Re: BNE-SYD-LAX-BNE VA Y US$266 on Orbitz [gone]
Why couldn't VA look at who is booked to travel tomorrow, next day etc and email those who don't have ESTAs already?
It's not difficult for VA - would avoid these last minute issues and heck - VA could provide a 'premium' service by charging a fee to do the application for passengers too.
While VA is correct by the hard and fast rulebook - they really ****ed up. It's not like JohnK is the first person in history not to have an ESTA. Quoting you an obscene amount to get on the next flight is horrible customer service. It's not the way to handle this situation with a distressed customer.
I also remember a case last year in reverse. US passenger with a domestic US connection and he wasn't permitted to board the domestic segment because he didn't have an Australian visa.
The problem with advance notifications is that it sets an expectation. A passenger won't necessarily look to find out their visa requirements because they expect the airline to do it for them.
If a passenger changes email address or contact details, or a VA notification goes into spam, or the passenger doesn't open an email (etc etc) and later claims they never received visa information... who is to blame? The passenger would argue VA is because VA has taken it upon themselves to notify all passengers of visa requirements.
How can an airline know if every passenger on the flight requires a visa or transit authority? What if the airline only identifies one but not another? Who's to blame?
Sure - JohnK isn't the first person to forget an ESTA or other visa. But how does the airline know it would be approved? Plenty of people don't get ESTAs approved immediately. That puts VA in a very difficult position - they have accepted the passenger for travel and are then responsible to get them back home. Unless the passenger signs an indemnity or waiver. But by the time you do that, you'd have missed check-in anyway.
if the cost of returning the passenger home exceeds the fare paid (as in this case), why should the airline pay for that, or increase other fares to pay for it?
Most regular passengers would know that if you want to voluntarily change your flight before departure, you have to pay the new fare. VA was proposing the new fare. Not sure if that's unreasonable?
