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While flying internationally throughout the years, I've been denied boarding multiple times for multiple reasons such that I now feel that every time I fly, I am entering a lottery. Can someone provide a list of all the reasons why someone can be denied boarding? I imagine that I could then go through the list as a checklist and that it would provide piece of mind that I am getting onto the airplane. I am interested in all evaluations that happen during check in and at the boarding gate. I would love it if you could include a link to an authoritative resource.

minseong
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Draex_
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    Can you tell me an instance? Was it for lack of visa, or any other documentation? – Anish Sheela Oct 28 '22 at 06:33
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    multiple times without clear reason? Seems strange. would love to hear these stories! – littleadv Oct 28 '22 at 06:51
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    @AnishSheela 1. The check in staff couldn't find the ticket for one of the people in the group, even though it was paid and valid. After spending 6 hours on the phone, we were provided accommodation and flew the next day. 2. We came to the airport and the flight was cancelled. No prior notice. We flew the next day and were compensated. 3. I didn't have an onward plane ticket where Timatic says that passengers "not holding return/onward tickets could be refused entry". That's all the cases. Only the case 3 was preventable from my side -my question is about such cases :) – Draex_ Oct 28 '22 at 11:27
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    @AnishSheela Did these all occur at the same airport or with the same crappy air line? – DKNguyen Oct 28 '22 at 14:54
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    @DKNguyen Each case was in a different European country with a different airline. For the compensations, we had to fight each time. Luckily, thanks to EU regulations, that wasn't difficult. – Draex_ Oct 29 '22 at 03:40

9 Answers9

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It’s probably difficult to give an exhaustive list of all the reasons, but here are some:

  • You don’t have a ticket
  • You don’t have a booking for this specific flight (big classic with flights after midnight)
  • You arrive at check-in/bag drop too late
  • You arrive at the gate too late
  • You have a “standby” booking and the flight is full
  • The flight was overbooked and you were bumped from the flight (but there should be compensation and/or assistance in this case)
  • There was a last-minute aircraft change, the new aircraft has fewer seats, and you get to the overbooking situation
  • You don’t have the required documentation to enter the destination country, which may involve, depending on the country (destination and/or transit) and your citizenship:
    • Not having a passport
    • Having an expired passport according to the destination country’s rules (e.g. in the EU foreign country passports are considered expired after 10 years, even if stated validity is longer)
    • Having a passport without enough validity left (can range from 0 to 3 months after your return date)
    • You don’t have a visa, eVisa, eVisitor, ETA, ESTA etc.
    • You don’t have a return or onward ticket
    • In Covid times: you don’t have the relevant negative test, it’s not recent enough, you don’t have the appropriate vaccination certificate, you don’t have a valid reason for travel, you are not allowed to exit the origin country or enter the destination country..
    • You don’t have yellow fever or other similar vaccines, or they are not yet or no longer valid
  • You are on a no-fly list
  • You are denied entry by the destination country
  • You are denied boarding by an overflown country
  • You have too much hand luggage (in number of pieces and/or total or individual weight and/or size)
  • You have too much checked luggage or it is too large or too heavy and you don’t pay for the extra charges.
  • You carry stuff that is forbidden on board or at your destination
  • You are intoxicated, unruly or abusive to staff or other passengers
  • You have been banned by the airline
  • You travel with children without proper authorisation from both parents
  • You are very large and didn’t book multiple seats

I would say the most common case is probably lack of proper documentation (passport, visas, health certificates).

You should use the IATA travel centre to check for requirements for both destination and transit countries.

You should do so even before you book. You should probably also check on a regular basis that it doesn’t change. In Covid times this has changed A LOT, often with very little notice.

jcaron
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    The captain doesn’t like the way you look. There are 100s of reasons, from the commonsensical to the petty. – ZeroTheHero Oct 29 '22 at 01:56
  • Passport validity is a good trap for UK citizens whose rules for EU travel have changed. – gnasher729 Oct 31 '22 at 16:07