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I booked travel on British Airways to fly from Stockholm to India with a transit at London Heathrow Airport. At the Stockholm Arlanda Airport, I was refused boarding as I didn't have the required UK transit visa. I had to rebook on another airline, at a cost of more than 1100€ (E90K INR).

Is there any way to get my money back? Can I file a complaint and against whom? Is it the Embassy's fault?

Giorgio
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Pradnya
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    I am sorry this happened to you, but the sole responsibility for having all documents and paperwork necessary for a trip lies with the traveler himself /herself. See Do airlines have to check the visa status before selling a ticket? – choster Apr 14 '18 at 13:43
  • I do not know where you can go to complain, but in assuming that you have an Indian passport, you may have been eligible for a transit visa exemption, based on these rules here: https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa/y/india/transit/somewhere_else/no – crayarikar Apr 14 '18 at 13:58
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    @Pradnya Which Embassy do you mean, and how on earth could it be their fault that before you travelled you didn’t make sure you checked//understood the visa(s) you needed? – Traveller Apr 14 '18 at 14:43
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    @ traveller how can it be not the embassy's fault when they ask for n number of documents and verification before visa approval? we submit our tickets and complete itinerary of the tour which clearly mentions the name of the airline . If they can give us schengen visa they must know they have to give us transit visa also for certain countries of required. – Pradnya Apr 14 '18 at 19:43
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    @crayarikar A short term (type C) Schengen visa doesn't qualify for the UK transit visa exemption. It has to be a long term (type D) visa. – Michael Hampton Apr 14 '18 at 20:28
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    @Pradnya But that’s a separate application...the UK is in the EU but is not part of the Schengen Area. – Traveller Apr 14 '18 at 20:31
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    The Swedish embassy cannot tell you whether you need a visa for some other country outside the Schengen area. They are not allowed to, and possibly they couldn't answer accurately anyway. The UK embassy could certainly tell you if you need a UK visa. It's always the travelers' responsibility to find out whether they need visas. – Michael Hampton Apr 15 '18 at 19:31
  • On a related note, you may get some airport and security fees back if you did not take the flight. While that is only a fraction of the flight cost, if that works, it's better than nothing. – DCTLib Apr 16 '18 at 09:24

1 Answers1

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No, you can’t *

It’s your fault, you didn’t do enough research. Suck up the loss and move on.

It’s passenger’s responsibility to ensure all the required visas are in order for their itinerary. It’s nobody else’s responsibility and you can’t claim a refund for it unfortunately.

I do sympathise with you but trying to look for compensation in this case will be just a waste of your time.

On a side note: UK’s website for checking your visa requirements and exemptions is one of the most straight forward and easy to understand ones and it clearly says what the check-in staff said.

Edit:

Answering your extended question from comments: Embassies don’t care about initeraries and visits to or transits through any countries other than their own. They can and do provide visa services only for their own country (or some friend countries not providing direct visa services in your country) and they do not care if you have other visas for your route.

* You could if their statement or the reason for refusal was wrong and you really did have an exemption.

Hanky Panky
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