Denied Boarding.Is my air ticket still valid?

[vrach]

My wife,2 children and I were denied boarding on a BA flight because it was decided by BA staff that we needed a visitor in transit visa to change planes at Heathrow. This was after they tore out our ticket coupons and generated boarding passes for us. Is my ticket still valid?I'm stuck with these boarding passes in a country with no BA representative.Any advice ,especially legal, on this?
P.S. BA web site has no place where I can pose this particular question.
Thank you,
Vrach

[buildersmate]

This wasn't 'decided by BA staff' as you assert, the UK Immigration Service decides the rules.
You can see the rules here.
http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply/infs/i nf20transit
I think you will find that it is the customer's job to determine whether a visa is needed or not and the visa in transit system is required if one is in transit for more than a length of time.
Thus BA will probably say it was actually your job unfortunately.
If the above is correct, whether a refund is possible will depend on the ticket type. Fully flexible and semi-flexibles can be changed subject to an admin fee - here.
http://www.britishairways.com/travel/askbainte r/public/en_gb?p_search_text=refunds

[Dee Sa]

where did you begin your journey and where was your final destination ?

[buildersmate]

I don't see why knowing that changes the price of fish.

Visas in transit are required by foreign nationals who would normally need an entry visa to come to the UK, but apply when they are merely passing through a UK airport and have to come out of airside for a short period of time - say overnight.
Unless this situation has been created by BA because they cancelled a flight, say, so the original plan had to change, it does not look like BA's problem to me.

[Dee Sa]

Just curious thats all., nothing offensive meant.

[KARL]

If BA's conduct is unreasonable then you may have a valid claim along the lines you may be thinking of. If there is no need for a transit visa then they were wrong to deny you boarding. I have always assumed that transfer between international flights at Heathrow can be achieved "airside" without ever passing immigration - regardless of which terminals you need to pass between. BA's business relies heavily on this facility because of their global network needs. I suggest you insist on speaking to the BA station manager if you can find one - this would be the station manager for the check-in staff if BA themselves are not there. BA's site is not a lot of help because of the response delays if you decide to e-mail them (and then it is often very poorly targeted). It would help to know where you are and where you are going in order perhaps for ABers to be able to provide more detailed help. For example, I would happily phone BA in the UK to see what comment they have to offer but then I would need far more detail - but please, not a mobile number.

[dzug]

have always assumed that transfer between international flights at Heathrow can be achieved "airside" without ever passing immigration

It can be.

But certain nationalities require a transit visa regardless.

[kira000]

As Buildersmate says, NO Airline including BA has the authority to summarily deny a passenger entry to a country, or through a transfer process. It is the immigration authorities for each country who does this by setting clear rules about what papers you need to enter. The airline is required as a condition of operation, to ensure all passengers have the correct documents as required for their destination, and gets fined if they let people throught incorrectly.
It sounds like the BA staff member saw you did not have the right documents and was therefore unable to let you fly. Just the same as they wouldnt let me fly out of the UK if i forgot my passport.

The passenger rights and Terms of purchase do state it is a passengers responsibility to ensure they have all the correct paperwork and visas for their journey, and the airline cannot be held responsible.

In terms of what to do with the tickets, If you have bought a changeable ticket of some description, you may be able to stil use it subject to a change fee. If it is a non changeable ticket, you cannot, but you could claim the fees and taxes back inus a service charge. - that is the same on most airlines. It doesnt really make any difference if the coupons were torn out or not as long as you still have them. The only way to tell if they can be changed is to take them to a BA ticket desk, or call the BA reservations number for your country who can look up your booking.

Hope that helps.

[vrach]

Clarifications:original flight plan was:Georgetown B�dos(Caribbean Airlines)Gatwick(Virgin Atlantic)Amsterdam [5 day holiday](BA)Heathrow(BA)
Baku [3 week stay](Azerbaijanian Airlines)//Heathrow------GatwickB�dosGeorgetown.
Boarding denied in Amsterdam although we had tickets for onward journey(+ visas) to Baku within 6 hours .Lots of friends and relatives(not only holders of Guyana passports) travel via London�s 2 main hubs this way(Transit without visa or TWOV).2 years ago we traveled to Poland in a similar fashion and had no such problem .In fact, Virgin Atlantic had no problem boarding us in B�dos..I fully understand that this is a �grey zone�, but nobody cares whether you are traveling with children or not. I strongly feel that we were wronged at this point. Like hundreds of people transiting without visa in London per day, I feel we should have been allowed .What�s good for the goose is NOT good for the gander! The result-- additional expense of 3,500.00 Euros to get to Baku via Frankfurt + obtaining Visas in Transit here in Baku to get back home to Guyana via London.All of the above aside. My main concern is: Since they �processed� our tickets WITHOUT giving me the opportunity to rectify �my shortcomings�,why should I lose those tickets,especially when we intend to use them in the near future.I think BA code shares with bmi to Baku.I doubt whether bmi will deal with this problem.
All of the Anwers above are of high rating and greatly appreciated.
No airline rep.would discuss my problem in depth the way you guys did/are doing.That�s why I posted it on AB!
Thank you all so much.
vrach

[dzug]

Looking at
http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply/infs/i nf20transit

I would have said you ought to have been OK. Maybe they were confused as to your nationality? Guinea/Guyana could be the same to the ill-informed and the former does need a DATV.

[vrach]

buildersmate:I checked the first website many times before.No changes over the past few years.It supports our eligibility for TWOVs.Thanks for the second website link.Only through it was I able to send BA an email with my personalised problem.I hope they'll reply in some useful way!
karl:I greatly appreciate your offer to discuus this problem over the phone.I assume you are in the UK and that it will be easier to get a non-mobile # for BA..Thanks again.
dzug:I agree that for some Guyana easily gets confused with Ghana as well.
kira000:Thanks for the tips.They are 4 tickets so I guess any refunds on the taxes will be of some consolation.As I said-no BA rep. in Azerbaijan.

[vrach]

As expected,BA replied but cannot help me by email."Dear Dr Persaud
I am sorry I'm unable to assist you further by email. Your particular query needs to be handled by our Reservations department, as only they have full access to your booking details, including its historical data."
They advise contacting 0844 493 0 787
(from the UK) - Daily 06:00-20:00
.Basic info:
Hardat Persaud,Tarana Persaud,Elmira persaud,Tarana Kadirova.Flight BA 3490 on 19/07/2008.If it's not a problem,can any ABer call this # and hear what they have to say?I will greatly appreciate same.