Thanks for the flight attendant's perspective, dutyfree.

Awhile back on an SJO-DFW flight, the purser apologized profusely for having only forms in Spanish loaded on the flight. She went through, line by line, over the PA asking anybody who didn't speak Spanish to follow along and fill out their forms as she translated:

"Line 1 says apellido. That's your last name. [pause] Line 2 says nombre. Fill in your first name ..."

Of course, there were a few pax who were doing other things at the time and didn't take advantage of the help and said later, "Excuse me. This form is in Spanish."

On my last flight to the US I was coming from Paris and they only had forms in French, as they had run out of English forms. I don't speak French but I've filled out the US customs form so many times in my life I already know all of the questions. For the non-French speakers who weren't so familiar with the form the flight attendants were happy to translate. Not a problem.

dutyfree, thanks for explaining what happened. I understand that people make mistakes on the forms and ask for new ones. I've done it. I can also almost understand running out of the forms.

But, just on this one thread in the forum, two passengers (the OP and Jeff) both reported having having no English forms available. That can't be explained away by the incompetence of some/many passengers with filling out a simple form.

Do the FAs give any feedback to the doc kit preparers? Do they have the means/method to do so?

But, the question is not what happened, but why it happened.

I am surprised that most posters on this thread are eager to let the airline walk on this misdemeanor while blaming the victim.

I would have expected at least one post pointing to this as typical of the poor and declining service by U.S. airlines and that some particular foreign airline would never let this happen. Not even a post that this is typical of the contempt that UA has for their customers.

As much as I'd like to blame UA for everything, this one is on AA.

I just wish all airlines would hand Customs forms out when passengers board, not when landing. Some do, but far too many don't.

I'm saying that the OP was presented with a situation that wasn't going to change. Those forms were not going to magically appear somewhere over the Atlantic. The flight attendant offered a way to fill out the form while still in flight and have it all completed by the time of landing. The OP chose not to do that. What was accomplished there?

I don't consider myself a "victim". And yes I also have had to fill out the form in Spanish in the past, when that was all that was available for whatever reason.

No, I'm not a "victim". To me, in this cae it was the principle of the matter and something that really shouldn't happen and from reading on other blogs, this seems to be a usuall occurrance on the BCN-JFK flight and the fact is it was more than just not having forms available in English, there was no annoucement made on the flight the forms are mandated for all arriving in the USA, I had to ask for a form an hour before landing and suddenly everybody around me asked what the form was for; not everybody is an accomplished international traveller. I just find it hard to believe that this would happen, as I pointed out, say on an Iberia flight headed for Spain if the Spanish government required forms they wouldn't have forms available in Spanish. It would be a courtesy but not something I would expect for the forms in that situation to be available in English.

As far as which countries require forms, other than flying from the USA to the UK when I travel to Western Europe, am I required to fill out a landing card. France? No. Germany? No. Netherlands? No. Spain? No Italy? No. Austria? No. Portugal? No. But that isn't important.

Was it the worst thing in the world that has ever happened to me when travelling on a trans-continental flight? No. But I'm sorry, in principle, there is something wrong with the situation both in not having the forms available in English and not properly distributing or announcing the necessity of the forms. That was the point I was trying to make. I still don't see why everybody is piling on me and not the airline.

What did AA Customer Relations say when you contacted them about this?

<i>To me, in this cae it was the principle of the matter</i>

What principle is that? That they can never run out of forms? Thanks for fighting the good fight on such an important principle.

<i>As far as which countries require forms, other than flying from the USA to the UK when I travel to Western Europe, am I required to fill out a landing card. France? No. Germany? No. Netherlands? No. Spain? No Italy? No. Austria? No. Portugal? No. But that isn't important.</i>

There is a very big world beyond Western Europe... But that isn't important, I guess.

No travelgourmet; the principle was the cards were never distributed nor any annoucements made.

Of corse, and I know this annoys you, the USA is the only country I know of that subjects its visitors to being finger printed and mug shot upon arrival. Really mmakes everybody very welcome!

But then again, what do I know.

I cannot tell you how many times on my flights we have passed out forms and people say that they never got them-been in the lavatory,asleep or they dropped on the floor and they cannot find them. My flying partners and I always have extras on the drink carts and at most of our jumpseats because people say they never got them,messed up on them or didn't realize that they applied to them?While I think that it might be easier to pass them out as people get on the plane, it has been my experience that so many people get stressed and flustered getting to their seats and getting their carryon luggage stored that they "forget" where they put things.
Now don't get me started on passing the forms out as a flight attendant...."are you a US citizen or do you have a visa?"
Replies from passengers-"No I don't have a Visa but I have a Mastercard" or I am from Colorado so does that mean I am a US citizen".Multiply those replies with many others times 200 passengers. Well you get the idea-now you know why I have wine on my layovers!

Handing out customs forms is a courtesy the airlines do for its passengers. It is not required of them, nor do the airline promise them in the contract of carriage or even on their website as "onboard amenities".

Anyways, this thread is unbelievable.

<i>Of corse, and I know this annoys you, the USA is the only country I know of that subjects its visitors to being finger printed and mug shot upon arrival. Really mmakes everybody very welcome!</i>

So... You've never heard of Japan? Pretty sure Korea will role it out next year. Thailand photographs visitors upon arrival. Many countries with limited or no visa waiver programs require photographs and/or other identification before issuing visas.

It is indeed a welcomed courtesy. But I wonder what's going to start happening now that many travelers are Global Entry and the form is not required for them!

<I still don't see why everybody is piling on me and not the airline.>

Because to me this is a "life's too short" situation. Not anything I personally would even get excited or think twice about. I save getting in a huff for things that really matter. And this to me doesn't even come close.

Interesting point from rkkwan that the airlines aren't even required to distribute these. I didn't know that.

Just during my past 2 months of travel - Malaysia has started finger-printing for visitors. Chinese immigration at PEK has a video camera pointing right at you and you can see your face on a screen right there.

<i>It is indeed a welcomed courtesy. But I wonder what's going to start happening now that many travelers are Global Entry and the form is not required for them!</i>

Global Entry still requires that you answer declaration questions at the kiosk in order to get the print out that you give to a customs officer on the way out.

And Global Entry also costs $100 and requires an interview and a somewhat lengthy application process. A no-brainer for a well-traveled fellow like our OP, but not the sort of deal that will attract a huge proportion of travelers.

dutyfree.

I'm going to ask the OP again: Did you contact AA about this? I don't see any mention in your posts that you did. Most of us here don't view this situation as a problem, but you do, and that's fine. AA is the only one who can help you here. Let them know your displeasure with the situation with the forms.