Was I denied boarding incorrectly by TUI to the USA from Birmingham UK due to visa issues

Question

Essentially I was denied boarding to a TUI flight from Birmingham UK to the USA 2 weeks ago because of US Visa issues, despite me meeting all the criteria on the US Embassy (and hundreds of other websites) saying my visa and approach was valid. I am British but cannot use an ESTA Visa Waiver as I got driving ban on record from 2001. English/GBR, Tourist Visa B, Airline said there was a flag on the system, they didn't expand on that.

The US Tourist Visa is still in date (exp 2025) but it's in an expired passport (undamaged/same country of issue/same name etc), it was accompanied by the new passport. Every bit of prep I did said this would be fine but TUI systems flagged something and denied me boarding. The team leader repeatedly said the visa has to be in the new passport. I said to check the US Embassy rules, but they didn’t care, they wanted to close check in. I also believe they faked a call to the USA and shifted the blame there to be able to close check in – essentially they claim that US Border Control said they wouldn’t let me in, which I do not think is the truth as why would their official policy say otherwise?

The net effect was no holiday and £4000 out of pocket.

I have a USA trip booked for September (BA flight) and am trying to understand whether this will be a problem with BA also. I tried their helpline and the lady just didn’t really get the situation and just kept contradicting herself. I have sent them a web form question but I guess it will be the same response.

I cant turn up to the airport and have a 2nd holiday cancelled on the spot due to this lack of clarity and reassurance. I have an EU trip booked in August so cannot suffer any delays with US embassy interviews/passport processing delays either so feel really stuck.

Can you help? What is the official line on this? My wife is in tears over this as there is no useful route for any support from the airlines – web forms cannot get the point over and the phone operatives seem to be droids capable of only processing the most basic of questions.

Was TUI in the wrong? Will BA deny me boarding too?

Thanks

Answer 1

TUI was certainly wrong if they declined to send your advance passenger information (API) to Customs and Border Protection because of the team leader's incorrect belief that you could not use your valid visa in your expired passport in connection with your current valid passport.

However, if they sent your API (complete and correctly entered) and received a response indicating that they should not let you board, then they would not have been in the wrong.

To be clear, I'm thinking of the possibility that they sent your data, got a "do not board" response, and then misrepresented the reason for that response either because they misunderstood it or because they felt like making up a reason would help get you out of their hair more quickly so they could get on with processing the flight.

I do not know how likely you are to be able to find out which it is. Ideally you want to have them in a position where the burden of proof is on them to show that they sent your correct information, including the visa, and were told not to board you. I don't know whether the denied-boarding regulation puts them in that position. If it does, file a claim and see if they have the evidence. It will depend a bit on the specific language used to exclude improper travel documents from the scope of the regulation: if it says that it only covers denial related to overbooking, it won't help you. If it says that cases of improper travel documents are excluded, then you can probably challenge their determination that the documents were improper.

Unfortunately, this will only help you with your September trip if they do have the records of the API transaction with CBP and will disclose them. To find out what happened from the US side you'd probably have to file a request for your data, which will probably take too long to be of use for September, but it might be worth a try.

Another possiblity would be to change your September tickets to fly to Canada and enter the US from there. If you enter by land, you'll be able to present your visa directly to a CBP officer. Even if you fly, you'll be going through preclearance in the Canadian airport. This is probably more cost and trouble than is justified for most people, but it might be useful for some.