Call center personnel uninformed
 

I have flown quantas, british air and fiji air. Never have I had to acquire a visa independently and pay for it. Based upon information on your site, I was surpirsed to see this information and it was a bit confusing at that. So I called for clarification. The young lady who answered the phone, sounded Indian although very clear, assured me I did not need to purchase a visa as it would be taken care of in my ticket.
Imagine my surprise when my husband dropped my mother and myself off at LAX and returned back to the central valley to be told we did not have visas and could not board.
We were returning to Australia for my mothers 86th birthday. Now we were stranded at LAX. It took almost 30 minutes for the check-in attendent to solve the problem but she was able to assist us with purchasing the visa. She was very attentive and apologetic.
Unfortunately she was the only one there and several passengers in line were getting extremely upset at their wait.
Either make the website more clear - transferrirng to another site was not helpful - or ensure that call personnel have the correct answer or provide visa service autamatically like the other airline.
You would think you could determine when passport number is entered it could determine if a visa was needed for entry to that country.

Airlines do not "sell" nor do they arrange entry visas. They do, however, collect departure/entry/transit taxes etc. which is added to the ticket price. I think you are confusing the two.

It is fairly common knowledge that Australia requires visas for most foreign nationals including United States citizens. The visa is very easily obtained online and it is electronic. The airlines have access to that database and they can verify that you indeed have a visa to travel there. Relying on information from an airline reservation call center was a bad choice. They are not experts in immigration and visa matters. You also complained that the airline website transferred you to another website however the airlines do so as there are changes all the time and the most current information is maintained by IATA in their TIMATIC database. Most US airlines refer you to TIMATIC to inquire about visa and entry requirements.

Finally, you live in the greater Los Angeles area. Australia has a Consulate General in Los Angeles which you could have visited or called before traveling. They would most certainly have given you the correct information and guided you to the website to purchase your visas. Bottom line it is the travelers' responsibility to research and obtain the correct documents not the airlines'.

(And by the way...it's Qantas, not Quantas!)

Or, or...and here's another option: If you believed you were in need a Visa, why not be pre-emptive and get one prior to the actual flight, that way you would not have to go through such scenarios. I agree there needs to be consistency, but its very difficult to get a full, straight answer when dealing with a call center, simply because if you call them back and speak with another agent, you might get a different answer all together.

This is just a tip for anyone travelling overseas for the first time, or if your just unsure: The internet is a great tool, that is clearly underused. All the information you could ever want or need is literally at your fingertips. If you think or unsure if you need a visa, I would look it up, that way your not caught off guard when you arrive at the airport. I made the mistake once going to Brazil, never again.

visa
 

I travel frequently from LAX to SYD and on multiple airlines. Never have I had to purchase a visa separately. And I did utilize the internet but there are conflicting reports on different sites.

This has come up before...

Clearly it is the passengers responsibility to know the Visa requirements. However, airlines cannot have it both ways. Their staff should not provide advice to passengers about Visa requirements and then absolve themselves of responsility on the basis of some small print somewhere. If they do not wish to give advice, don't give it. But if they give faulty advice, they should be responsible for this.

From the United Airlines website:

From the Star Alliance interface with TIMATIC:

• 1 human as me = 105 pounds

• total weight of my bag and my husband bag = inferior to my weight

• surplus of one bag 3 pounds taxed by UA "only" 100 $

• no cabin bag

• my thin person travelled squezed between 600 pounds persons

• United Airlines do not reimbursed me as they promised and make me send by mail and call them several times ( means the tactics of let it go )

Please note :

1. Wihin my position as PM, my company of 6'000 persons will never purchase a UA ticket ( and when I say never, it is never ) :D

2. I will send my case to ALL who want to hear me - that is a perfect publicity for 100 $ surtax of thin human :p

3. I think UA should tax thin persons not 100 $, but 10'000 $ ;)


A very proud customer with 105 pounds weight :)