Denied boarding - Lufthansa

brianposter

Remember that your phone bill is important evidence when negotiating with Lufthansa.

DullGreyGuy

ncmscnc said:
Arab and south Asian transits don’t work this way. 

Each country is free to set its own rules... there are some that allow you to transit airside and therefore legally dont enter the country so no transit visas required (eg UK) but others that isnt an option (eg USA)

You are also wrong, for example (using its full name), The Arab Republic of Egypt would require an Iranian passport holder to have a transit visa. Just goes to show that these things are complex and subject to change so you need to look into each scenario when required

tightauldgit

DullGreyGuy said:

ncmscnc said:
Arab and south Asian transits don’t work this way. 

Each country is free to set its own rules... there are some that allow you to transit airside and therefore legally dont enter the country so no transit visas required (eg UK) but others that isnt an option (eg USA)

You are also wrong, for example (using its full name), The Arab Republic of Egypt would require an Iranian passport holder to have a transit visa. Just goes to show that these things are complex and subject to change so you need to look into each scenario when required

As far as I know there are a whole bunch of countries that DO need transit visas for the UK, India being one of them. 

Voyager2002

ncmscnc said:

Okay. Raising it with Lufthansa now. Thanks all.  

I do understand that it’s our responsibility to have all the paperwork for our full travel. 

None of us had ever visited or transited a EU country before. Arab and south Asian transits don’t work this way. 

You walk out of a plane with a plan to walk into a plane. We don’t even have access to luggage. One would assume it’s reasonable to think we don’t need a two week wait, paperwork, convoluted application forms, nail biting wait and a visa. Especially if they wanted people to arrive, spend time and money in the airport. 

I am quite unsure what convenience it adds to other travellers having all this “walk out of airport system” for transiting travellers.

The reason for this arrangement is the fear that transit without a visa could be a method of illegal immigration. These rules tend to be inconsistent and changeable: last time I became aware of them transit visas for Indian passport holders were required by France but not by Germany, for instance.

Since it is usually difficult to communicate with embassies, the standard advice is to ask the airline about visa requirements (there is a database called TIMATIC that is used by all airlines). So it is profoundly disturbing that Lufthansa gave you incorrect information.

You should certainly complain about this, but unfortunately there does not seem to be any law specifying what compensation is appropriate. What is clear is that boarding was denied correctly so you cannot claim the standard compensation for denied boarding.

DullGreyGuy

tightauldgit said:

DullGreyGuy said:

ncmscnc said:
Arab and south Asian transits don’t work this way. 

Each country is free to set its own rules... there are some that allow you to transit airside and therefore legally dont enter the country so no transit visas required (eg UK) but others that isnt an option (eg USA)

You are also wrong, for example (using its full name), The Arab Republic of Egypt would require an Iranian passport holder to have a transit visa. Just goes to show that these things are complex and subject to change so you need to look into each scenario when required

As far as I know there are a whole bunch of countries that DO need transit visas for the UK, India being one of them. 

Yes, seems another change... though the answer is actually... "it depends" as an Indian citizen with residency rights in various countries or visas to certain other countries avoids the need for a visa if transferring airside. 

tightauldgit

DullGreyGuy said:

tightauldgit said:

DullGreyGuy said:

ncmscnc said:
Arab and south Asian transits don’t work this way. 

Each country is free to set its own rules... there are some that allow you to transit airside and therefore legally dont enter the country so no transit visas required (eg UK) but others that isnt an option (eg USA)

You are also wrong, for example (using its full name), The Arab Republic of Egypt would require an Iranian passport holder to have a transit visa. Just goes to show that these things are complex and subject to change so you need to look into each scenario when required

As far as I know there are a whole bunch of countries that DO need transit visas for the UK, India being one of them. 

Yes, seems another change... though the answer is actually... "it depends" as an Indian citizen with residency rights in various countries or visas to certain other countries avoids the need for a visa if transferring airside. 

Yeah it seems to be that if you've already been checked and approved by another country that doesn't need a transit visa then you are exempted from the requirement - absolute minefield really, little wonder that companies don't want to touch it generally.

Voyager2002

ncmscnc said:

The passenger desk did not give us the boarding pass saying one of us (Two tickets, me and my partnet) does not have a visa for Germany. 

I was told by Lufthansa customer services several times over the phone 1-2 weeks before the flight that the visa is not necessary if we are not going outside the airport and we have a connecting flight straightaway. 

The desk wouldn't listen and still denied us an entry. I am UK citizena and my partner is an Indian citizen. 

What is even more frustrating is the Lufthansa customer services were very clear that the visa is not needed if we are only taking the connecting flight and less than 12 hours Had they informed us when I called them well before the flight date, we could have applied for one! 

This was journey from Heathrow to Frankfurt and then on to Chennai, India. Back in April 2023. 

Paid over £1100 for both us including a baggage ticket. 

I am unsure how to go about approaching this. 

Have you checked with TIMATIC or with the German Embassy whether she did in fact need a transit visa? It is possible that the advice from Lufthansa customer services was correct and the check-in staff were wrong, in which case you are entitled to the standard compensation for denied boarding. It is also possible that the telephone advice was wrong, in which case the way forward for you is less clear.