Timeline for Do flight companies have to make it clear what visas you might need before selling you tickets?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
11 events
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| Mar 1, 2023 at 3:55 | comment | added | Flater | @Dmitry: There is a massive difference between a bouncer who decides to let the person in front of them into the club, and asking that bouncer to confirm over the phone if they would let the caller in. The same is true of airlines whether you have the documentation versus them needing to figure out which documentation you need. | |
| Feb 28, 2023 at 7:23 | comment | added | jwenting | @Dmitry conditions can also change between the time the ticket is purchased and the time it is used, often with no or very little warning. E.g. I book a trip to the US 6 months in advance, 2 months later the visa requirements for me change so I need a visa rather than just an ESTA. Would the person selling me the ticket be liable for that in your world? | |
| Feb 27, 2023 at 3:18 | comment | added | Loren Pechtel | And note that even with the checking there's something of a minefield. Consider one such mine that has caused multiple improperly denied boardings: China's transit without visa option. SFO -> PVG (5 days) -> NRT (4 hours) -> SFO. Legal? Yes--but only if you understand that this is a trip to Tokyo with a connection in Shanghai. Try to enter the destination as China and the computer will deny it. (China simply looks at SFO -> PVG -> NRT and doesn't care about the NRT -> SFO leg.) | |
| Feb 26, 2023 at 22:23 | comment | added | Jörg W Mittag | @jcaron: I had to fly extremely last-minute to the US once. While I did have a valid ESTA, the only connection I could get on such short notice was via Canada. I literally didn't even have my ticket yet as the train entered the airport and my eTA didn't get approved until minutes before boarding the plane. It would have been completely impossible to get all the immigration stuff sorted out before buying the ticket. | |
| Feb 26, 2023 at 21:50 | comment | added | Mike M | I would overall agree that it's one more way that airlines can use their power to their own benefit to deny boarding without having helped you know the risks, but that it is kindof realistic to say they are only selling transportation and not travel consulting | |
| Feb 26, 2023 at 21:48 | comment | added | Mike M | also, it might not make sense to ask for the visa when selling the ticket because you might even need to buy the ticket first to include it in the visa application, as in some tourist visas | |
| Feb 26, 2023 at 15:44 | comment | added | jcaron | @Dmitry rules change. You being able to travel to country X via country Y on the date of purchase doesn’t mean you will be able to do so on the date of the flight (and vice versa). On date of purchase, customer may not yet have a visa (or even a passport), or an ESTA/ETA/eVisitor or whatever it’s called for the combination. If airlines start checking at time of purchase, it opens a big nasty Pandora’s box of liability for them if they ever got it wrong or anything changed in the meantime. Much better for them to put the responsibility squarely in the shoulders of the passenger. | |
| Feb 26, 2023 at 13:01 | comment | added | Dmitry | Essentially nobody asks them to check my right of entry, only whether or not I'm allowed to board. In reality I can think only of one real issue. I could buy (and sometimes I have to!) my ticket even before I got my visa. That would be silly to forbid to sell a ticket to me in that case. | |
| Feb 26, 2023 at 12:57 | comment | added | o.m. | @Dmitry, that's my 4th paragraph. With the comment in the second sentence of that paragraph. | |
| Feb 26, 2023 at 12:52 | comment | added | Dmitry | Unclear scenarios (like "hidden no flight lists") are obviously out of the question. But since all airlines DO check visas and passport at check in, there is no reason they can't do the same at sell point (online or offline). | |
| Feb 26, 2023 at 12:32 | history | answered | o.m. | CC BY-SA 4.0 |