madstad

Hi,

I don't know if anyone can help. I was booked to travel from Toronto to Sydney, but I forgot that I needed to apply for a travel visa (which I accept is my fault). The problem is air canada flew me to LA despite not having the correct documents to travel onward and I am trying to find out where I stand.. The first leg of my flight was on air canada and the remaining two legs were with united. When I checked in at Toronto I was issued all three boarding passes (so I had completed check in for the full flight) despite the lack of a visa.

I am now stuck in LA until the application is checked through which takes one business day. United said that as I had checked in I should have had all documents checked and that therefore air canada are at fault and they probably didn't check fully as the rest of the flight wasn't with them, but I am wondering if this is the case.

Thanks

clevelandbrown

You can apply for a visa on line, and I would hope United is doing this with you.

An airline is supposed to refuse to allow you to check in if documentation, such as a passport or visa, is not presented. If you, like many travelers, bought a deep discount ticket, you would forfeit it if you did not check in on time; perhaps you have such a ticket, and Air Canada allowed you to check in, doing you a kindness by maintaining the viability of your ticket, even though you will experience a delay.

Old travelers remember when you needed a visa to go almost anywhere. Young travelers who have gone only to countries where a visa is not required (almost all of Europe, for example) don't even know what a visa is.

jacketwatch

By I hope you are on your way with no further delays. A Fodors regular from Canada (Eschew) made the same mistake and lost a day in Sydney before his cruise. He too did not know a visa was needed. AC and UAL are Star Alliance partners though I think in this case it's your responsibility. You can try to contact AC but probably it won't help.
Lesson learned. Best of luck next time.
Larry.

Jeff_Costa_Rica

Ultimately it's the traveler's responsibility to ensure they have proper documents to enter another country. That's the fine print with any plane ticket, cruise ticket, or tour contract. None of them will accept responsibility in this type of situation.

I hope you have everything straightened out by now and are on your way.

gail

Wasn't there a bad movie based on this problem?

janisj

Does anyone think someone stuck at LAX needing visa info . . . would take the time to register on Fodors and ask here? Me neither

NoFlyZone

The reason airlines check travel documents is not for the protection of the traveler but rather so the airline itself is not fined or otherwise penalized for transporting someone without proper documentation.

Correct me if this is incorrect, but since AC was only providing transport as far as LAX were they really fully responsible for checking documents for onward travel beyond their own services?

jacketwatch

NFZ. I wonder that too. My bet is no.

Sojourntraveller

While there is no question in my mind that the OP is the responsible party, if Air Canada checked them in for all 3 flights as the OP says, then they should have checked their documents were in order, AS A COURTESY.

That they didn't, doesn't make them liable in any way though.

NeoPatrick

The OP is incorrect. She is not looking to see who is at fault. She already knows she is the one at fault. What she's looking for is someone to BLAME for her own dumb mistake. We all make mistakes (well, most of us do) -- the hard part is taking the blame for our own mistakes.

Sojourntraveller

Indeed NeoPatrick. The number of complaint type posts on travel forums in which the OP wants to blame ANYONE except themself is rididulous.

I can't recall the last time if ever that I read a complaint post and the OP actually had a case to make for complaining or blaming as you say, other than themself.