Layover requirements

JoSomerset

Hi I booked my daughters first major overseas holiday in July to travel last week.  Using booking.com we booked flights to Singapore and then from there to Australia from Heathrow.  The first leg was with Air India which went via Mumbai with a 12 hour layover before going onto Singapore.  We were not able to check in until 48 hours before leaving only to discover that the layover was not in transit, she had to collect her luggage and go through arrivals and then back in to departures which meant she needed a visa.  She was only in the airport, had no intention of leaving it but as we are UK citizens she had to get a visa.  As you can imagine with only 48 hours notice and the evisa for India taking a minimum of 4 days and up to 7 days we could not use this route anymore.  There was nothing on either Booking.com or Air India to advise of this.  Nothing in the Ts & Cs and nothing on the website so how we were meant to know?  We had to buy very expensive flights with BA to get her to SIngapore as she had other flights to catch.  I can not seem to get any compensation because of the Visa but I feel we should have been informed at booking that this was a possibility and I would have checked.  With her flights to the US the following year we know about this so arranged them.  There should be something in place that the Air Line and booking agent need to tell the passenger that this is the case.  Any ideas of anywhere I can go to try and get compensation as we really couldn't afford this or its all credit cards

daveyjp

Booking.com ts and cs.

It’s your responsibility to:

• carry a valid passport and/or visa if required
• comply with any entry requirements
• find out if you need a visa to pass through a country that isn’t your final destination

la531983

Its generally always a condition of booking flights that its up to the customer to make themselves aware of visa requirements. 

Using a third party to book the flights likely didnt help either.

Pollycat

daveyjp said:

Booking.com ts and cs.

It’s your responsibility to:

• carry a valid passport and/or visa if required
• comply with any entry requirements
• find out if you need a visa to pass through a country that isn’t your final destination

I'd guess this is in most travel companies T&Cs.

You can fly direct to Singapore so why complicate things by adding in a stop?

I doubt the OP will get anywhere with a request for compensation.

DullGreyGuy

Are you sure a visa is required? 

With India you always have to go through immigration but the High Commission website states that those transiting dont need a visa as long as you stay within the specified precinct of the airport

https://www.hcilondon.gov.in/page/transit-visa/ 

It is uniformly the buyers responsibility to ensure they have the correct passports and visas for the trip. This is a highly complex situation when you consider the number of countries in the world and that most issue multiple forms of passport (at a minimum standard and diplomatic but there are 7 forms of British passport before you add in the British Dependencies passports). Agents simply dont have enough information to advise you at point of sale and it would create a big liability for them if they just assumed you had a British Citizen passport if you happen to have a UK address. 

daveyjp

Transiting is a very specific term.  You never leave the airside areas of the airport, you don't go through cutoms and passport control, or collect your luggage.  You exit the aircraft at a gate, enter an airside lounge or main airside departures area (the specified precinct) before being called to the gate for your next flight.

A visa is generally not required for this as you can't leave the airport.  Looks like the OP had such a long layover transiting wasn't an option so a Visa was required, however this may not be the reason as long layovers aren't unusual. 

The fact the OP also had to collect their luggage suggests this may have been a "self transfer" ticket and not a through ticket.  Self transfer meaning a number of individual tickets for the trip, but in no way connected.  So you fly one leg, leave airside, go through customs, get luggage and then check in for your next flight.  Any delay and you are potentially stuffed.

Self transfer tickets are a real problem with sites like booking.com, skyscanner etc as they are often at the top of the cheapest fares list.  If you don't understand what this means and the potential implications don't use such sites.  Book direct with one airline.

Pollycat

daveyjp said:

Transiting is a very specific term.  You never leave the airside areas of the airport, you don't go through cutoms and passport control, or collect your luggage.  You exit the aircraft at a gate, enter an airside lounge or main airside departures area (the specified precinct) before being called to the gate for your next flight.

