Delta was $100 one way and that's better than playing standby). Round and round for like ten minutes. Similar with UA into YYZ on another occasion going to a conference for work. I told them all things considered, I did not want to be there and found the whole trip inconvenient so if they wanted to send me back that gave me valid excuse to get out of my obligations. I should know better than to get mouthy at immigration but they ceased bothering me at that point and stamped me in.

Once drove across from Watertown, NY to some observation tower because I had about 4 hours free before my flight and there isn't squat to do around there. They went through my suitcase and wanted to make sure I wasn't entering just to buy meds and duty free. I had a couple of airline safety cards in my bag that earlier on my trip a friend gave me... they were from TWA I think from the 80s so way outdated... that got some questions as to why I would be in possession of such things.

And leaving Canada was the worst... traveling Air Transat YUL to MCO. Had trouble at check-in with whatever computer system they use that interfaces with customs. It required an address of where I was staying. I gave my home address and was told that was not possible. They ended up getting someone from border control to come out and question me as to why I was giving information the computer didn't like. I said I'm a US citizen going home and I guess I could always lie if that would make them feel better and said go ahead and put in the Westin Diplomat, which was a few miles from my home, and it all worked. The border agent and Swissport supervisor walked me to security, which was odd and don't know why (Air Transat was not using pre-clear gates, immigration in MCO was a breeze as I was the only American on board).

Canada used to require eTAs for US LPRs, but this apparently changed last year....

Quote:

I am a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. (green card holder). Do I need an eTA?

I get asked that all the time. My last trip, I was asked to prove that I was actually living in the US. Apparently for customs purposes.

But back to topic, I do like that the current check-in kiosks will display the full Timatic requirements and agent will go through it with the passenger. It's as most transparent as possible, arguing with the agent will be like arguing with computer interface. But there probably needs to be a way to better deal with those exception cases like the ones noted in this thread.

US LPRs used to need an eTA for Canada up to a year ago, so that explains why some GAs still tend to be confused about it.

Yes, it was YVR. And yes, we had to grovel.

Because s/he is a robot.

Excellent piece! If a 20-year exp. manager suffers from Timatic, then training is definitely not the determining factor of proper transaction.
This reminds me about the WN scheduling crisis and FAA system outage. I think the aviation industry also has the McDonald ice cream machine syndrome, where some components in the chain are really really outdated because those vendors are monopolies in their respective parts, making easy money.

In 10 years they will all be real robots, terminator models.

Civil court will most certainly have jurisdiction, United is a US based carrier. They can be sued in the state of their corporate registration, or the residence of the plaintiff. Small claims courts hear and rule on airline cases all the time.

I represented my airline about 25 times in small claims court (they usually send a local manager who has been briefed by an attorney versus paying for an attorney to attend). Small claims is unpredictable. I have lost for damages/missed work because somebody missed their flight... a delay was posted of like 3 hours early in the day, then closer to departure time, an airplane swap enabled it to leave on time. Two out of 150 missed the flight. They won because the judge said "I have never heard of a delayed flight getting put back on time." Another time, won because a passenger claimed injury from their seat assignment (non-reclining)... pointed out contract of carriage advises if specific seating is needed for medical reasons, must notify carrier. Plus, don't dispute the passenger's medical bills or pain, but they do not have a legal right to sue for it - it was a flight to Mexico thus governed by Montreal Convention that states you cannot claim injury on an international flight if an incident/accident has not been recorded for that flight (under specific specifications), and we have none such record therefore sorry but not allowed to file suit.

Most small claims/district court judges have just as hard a time with Timatic, contract of carriage, etc. My advice would be to spend the few hundred bucks to get an attorney to go with you. United's contract of carriage (I just did a quick search of it) contains such vagaries like they can deny boarding for international flights and not be held liable if: "The government required travel documents of such Passenger appear not to be in order according to UA's reasonable belief;" What constitutes reasonable belief can be a good argument. And it also specifies a process for complaining and steps to work to resolve with them before resorting to a lawsuit, otherwise per the CoC you agree United can sue you to collect its attorney fees.

It is worth a shot. The filing fees are usually pretty low but it can be drawn out and could spend a whole day. But there are simpler cases where it's so glaringly obvious the customer messed up, and they win. But I would advise looking up to at least consult with an attorney who is familiar with the process in whatever jurisdiction and has dealt with airline suits before. The only ones I have seen side with the airline very predictably are those involving checked baggage. Every judge seems to comprehend it isn't a good idea, or likely fraud, to put $10k in cash in a checked unlocked bag then claim it got stolen.

Many states (including California) do not allow attorneys in small claims court. It's designed to be a low cost, informal process.

I'm also afraid "a few hundred bucks" pretty seriously underestimates what it would cost to involve a competent attorney.