[Paul Coleman]

Booked a ticket for my wife and I to fly from Santiago Chile on Lan Chile to Saoi Paulo, Brazil with connecting flight to Cape Town on South African Air (SAA). Waited six hours in Brazil Terminal and were told could not board SAA flight to South Africa because we had no Yellow Fever Vaccination Certificate. No one at any time told us of this requirement. Lan Chile actually booked our bags all the way to Cape Town. SAA were less than helpful. Super visor would not help, just walked off after saying its the law of the country. Said he"d be back, did not return, before plane left I went back to boarding desk, the attendant said "You can fly. Just got to wait for a man from lan Chile to fill our forms. He came, led us away. Thinking we"re going to an office to fill forms and then retrun to plane we did. At the Brazilian immigration discovered that we had a twenty four pass to enter the country, but no flight to South Africa on SAA. The SAA attendant had blatantly lied and the plane and staff had gone.
Stuck in Brazil
That was only the beginning of our ordeal. Lan took responsibility, and told us that this had never happened before. I can well imagine. We were checked into a hotel and then spent all next day at airport trying to get SAA to fly us. Lan Chile advised us to go to a clinic to get a Yellow Fever shot. I've not had an injection for years and didn't like the idea, but we did not really have much choice - we were stuck in Brazil. Got the shot returned to aiport Lan Chile took us to SAA who were not at ll i nterested and just said, you have to wait ten days after the shot before you can fly.
40 Hour ordeal and back to the airport where we began the journey with Yellow Fever shot we did not want.
Lan Chile did not know what to do. Fortunately it was their baggage handlers who were taking care of us and they were very nice - they actually listened to what we had to say about being only in transit, not leaving airconditioned building, having no prior knowledge of needing shot etc. Supervisers were happy to leave this matter to the baggage handlers. I insisted on Lan Chile taking care of us for the ten day period - eventually they contacted Santiago. Santiago office said put them up for ten days in Brazilian Hotel. Everything seemed OK until they realised that we had no visa and only a 24 hour pass. Had to dash out of Sao Paulo on return flight to Santiago in case of being arrested by Immigration.

Got back to Santiago had to explain whole process again to several supervisors of Lan Chile. Eventually I managed to convince them to check us into a hotel with all meals and transportation covered. Grateful to Lan Chile for taking care of us, but thoroughly dismayed at the cold, unprofessional nature of SAA and in particular being told a bare faced lie. In the same boat as us was a young Chilean couple with a toddler and baby. The man and wife had actually made several trips this way together and though the husabnd alreayd had a Yellow Fever shot, she never had one or had even been told to get one. Like us they were not allowed to board. SAA superviser told the man to stop complaining because he could fly and should leave us family to get a shot. The wife was so upset by this she burst into tears.
[U]This ten delay has cost us ten days of our vacation and hundreds of dollars in incidentaly costs in Brazil.[/U] Plus we now have to wait to see if we get ill fom the shot. Our friend was going to drive ten hours to pick us up at Cape Town, and now because he can"t we have to take another flight - costing us at least four hundred dollars more.
I presume someone has done something and it would appear to be Lan Chile seeing as they are footing the bill, which must be around $4000 US to pout us up in a very nice hotel for twelve days. But truthfully I feel it is SAA responsible. They allow flights to be sold to and from Santiago and apparently this Yellow Fever Law is applicable to Buenos Aires too - which is another route that we could have taken. At no time did anyone tell or provided us with written information on the fact that even transit passengers have to have a Yellow Fever certificate. If they had we most certainly would have taken a different route. This whole thing is absolutely ludicrous. So what can we do to ensure that we get fully compensated.

[Gromit801]

Good luck.

Having all of your paperwork in order is your responsibility, and yours alone. That includes passports, visas, inoculation certificates, international driving licenses, etc. The airline is not in any way responsible for any of this. If they do make a point of informing passengers of these things, consider it a courtesy. That you needed your immunization certificate is something due diligence on your part would have turned up by checking with the consulates or embassies of the countries you planned to visit or pass through.

[Paul Coleman]

If Airlines are not responsible then please tell me why they are putting us up for ten days in a hotel, paying for our food and accommodation, have rearranged our flights, have apoligised to us and have admitted that something went wrong regards us not being told?