A visa is generally not required for this as you can't leave the airport.  Looks like the OP had such a long layover transiting wasn't an option so a Visa was required, however this may not be the reason as long layovers aren't unusual. 

The fact the OP also had to collect their luggage suggests this may have been a "self transfer" ticket and not a through ticket.  Self transfer meaning a number of individual tickets for the trip, but in no way connected.  So you fly one leg, leave airside, go through customs, get luggage and then check in for your next flight.  Any delay and you are potentially stuffed.

Self transfer tickets are a real problem with sites like booking.com, skyscanner etc as they are often at the top of the cheapest fares list.  If you don't understand what this means and the potential implications don't use such sites.  Book direct with one airline.

Cobbled together tickets can be a nightmare.

We are flying to the Far East soon.
We have a long non-stop flight to the airline's hub and then a guaranteed connection to our end destination.
We booked direct through the airline and our luggage will be routed to our end destination without having to collect and re-check it in at our layover point.

We've done this numerous times and it has always gone as smooth as silk. 
We wouldn't trust any of the 3rd party booking sites to book for us.

As said above:

DullGreyGuy said:

It is uniformly the buyers responsibility to ensure they have the correct passports and visas for the trip. This is a highly complex situation when you consider the number of countries in the world and that most issue multiple forms of passport (at a minimum standard and diplomatic but there are 7 forms of British passport before you add in the British Dependencies passports). Agents simply dont have enough information to advise you at point of sale and it would create a big liability for them if they just assumed you had a British Citizen passport if you happen to have a UK address. 

This is where personal accountability comes in.

Voyager2002

When you bought the flights, did the page display the words "self transfer"? That should have alerted you to the fact that these were two separate flights, not a through ticket, and had you clicked on the warning you would have been given further details.

If in fact the warning was not displayed then you would have a reasonable case that the agent failed to discharge their duty of care towards you, their customer, but enforcing this against Booking.com is unlikely to be simple.

JoSomerset

daveyjp said:

Transiting is a very specific term.  You never leave the airside areas of the airport, you don't go through cutoms and passport control, or collect your luggage.  You exit the aircraft at a gate, enter an airside lounge or main airside departures area (the specified precinct) before being called to the gate for your next flight.

A visa is generally not required for this as you can't leave the airport.  Looks like the OP had such a long layover transiting wasn't an option so a Visa was required, however this may not be the reason as long layovers aren't unusual. 

The fact the OP also had to collect their luggage suggests this may have been a "self transfer" ticket and not a through ticket.  Self transfer meaning a number of individual tickets for the trip, but in no way connected.  So you fly one leg, leave airside, go through customs, get luggage and then check in for your next flight.  Any delay and you are potentially stuffed.

Self transfer tickets are a real problem with sites like booking.com, skyscanner etc as they are often at the top of the cheapest fares list.  If you don't understand what this means and the potential implications don't use such sites.  Book direct with one airline.

I agree but it doesn't say self transfer on the tickets or the website or on booking.com we deliberately didn't choose one of those.  It states layover and the number of hours which it did on other flights but my daughter didn't need to leave the airport as it was a normal transfer, but with this one it didn't state anywhere that she would need to do thids, not on Air India or anywhere else, very frustraing

JoSomerset

Pollycat said:

daveyjp said:

Transiting is a very specific term.  You never leave the airside areas of the airport, you don't go through cutoms and passport control, or collect your luggage.  You exit the aircraft at a gate, enter an airside lounge or main airside departures area (the specified precinct) before being called to the gate for your next flight.

A visa is generally not required for this as you can't leave the airport.  Looks like the OP had such a long layover transiting wasn't an option so a Visa was required, however this may not be the reason as long layovers aren't unusual. 

The fact the OP also had to collect their luggage suggests this may have been a "self transfer" ticket and not a through ticket.  Self transfer meaning a number of individual tickets for the trip, but in no way connected.  So you fly one leg, leave airside, go through customs, get luggage and then check in for your next flight.  Any delay and you are potentially stuffed.

