Don't let travel document problems ground your next vacation


Olde Hornet

Well-Known Member

If you think your international travel documents for your next trip abroad are ship-shape, you might want to talk to Chrysoula Chrysogelou.

Chrysogelou, a hotel manager from Greece, was flying from Athens to Chicago recently when a Lufthansa agent told her – wrongly, as it turned out – that her permit from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s visa waiver program (ESTA) was invalid.

Because it was going to expire before she returned home, she had to pay $522 for an earlier flight. She hoped Lufthansa might refund the money once it realized its error, but it refused.

Travel document requirements can be complicated, but as Chrysogelou found out the hard way, they've become even trickier lately.

Passengers say that on top of having to obtain the proper visas for their destinations, they also now must meet an airline's requirements, which can be even stricter. And even when airline staffers know the rules, those rules can be unevenly enforced.
 
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