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I am a Filipino-Canadian resident of Vancouver, Canada holding both Canadian & Philippine passports. I was travelling from Vancouver to Manila the other day, with a one-way ticket purchased from FlightHub.

The ticket itinerary has a 21-hour layover at Dallas/Fort Worth, USA and a 17-hour layover at Narita, Japan. I left Vancouver on June 24th and stayed for the 21-hour layover at Dallas/Fort Worth, but when I checked-in for the forwarding flight on the morning of June 25th, American Airlines refused to check me in because they said I needed a visa for Narita, Japan before they could allow me to proceed with my travel.

I told them that being a Canadian citizen, I don't need a visa for Japan, and also being a Filipino citizen I don't need a visa for my final destination which is Manila, Philippines.

American Airlines was firm with their reasoning and refused me to continue with my travel and instead placed me on a flight back to Vancouver, Canada. Was the action of American Airlines correct? If not, what is my course of action to correct this wrong? Could I get a refund of my ticket?

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  • 3
    Were you carrying both Canadian & Filipino passports at the time?
    – brhans
    Jun 26, 2019 at 16:25
  • 3
    Probably a bad case of “the system does not allow it” (as in, the system only allows a single passport to be entered and that one is used as the basis for required paperwork) rather than “regulations don’t allow it”. Where you doing through check-in, or just checking in to Tokyo? I suppose you escalated to a supervisor and/or a manager? Have you tried contacting AA customer service? You may want to check with a lawyer if they think you have a case.
    – jcaron
    Jun 26, 2019 at 16:35
  • 4
    It’s also surprising they sent you back. Wouldn’t they have been able to find another suitable (to them) routing?
    – jcaron
    Jun 26, 2019 at 16:36
  • 2
    Yeah, smells like a lazy check-in agent to me. I hope you escalated this at check-in.
    – Michael Hampton
    Jun 26, 2019 at 18:35
  • 4
    Please clarify what documents you were carrying at the time.
    – JonathanReez ♦
    Jun 26, 2019 at 19:45

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