Self transfer tickets are a real problem with sites like booking.com, skyscanner etc as they are often at the top of the cheapest fares list.  If you don't understand what this means and the potential implications don't use such sites.  Book direct with one airline.

Cobbled together tickets can be a nightmare.

We are flying to the Far East soon.
We have a long non-stop flight to the airline's hub and then a guaranteed connection to our end destination.
We booked direct through the airline and our luggage will be routed to our end destination without having to collect and re-check it in at our layover point.

We've done this numerous times and it has always gone as smooth as silk. 
We wouldn't trust any of the 3rd party booking sites to book for us.

As said above:

DullGreyGuy said:

It is uniformly the buyers responsibility to ensure they have the correct passports and visas for the trip. This is a highly complex situation when you consider the number of countries in the world and that most issue multiple forms of passport (at a minimum standard and diplomatic but there are 7 forms of British passport before you add in the British Dependencies passports). Agents simply dont have enough information to advise you at point of sale and it would create a big liability for them if they just assumed you had a British Citizen passport if you happen to have a UK address. 

This is where personal accountability comes in.

Pollycat said:

daveyjp said:

Transiting is a very specific term.  You never leave the airside areas of the airport, you don't go through cutoms and passport control, or collect your luggage.  You exit the aircraft at a gate, enter an airside lounge or main airside departures area (the specified precinct) before being called to the gate for your next flight.

A visa is generally not required for this as you can't leave the airport.  Looks like the OP had such a long layover transiting wasn't an option so a Visa was required, however this may not be the reason as long layovers aren't unusual. 

The fact the OP also had to collect their luggage suggests this may have been a "self transfer" ticket and not a through ticket.  Self transfer meaning a number of individual tickets for the trip, but in no way connected.  So you fly one leg, leave airside, go through customs, get luggage and then check in for your next flight.  Any delay and you are potentially stuffed.

Self transfer tickets are a real problem with sites like booking.com, skyscanner etc as they are often at the top of the cheapest fares list.  If you don't understand what this means and the potential implications don't use such sites.  Book direct with one airline.

Cobbled together tickets can be a nightmare.

We are flying to the Far East soon.
We have a long non-stop flight to the airline's hub and then a guaranteed connection to our end destination.
We booked direct through the airline and our luggage will be routed to our end destination without having to collect and re-check it in at our layover point.

We've done this numerous times and it has always gone as smooth as silk. 
We wouldn't trust any of the 3rd party booking sites to book for us.

As said above:

DullGreyGuy said:

It is uniformly the buyers responsibility to ensure they have the correct passports and visas for the trip. This is a highly complex situation when you consider the number of countries in the world and that most issue multiple forms of passport (at a minimum standard and diplomatic but there are 7 forms of British passport before you add in the British Dependencies passports). Agents simply dont have enough information to advise you at point of sale and it would create a big liability for them if they just assumed you had a British Citizen passport if you happen to have a UK address. 

This is where personal accountability comes in.

I didn't do a cobbled together flight, we booked London to Singapore with one airline, just used booking.com as we have used them lots of time before.  All of the other flights operate as in the luggage goes all of the way to the destination.  Air India's flights did not shaw any different information than any of the others so how is the passenger meant to know.  This is my point, whose responsibility is it to inform the traveller?  Are they meant to have to check every flight themselves?  I have flown all over the world and never had this problem before

JoSomerset

Voyager2002 said:

When you bought the flights, did the page display the words "self transfer"? That should have alerted you to the fact that these were two separate flights, not a through ticket, and had you clicked on the warning you would have been given further details.

If in fact the warning was not displayed then you would have a reasonable case that the agent failed to discharge their duty of care towards you, their customer, but enforcing this against Booking.com is unlikely to be simple.

No they didn't say self transfer which was my point.  I agree it is going to be difficult as they are really not interested and we had to pay a huge cost for the flight as it was last minute.  Thanks