SORRY YOU CANNOT TRAVEL What is the worst thing you can tell a passenger

Posted on 05/03/2016

This is a situation that happens more frequently at airports than one would imagine. Having booked a trip, a traveller arrives at check-in only to be denied boarding because their passport will expire within a short time (usually six months) and the host company does not permit travel to those with a soon-to-be-expired passport. That’s when all hell breaks loose.

The passenger cannot believe that they will not be allowed to travel. The airline agent can explain for all they are worth that the destination to which the person is headed will not accept them, that they will be returned forthwith and that the airline will be fined for permitting them to travel. Typically most would-be travellers ignore the first part of that response and focus on the “airline will be fined.” And to that, the response ranges from assurances, “I’ll pay the fine,” to scornful, “well, you deserve that for not telling me ahead of time.”

No explanations ever suffice, and as the realization sets in that they really will not be boarded, the abuse of the check-in agent, airline, tour company, travel agent and their families and ancestors ramps up accompanied by demands to speak to the person-in-charge/president/whatever country’s authorities. Frequently they also fight with their fellow travellers or even their own travelling companions. “Why didn’t you check?”

”I did!” “You always screw up! It’s always something!” “Shaddup! Just shaddup!”

Then come threats and/or tears and/or promises of legal action and retribution. This can sometimes (especially in the case of tour packages) be exacerbated by the fact that they are told the others in the party are not being denied travel and that should they choose not to – no refunds will be forthcoming. More screaming. More threats. More Facebook. More tweets.

These days, with many travellers choosing to book for themselves online, these nasty experiences could be on the rise. So how does one prevent it? The easiest way, whether travel agent, tour operator or OTA is to obviously know your stuff and inform the passenger. Posting access to the information in an obvious position BEFORE the passenger has confirmed, puts the onus on the traveller to determine his/her own acceptability and is probably the most efficient way to handle the situation.

There are various ways this can be done. In the old days airport and tour operator checked their trusty TIM manual, (subscriptions still available) and these days a TIMATIC is available for travel websites though there are transactional charges for the company. IATA has a free product (www.iatatravelcentre.com) that can be linked or added to a website . But let’s not get too comfortable. No matter how much we try as an industry to disseminate information to travellers - someone, somewhere will almost certainly show up without the required documentation.