Boarding Denied? Passport Red Tape

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Also to be noted is the absolute necessity that the ticket name and passport name are 100% match-I am currently involved in a dispute with an unnamed international "flag" carrier thus far taking over 90 days and over 30 contacts to resolve their mistake when ticketing. At one point I was advised to cancel and rebook-estimated increase in ticket price: $2000!

by gleebeck on Saturday, September 17, 2011

FWIW, I went to Brazil with only six weeks left on my passport in June 2008. I had asked at Brazilian immigration durnig a previous visit in March of 2008 (with four months left before expiration) if it would be such a problem to enter with such a short expiration. Their answer was "not a problem" and this turned out to be true. Thank goodness I didn't encounter an over zealous gate agent who would have decided that "most countries" require a six month limit and blocked my boarding. Why did I cut it so close? I ahd a lot of travel and I could not be without my passport (a requirement to get a new passport) for an extended period -- and this was at a time when the US Passport Agency was dealing with incredible backlogs. But having the facts on your side won't do any good when up against a person with authority who is making up their own rules.

by StanScan on Thursday, September 15, 2011

Philippines and Thailand. Philippines will absolutely deny entry, no exceptions.

by manilapacman on Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Yikes! Didn't realize this was a question from some time ago and that I had posted before. (Woops! I think the no. of people denied boarding on the So. Am. cruise was actually 32 instead of 24. My memory faded!)

by mlbcruiser on Wednesday, September 14, 2011

By all means, definitely check on visa requirements! They can differ widely depending upon how you will be visiting the country. Our neighbor's parents just happened to be planning a trip to Brazil around the same time we were. I just happened to see them and commented that our visas had just arrived in the mail that day. Unlike us, they had used a travel agent. However, the T/A had not informed them they needed a visa! They were barely able to get their visas in time! The same couple were later doing a cruise in So. America, departing from Chile, that was going around Cape Horn to Brazil. About 24 people were denied boarding because they didn't have proper visas for Brazil. Additionally, I read something in an omsbudsman column of a travel magazine about an elderly couple (not from the U.S.) who had traveled a very long way (perhaps it was from Australia?)to do an Alaskan cruise. Their ship had a scheduled stop for refueling or maintenance (I THINK in Canada?) en route, though no passengers were getting off. At the time the couple booked the cruise, no special documents were required for the country of the stop. However, the law changed in the meantime and they were denied boarding and missed the entire cruise due to not having the proper documentation even though they weren't even getting off the ship! Rule of thumb is you should always check YOURSELF and never rely on a cruiseline, airline or travel agent to properly inform you of the current required documents.

by mlbcruiser on Wednesday, September 14, 2011

To: bob's Friend The fiscal arrangement is such that the airline are fined if they carry a passenger to a country where their documentation is incorrect / insubstantial / expired / does not have enough validity. It is the airlines responsibility at check-in (whether by live person, online or at a kiosk) to ensure that the requirements have been met. The fine is in the range of USD5000 per passenger, so substantial enough to worry about.

by aussietraveller on Tuesday, September 13, 2011

This is SUCH an important topic! I found out during a casual conversation that a couple we knew were going to Brazil. Coincidentally, so were we - during the same time period. One day I mentioned in conversation that our visas had come. The couple did not know they needed a visa (even though they were using a travel agent! I luckily had found out about the visa requirement just doing my usual trip research.) They then drove to the appropriate consulate (5 hrs. away) to apply just a couple of wks. prior to their trip. The following yr., the same couple did a So. American cruise around Cape Horn. They said there were about 32 people denied boarding at embarkation in a South American city because they didn't have Brazilian visas nor had they paid the hefty Argentinian tourist fee that had come into effect. y advice to anyone visiting a country outside of their own is to check and recheck everything to do w/passports, visas, and other entry requirments. Go to the appropriate govt. websites and do the research on what is required for your visit yourself, AND ask your travel agent to double check the entry requirements for you well in advance of your trip.

