Visa for connecting flight

morth123

Dear forum members,

I have recently booked flight tickets online for my family through travel trolley website. The flight is from London Heathrow to Chennai via Dublin and Abu Dhabi. I have spent around 2500£ for the flight tickets ( family of 4 - 2 adults and 2 kids) and made the payment online through debit card.

The flight from London Heathrow to Dublin (Aer Lingus) was on 15th Dec 19:45 hrs and the connecting flight from Dublin to Abu Dhabi is on the next day morning 16th Dec at 8:35 hrs. On the day of travel, we arrived at the airport and showed the tickets to the airline staff. The have issued me the boarding pass for Dublin and also for the connecting flights. Then they checked all our passports and we don't have the Ireland visa so they have refused to proceed further. It was complete shock to me as I wasn't aware that a visa is required for connecting flights. Operations at Dublin airport shuts down late night and they re-open next day morning. Because my connecting flight from Dublin is not until the next day morning, I was told by the airline staff that a visa is required to come out of the airport.

They asked me to speak to the travel agent / Etihad airlines if they can change the flight. Etihad said that they can't do anything as the ticket was issued by the agent and the ticketing agent (Travel Trolley) was unhelpful and said its my fault as I should have checked the visa requirements before booking the tickets. It was a non-amendable ticket so Travel Trolley said that they can't refund the ticket money or change the flight.

It was a very painful experience and I was on the phone with the travel agent and Etihad airlines for nearly 5 hours then we returned back home late night with the kids.

Now I've lost my hard earned money of 2500£ and the travel agent says its a no-show so my return ticket (flight is on 11th Jan 2018) also gets automatically cancelled.

I will be really grateful to any advice on how to get my money back from the travel agent?

Westin

Ouch.

“I will be really grateful to any advice on how to get my money back from the travel agent.”

I feel for you and the experience that you have just encountered but this issue was your doing and ultimately your responsibility. The passenger is always responsible for checking that they have the correct travel documentation for travel. I don’t think you will get money back.

This from the Travel Trolley website:-

You are responsible for checking all passport, visa and health requirements and ensuring your travel documents are in order.

Passport and Visa: You must consult the relevant Embassy or Consulate for this information. Requirements may change and you should check the up-to-date position in good time before booking/departure. We accept no liability if you are refused entry onto the flight or into any country due to failure on your part to carry the correct passport, visa or other documents required by any airline, authority or country. You must have a passport which is valid for six months after your intended date of return. You must ensure you have correct visa and health entry requirements for all countries visited including countries you may just be transiting through. This includes all stops made by the aircraft even if you do not leave the aircraft or airport.

At best you might be able to ask if they can reroute you with Etihad on direct LHR AUH then on the India (assuming it is a Schengen visa issue) and pay any penalties and fare difference. I would suggest a polite and civil conversation with TT as I don’t feel they are under any obligation to do this for you.

Expensive lesson learnt.

heatherw_01

Unfortunately this is not their fault and you should have looked into this before flying.

mattyprice4004

You ‘not being aware’ isn’t TT’s or the airline’s problem - it is yours and yours only.

An expensive lesson, but why should they pay for your mistake?

mattyprice4004

Also, I’m not sure how TT were unhelpful in saying it was your fault. It WAS your fault....

leylandsunaddict

Travel Trolley were correct. It was your fault so not sure how them telling you that was unhelpful? It is always your responsibility to have the correct entry documentation for your destination/destinations.

Travel Trolley haven't got your money to refund, the airline have, and its not their fault you were denied boarding. The tickets were obviously non refundable so they don't owe you anything either.

zagfles

First off have you checked that they were right that you needed a VISA? What nationality are you?

See http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/moving_country/moving_abroad/freedom_of_movement_within_the_eu/common_travel_area_between_ireland_and_the_uk.html

There is a Common Travel Area between UK and Ireland, the land border has no passport checks and didn't think the sea or air routes did either. But there does seem to be some (arguably pointless) restrictions on some nationalities travelling between the countries.

Alan_Bowen

A good travel agent will ask what passport you hold before booking a strange route through two connections to India. Unfortunately it looks as though you acted as your own travel agent booking on line and as others have said, it becomes your responsibility to check. I assume you have an Indian passport and if you had to be admitted into the Republic of Ireland, you would need a visa. Sometimes trying to save money costs you a lot more, and frankly if you had to spend a night in Dublin, I very much doubt there would have been much of a saving anyway.

Travel Trolley are certainly not a top 5 agent by any means, but unless there was a requirement to state your passport at the time of booking, you are regrettably the author of your own misfortune.

GDB2222

"I wasn't aware that a visa is required for connecting flights. Operations at Dublin airport shuts down late night and they re-open next day morning. Because my connecting flight from Dublin is not until the next day morning, I was told by the airline staff that a visa is required to come out of the airport."

OP, what do you mean by "out of the airport"? Do you mean out of Dublin airport, because it closes down completely overnight? In that case, you would definitely need to satisfy the visa requirements for entering ROI. If you stay airside, there's normally no need for a visa if the connecting flight is within a few hours.

unforeseen

Dublin airport doesn't close overnight, however it maybe the case that you can't stay airside overnight because there are no flights then.

Coming out from airside means a visa would be required

zagubov

I think we need to go easy on the OP. Not every airport closes completely at night time and I don't know of a database that tells you them all. Flyer forums are full of reports of experienced travellers getting caught out.
Therefore, I'm not sure when the OP's suspicions should have been alerted.
I certainly changed planes in the past in countries where I didn't have a visa (Czechoslovakia in the 1980s).
Presumably if OP had used a human travel agent they'd have been able to discuss problems

Incidentally, if he cancelled the first leg and took a ferry to Dublin or Belfast, would he have been OK'd to fly?