Holiday Refund when Passport not valid

peachyprice

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Sounds reasonable, but
1. no airline nor travel operator can ever provide a guarantee that a passenger will be allowed to enter a country: the authorities can change the rules without notice (I was once detained when my destination country changed the rules when my 'plane was actually in the air!) and in any case have absolute discretion to refuse entry to any visitor;

Exactly, in which case they will have to refund!

2. going back to Emirates and highlighting the issue would almost certainly mean that the OP would then be prevented from travelling.

Better to be prevented from travelling than being turned away at immigration after a 7hr flight.

Although being the government run national carrier Emirates do hold a little sway at immigration.

leylandsunaddict

The FCO isn't wrong. The information on there doesn't apply to Polish passport holders. It's for "travellers using a full ‘British Citizen’ passport".

The information you posted from EK website has come from the IATA travel centre and will be the correct information. It says exactly the same if you do the check direct with IATA or SkyTeam.

However having the correct entry documentation doesn't guarantee entry into any country. No airline can guarantee you that. The airline aren't responsible unless you are denied entry and they have let you fly with incorrect documentation. In this instance it appears that the information they are giving you is correct according to the International Air Transport Association, and their information is what all airlines base denied boarding on due to incorrect documentation.

If those requirements are changed by the destination country and they haven't informed IATA then the airline aren't responsible.

Heliflyguy

TIMATIC/IATA has the same passport validity details for Polish and UK passport holders entering DXB ref 3 months.

If IATA are correct then that makes the FCO incorrect.

There is also an issue with the FCO advice for Spain for UK passport (British citizen, Bio) holders FCO say passport must be valid for stay IATA says you can enter Spain on a expired UK passport for up to 1 year.

I would put more faith in TIMATIC/IATA as they have more to lose if incorrect but wouldn't want to be the one to put it to the test although if the OP cannot get a refund then if I was them I would still travel.

I remember when a TIMATIC visa/passport enquiry for Thailand used to state that if you had a Hippy type appearance then you may be denied entry.

Voyager2002

peachyprice wrote: »

Exactly, in which case they will have to refund!

No, the airline does not refund if you are not allowed into the country that you attempted to visit.

Voyager2002

Rudixx wrote: »

My policy does cover some legal costs.

In your situation, I think I would try to speak to the solicitor provided by the insurance. Basically you relied on the information that Emirates provided when making your booking, and now that the information appears to be incorrect you are stuck with a booking for which neither a refund nor date change is permitted. So your problem is the fault of Emirates, but they say that they do not accept any responsibility for the accuracy of the information that they provide. I think, but only a lawyer would know, that they have a duty of care and a standard disclaimer does not allow them to evade their responsibility. I suspect that this is something that would have to be tested in court... Of course, far and away the most sensible solution would be for them to agree to a free date change and so avoid a potentially very costly court case. Maybe a lawyer could negotiate this with them?

martindow

Can you renew your passport while you wait if you go in person to Warsaw? If you have spent a lot of money on your Dubai holiday it would be worth doing a day trip, or staying overnight if necessary, to be able to go.

peachyprice

Voyager2002 wrote: »

No, the airline does not refund if you are not allowed into the country that you attempted to visit.

And yet you proved my point with your next post?

The airline either refund or risk being sued due to providing incorrect information and breaching their duty of care.

I wonder which they will choose?

Voyager2002

peachyprice wrote: »

And yet you proved my point with your next post?

The airline either refund or risk being sued due to providing incorrect information and breaching their duty of care.

I wonder which they will choose?

A national government may refuse entry for any reason (or no reason): this is not the responsibility of the airline, and so no refund would normally be given.

As my other post tried to say, if an airline is negligent and so provides incorrect information, the customer MIGHT have some remedy at law. In this situation a lawyer could argue the case either way, and I would not like to predict what a court would decide.

Rudixx

No I can't. Tickets to Poland this month were around 250 pounds and we do not have option to pay extra for getting the passport sooner than it is normally.

After revising my options I managed to delay my holiday. This costed me 100 pounds for changing the flights and hotel room price difference of 60 quid.

I was lucky that hotel only charged me room price difference.


Thank you everyone for your efforts in helping me!

Voyager2002

Rudixx wrote: »

No I can't. Tickets to Poland this month were around 250 pounds and we do not have option to pay extra for getting the passport sooner than it is normally.

After revising my options I managed to delay my holiday. This costed me 100 pounds for changing the flights and hotel room price difference of 60 quid.

I was lucky that hotel only charged me room price difference.


Thank you everyone for your efforts in helping me!

The airline should at least pay the 160 because that is purely because they provided incorrect information: and about their home country as well!

Again, I suggest that you seek help from the legal cover with your travel insurance. A letter from a solicitor using phrases like "duty of care" should do wonders in releasing the funds...