by mlbcruiser on Sunday, June 13, 2010

Countries want you to have a passport valid for 6 months for several reasons. Just because you have a ticket back on a specfic date before your passport expires doesn't mean you actually have to be on that flight. Tickets can be changed, emergencies can happen that require you to extend your stay longer than intended and past the expiration date of your passport but still within your valid visa stay in the foreign country. And now they cant legally let you get on the plane back to the USA since even though you are a US citizen, you dont have a valid ID (passport) saying you are. And yes you can renew your passport at US consulates abroad, you may not always be near one, it takes time (mine took 2 weeks overseas) and those foreign countries could be worried about supporting you if you were sick or something and had to wait for a new passport to fly back home. Not everyone that travels has money to cover emergency situations like this.

by traveler on Sunday, June 13, 2010

I had that same concern last fall when I first found out that some countries have a six month rule. My passport was going to expire in October and I had a flight to Canada in September. It was already August. I called the U.S. State Department and they said that as long as my passport didn't expire while I was in Canada it wouldn't be a problem. The only time it was mentioned on my trip was when I boarded the plane. The ticket agent just reminded me to get it renewed soon.

by Jillski on Friday, June 11, 2010

I was 2 days short of 6 months & needed a new passport prioir to Thailand trip.

by Ofmyheart on Friday, June 11, 2010

This has been a regulation for a few years now. The US government wants everyone to have a valid passport and is encouraging everyone to get a passport for all travel, including from the US to Canada and Mexico. You can still cruise on a closed end cruise, meaning leaving and arriving back to the same port, without a passport, but this too will change. As a travel agent, I always tell my clients to have a passport and to check www.travel.state.gov for updated advisories for their travels. For additional travel information and advice go to www.traveltipsbybabs.com. Travel Smart, Dream Big! Babs

by TravelBabs on Friday, June 11, 2010

Our Canadian government warns us to always be six months ahead in expiry date no matter the country. Our passports are good for 5 years and the concern for many countries is that they are harder to validate, we can look much older than our passport picture in 5 years time. Information does not seem fresh to other countries so just to be on the safe side renew when you have a little more than a year left.

by Shirley54 on Friday, June 11, 2010

I am a little concerned about that the airline agent may have told our traveler: "the airline informed me that many countries require that a passport be valid for six or more months from the time the passenger returns home." What "many countries" require isn't as important as what Brazil specifically requires. The interesting part is what the link from the Embassy of Brazil website for visa requirements actually states: "2) A passport valid for at least 6 months prior to its expiration date, and with at least one blank page available for the visa stamp;" That is an interesting statement, and I am not sure what it really means by the term "its expiration date." The airlines are very concerned about having to transport a traveler back to the point of origination, should the traveler not be allowed into, in this case, Brazil. If the traveler has a round trip ticket, it would seem the airline has already been paid for the return travel anyway, so from a fiscal standpoint, there should not be an issue. On the other hand, perhaps there is a performance grading issue with the airline, based on the number of passengers carried and turned around at immigrations. Can anyone really explain why it matters, other than some policy adopted over the years, that the expiration date of the passport, as long as it is passed the point of planned date of return. Most countries have a US embassy or consulate, so renewing a US passport overseas is generally very simple.

by bob's Friend on Thursday, June 10, 2010

I was almost denied boarding China Air to Thailand because my passport didn't have 6 months left on it. I had to sign a waiver acknowledging that I could be denied entry to the country. Didn't happen, but we worried through the whole trip that we might be coming home as soon as we got there.

by Exeterfarmgirl on Wednesday, June 09, 2010

I'd change that comment to: MOST countries have similar requirements. For some countries it is 6 months; for a few countries it goes down to 3 months. Far better for the airline to deny you boarding than to end up in a foreign jail on arrival, or detained and placed on the next flight home to your origin - at your expense.

by aussietraveller on Wednesday, June 09, 2010

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