We have no issue with Lan Chile who have treated us very nice, the issue is with SAA and their communication with agents who are not supposed to sell tickets via Brazil without telling people of the need for Yellow Fever Vaccination - at least that is what it says in an alert on their website.

And by the way - where did you get your information regarding your message. Are you in the travel industry? Are you an airline representative?

[Paul Coleman]

I am interested in where you got your information regarding your statements on our Yellow Fever issue. It seems at odds with what SAA had on their website a few days ago, and the way we have been treated by Lan which is very good.
Quite frankly I doubt we'll get anything from SAA - we've recently arranged a flight to South Africa for 100 Japanese visitors after a mix up with SAA ticketing - now they are going on another airline - and we don"t expect anything from them - but think it is very important for people to understand this Yellow Fever issue. And to be honest I believe from experience, that if staff are not happy, then morale is low and that is not good for any industry.

[Paul Coleman]

SAA have just renewed their website. Now you can find a new travel alert on Yellow Fever.

[jimworcs]

You have been very well treated by LanChile, but this doesn't automatically make the problem the airlines responsibility. However, I do think that airlines should advise customers of the need to check the visa and entry requirements and the vaccination/health requirements before purchasing the ticket...either via a pop up box on their website, or when the telephone agent is taking the booking.

I do not however think that airlines can be responsible for checking each customer meets the entry requirements. That is too high a burden and is unrealistic. For example, if you are a communist, you may still have some trouble getting into the USA. You don't seriously think all airlines flying to the USA should warn communists not to book, or to quiz people about their current or past political affiliations do you? Some countries also block entry to people with HIV. Do you think airlines should check the HIV status of the customers?

I have less sympathy for the couple you mention in your post. The husband had the yellow fever vaccination and the wife had not. He KNEW he needed it, otherwise he wouldn't have had it!! That is not the airlines fault.

My suggestion: If booking online, a pop up should appear asking if you have checked the visa, health and other entry requirements of the country. If not, it should recommend you do so before proceeding. At that point, it would be the passengers responsibility. Same if booking by phone. Hopefully, no respectable Travel Agent would take a booking without advising the customer of the entry requirements, so all bases should be covered.

[Paul Coleman]

It is the fact that we were supposed to be advised that transit through Brazil required a Yellow Fever certificate to enter South Africa, and were not, that caused the problem. The first thing Lan Chile asked was "Did anyone advise you when you booked the ticket or checked in that the Yellow Fever Vaccination was required.

We purchased our ticket through Expedia and no such advise was given. Later, while still in Brazil I visited the SAA website and there was a flashing alert for Yellow Fever. We checked the alert and it stated that before any tickets were sold by booking agents, passengers must be told of the requirement to get a Yellow Fever Vaccination.

[Paul Coleman]

It appears that South African Airways is now going to greater lengths to inform people of this requirement. So to me the whole thing is quite simple - if we were supposed to have been told, then that is what should have happened.

And yes we have been treated very well by Lan Chile and certainly appreciate that. I agree with you all the way that passengers should be informed of requirements for such things as Yellow Fever shots being required when in transit. At least that way people have an opportunity to change their route or get the shot.

[jimworcs]

If you booked your ticket through Expedia, I do feel you may have a legitimate complaint against them, particularly if it is the policy of SAA that any of their agents must make it clear. Have you complained to Expedia?

[Jetliner]

Paul,

As Jim pointed out this is not realistic to require the airlines to make sure each passenger is in compliance. There are way too many variables to even keep up with. Add to that things change constantly. So something could change after you make the booking. With the way things are you have the responsibility to look these things up and be familiar with them.

There is a publication called the TIM (Travel Info Manual) that is available to the airlines and travel agents, and actually I think you can find it online as well, but you have to subscribe, although most airline's websites will have a section somewhere that you can still look up the info. But, here's the thing. Let's say you are flying from the US to China. Are you a US citizen, or resident alien. What country is your passport from. What other documents do you have? What type of Visa do you have, if you have one at all?

The point is this, imagine the checkin process if the agents had to look this up for each and every passenger that flew. The same thing for vaccinations.