Does Timatic information grant you the right to get on a flight?

Question

I've the residence permit in country A that will expire in a week. I asked for it's prolongation on time but I'm pretty sure that administration of my country of residence will not replace it in time.

In two weeks I need to go to a country B for a several days.

To go to country B I don't need any visa, my passport is enough to stay there. As for return, my passport is not enough and I need visa (residence permit in my case).

In Timatic I read that I can travel with expired residence permit if I can provide a receipt that I asked for it's prolongation (I have this receipt).

But is this info really sure and grants me to take a flight back? I read some horrible stories that airline staff had never seen these "prolongation receipts" and sometimes doesn't allow to take a flight.

Is it possible to prove something to airline staff if I print visa requirements from, for example, emirates.com (I have another airline but I didn't found visa requirements section on their site)?

What should I do if they say that my residence permit is expired and my boarding is denied?

Yes, unfortunately airline staff can mis-interpret Timatic. To mitigate this, you can arrive early in case you need to ask for another Agent to review the rules or contact their internal support. However, be aware that if the airline staff is not satisfied, they can deny you boarding. — DTRT, Aug 23 '17 at 22:05
By phone airline says that it's ok. But I call to their central office, my friend told me that agents in country B sometimes had their own opinion when you show them rare documents that they've never seen, and one time his friend did not got to a plane due to this. — Vitalii, Aug 24 '17 at 06:03
Taking the question literally, nothing grants you the right to be on a flight, as airline staff (and the captain in particular) can always deny you boarding. — fkraiem, Sep 01 '17 at 06:45
FYI: If an airline erroneously refuses to check in a passenger on the grounds of incomplete paperwork (eg visa), is the passenger entitled to compensation? — Franck Dernoncourt, Apr 27 '20 at 15:36

Crazydre · Accepted Answer · 2017-09-02T22:06:50.393

5

The biggest problem is countries where English is rarely spoken (in Russia, for example, check-in staff often doesn't know it), because of Timatic only being in English.

I would advise you to print a Timatic extract (the Emirates search engine is also Timatic) and underline the relevant section with a pen.

While check-in staff is normally supposed to rely on Timatic, they do often misinterpret requirements, especially at some airports (Zurich, for example, is full of complete noobs).

So by all means arrive early, and don't be afraid to ask for the supervisor.

edited Sep 02 '17 at 22:06

answered Aug 31 '17 at 16:44

Crazydre

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"check-in staff is obliged to rely on Timatic" Citation needed. – fkraiem Sep 01 '17 at 01:57
Zurich is full of complete noobs [citation needed] – Jan Sep 01 '17 at 10:42
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@Jan Personal experience, lots of it – Crazydre Sep 02 '17 at 08:11
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@fkraiem Was told this by Swissport by e-mail – Crazydre Sep 02 '17 at 08:12
And that satisfied you? You'd do a terrible lawyer... – fkraiem Sep 02 '17 at 09:17
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@fkraiem what else would they go by? – JonathanReez Sep 02 '17 at 22:20
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@fkraiem the obligation is probably imposed by the employer, not by any law. So if Swissport is the employer, there's not much more to be said. – phoog Sep 03 '17 at 00:24
There have been multiple cases of people denied boarding on flights to China because airline personnel did not understand the transit without visa rules--and that's with native speakers of English who either did not understand or simply refused to even look. – Loren Pechtel Sep 03 '17 at 05:39
@LorenPechtel Definitely a strong case of compensation. Had that happen to me as well (them not wanting to look). A Swissport hag at ZRH tried to nonchalantly turn me away from an Airberlin flight to Kosovo because she wouldn't accept my Swedish ID card. I told her several times to look in Timatic - the fourth time I got really irritated and raised my voice, saying I was going on that flight, whereby her supervisor showed up. I told him what her problem was, whereby he checked Timatic and let me onboard. – Crazydre Sep 04 '17 at 10:55
Yeah, compensation should be due. That doesn't change the fact that the people didn't get on the flight they should have been allowed on. – Loren Pechtel Sep 04 '17 at 15:35

Does Timatic information grant you the right to get on a flight?

1 Answers1