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Theoretical situation: I have a flight with a connection in a country for which I don't have a visa, but the rules allow transit without a visa. However, sometimes it happens that the boarding staff gets too paranoid and/or don't know the rules and deny boarding, even though the rules allow it.

Is the airline obligated to provide compensation in such cases? Does a trip cancellation insurance cover such cases?

dda
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user626528
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  • Whether the carrier is obligated to provide compensation is likely to be a matter of the laws of the nations where the flight begins & ends. I don't know that a general answer exists. – Michael Seifert Nov 09 '23 at 17:34
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    Examples of such questions: 183949, 107741, 96090, 151148, 135751, 53193, 141381, 182865. As you can see, it's hard to generalize. – Michael Seifert Nov 09 '23 at 17:45
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    Ooh, I have a doubt... Are you talking about actual connecting flights (on a single booking) or a self-transfer (tickets booked separately)? – jcaron Nov 09 '23 at 17:57
  • @MichaelSeifert cases when the visa is required are completely different ones. – user626528 Nov 09 '23 at 17:57
  • @jcaron as I said, it's a connecting flight. – user626528 Nov 09 '23 at 17:57
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    @user626528 Not everybody has the same definition of a connecting flight :-) And he majority of related issues if for people who have "connecting" flights which are actually booked separately (thanks Kiwi). But indeed if both your flights are on the same ticket and if the full trip is covered by EC261 or the like, you are definitely entitled to refund + compensation. For the travel insurance this would depend on the policy. – jcaron Nov 09 '23 at 17:59
  • I wonder if it's possible to get any kind of confirmation from the visa office. – user626528 Nov 09 '23 at 18:01
  • @user626528 You can ask your local embassy/consulate, or the border police office at the airport involved, results vary a lot. But TWOV rules can be awfully complex, we would need the specific itinerary, the citizenship of the passenger (and any other visas or permits they may hold, if relevant) to explore this further. Also airlines usually rely on Timatic or Traveldoc, and those are occasionally wrong or imprecise, and between a few hundred €/$/£ in refunds+compensation and several thousands in fines if they let someone board which they shouldn't have... – jcaron Nov 09 '23 at 18:08
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    If you have a specific case in mind, search for that country + transit + user:crazydre. They are our local specialist when it comes to border police contacts and making airlines have regrets. – jcaron Nov 09 '23 at 18:10
  • @jcaron "making airlines have regrets" - I like this part. – user626528 Nov 09 '23 at 21:50
  • To be more generic and independent of special regulations for flight tickets: A flight ticket will in most jurisdictions be considered a contract, where each contracting party has obligations. The passenger must pay and the airline must transport the passenger. If the airline without just reason refuses to fulfill their part of the contract, the passenger will most likely be legally entitled to recovery of damages. – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo Nov 10 '23 at 13:57

1 Answers1

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Most airlines use Timatic to check visa and transit rules. For the sake of this answer we will assume that this is a single booking, you have a case where Timatic clearly says "travel is ok", and that the airline misread or misinterpreted what Timatic said.

Is the airline obligated to provide compensation in such cases?

That depends very much on the applicable legislation (which in itself can be tricky to determine). In the EU, EC216 should be applicable. The US has legislation for compensation if you are "involuntarily denied boarding" for oversold flights (https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-II/subchapter-A/part-250/section-250.5), but it's unclear if that would also be applicable to "involuntarily denied boarding" because of paperwork issues.

Does a trip cancellation insurance cover such cases?

Again, that will depend on the terms and exclusions of the specific insurance.

The main problem here is the following: if your situation is cut and dry in Timatic, than the likelihood of being denied boarding is miniscule. However, visa rules are notoriously complicated and if you are denied boarding its mostly because the rules are ambiguous, unclear, or open to interpretation.

In most cases the airline will drag their feet, claiming every possible excuse or interpretation of the rules. Even if you are technically entitled to compensation, you may have to drag them into court before they actually pay up. Many airlines routinely deny EC261 claims, even if they are fully justified.

Chances are that most airline will offer a refund and/or travel credit and maybe a few extra miles or points but anything beyond that would require significant work, effort, time and persistence.

brhans
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Hilmar
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  • "than the likelihood of being denied boarding is miniscule" - but still possible, especially if you have a funny passport. – user626528 Nov 10 '23 at 20:11
  • @user626528: Do you use something like this to verify your "funny" passport requirements? https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/passport-visa-health-travel-document-requirements.htm This tends to be VERY accurate. – Hilmar Nov 11 '23 at 16:35
  • yes, but st happens anyway. – user626528 Nov 12 '23 at 17:30