BRITISH AIRWAYS- DATV- TRANSIT VISA-H1B-HEATHROW
It is 5:08 a.m. I have not been up this early for a long long time. I didn't have to since British Airways wasn't a part of my life until now.
Right now I am supposed to be on a Flight to Heathrow and in a few hours time from there taking a connecting flight to Bangalore. 5 hr layover in Heathrow.
Why am I blogging right now? At 5.08 .am and after 2 years? Just to get the information across on why not to fly British Airways and also to give you information British Airways doesn't give you when you book your tickets. British Airways thinks their responsibility stops once they get your $1450. Am I sour, bitter ....yes I am. I am short of $1450. My travel arrangements are messed up, my vacation cut short by a day over a Direct Airside Transit Visa (DATV). WHEN YOU TAKE A CONNECTING FLIGHT FROM HEATHROW YOU NEED A DATV. YOU NEED IT EVEN IF YOU DONT CHANGE AIRPORTS. EVEN IF YOU HAVE A LAYOVER OF 1 HR. If you belong to the following countries you need one.
AFGHANISTAN, ALBANIA, ALGERIA, ANGOLA, BANGLADESH, BELARUS, BURMA (MYANMAR), BURUNDI, CAMEROON, PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA, COLOMBIA, CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (ZAIRE), ECUADOR, ERITREA, ETHIOPIA, GAMBIA, GHANA, GUINEA, GUINEA-BISSAU, INDIA, IRAN, IRAQ, IVORY COAST, KENYA, LEBANON, LIBERIA, MACEDONIA, MOLDOVA, MONGOLIA, NEPAL, NIGERIA, PAKISTAN, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY, RWANDA, SENEGAL, SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO, SIERRA LEONE, SOMALIA, SRI LANKA, SUDAN, TANZANIA, TURKEY, TRNC, UGANDA, VIETNAM, YUGOSLAVIA, ZAIRE (FORMERLY DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO), ZIMBABWE.
www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/doineedvisa/visadatvnationals
You can board the flight if you have a valid US visa. Check out the link .My visa stamp expired last year. I am going down to India to get a stamp. I have valid Schengen C visa. This is not acceptable. I have an I-94 valid for the next 6 months. Not acceptable. British Air mentioned they are fined 20,000 pounds. I move to next desk it becomes 10,000 USD. You get different info from each of the guys from other side of the desk. We can let you fly if you are visa expired in the last 3 months. Another lady " No it is 6 months". Then the desk lady asks me to call up Reservations: 1-800-247-9297. They mention they cant do anything about it. They just give you a number.I had to wait on the phone for 18 minutes listening to their blissful music. BTW had two cellphones dialing the number. British Air mentions its not their responsibility, not boarding the flight is treated as No Show. So you are ticket is Non-refundable. I asked them to keep the Return leg of the journey open and not refund me for the Departure Leg from BWI to BLR. I mention, I dont need your refund, please let me travel back on my Return leg so that my wife (FWD 2 weeks) doesn't celebrate her Honey Moon alone.
NO SHOW.NO REFUND. TICKETS STANDS CANCELED. YOU LOOSE $1450. YOU GET BACK AIRPORT TAXES. HE DOESNT TELL ME HOW MUCH THAT IS. YOU WILL GET TO KNOW IN 7-10 days, thats what he mentioned. I then had to rebook the same Return flight from BLR that they canceled for $792.00. I swore never will I fly British Air again after this ordeal.
Are the flights cheap. No way. Think about this to get a DATV you spend $100 + 8 hrs of your time. You need to submit your Biometric data for which you need to make an appointment at a center near you. Then send out yours docs (passport, I-94....Originals).. to any of the 4-5 of the centers in the country (USA). $50 for postage both ways. In case they end up misplacing any of your documents...good luck from then on.
www.visa4uk.fco.gov.uk/ApplyNow
If you need Visa info for the UK ,you got to pay for this on the phone using your credit card. They work Mon-Fri. If you need to cancel or change your tickets on British Airways you need to pay $20.
I came to know about the DATV a week before my departure. I just got my passport back from the Netherlands Embassy.I couldn't risk sending out my passport, I-94, 797 etc to the UK consulate for the sole reason that I am going down to India for a wedding. Any of my documents misplaced during the 5 days rush transit, I am stuck here in the US.
I call up British Airways call center to cancel my ticket a week before I leave. The answer I get from them is the visa rules keep changing and we cannot inform them to you. To place "you might need a VISA for your connecting flights" on your website/Itinerary is very hard to do. I understand. It doesn't make good business sense.
Was it my ignorance. YES. Can British Airways give you VISA information when you are booking tickets. Yes sure they can. Other travel websites (Orbitz) do or at least mention about it. Luftansa allows you to travel on an I-94. I am going to my home country. I am changing flights at Heathrow, I am not getting out of the airport Nor am I changing airports to go missing. I cant slip out of an airport without going thru Immigration . Unless UK believes their Immigration Clearance sucks and just cant rely on them.
All in all I screwed myself by flying British Airways. Never Will. Never Again. Even if I have a valid US visa. Once they get your money, its all misty from then on for them. Their helpline/call center sucks Camels balls. Fly via Frankfurt or Amsterdam. I am not sure about Air France. Check on that.
Okay I have vented by frustration out enough. I am on my way in a few hours. Another day, a New beginning. This time its Air-India....:-)
DATV - $100
NO DATV, NON REFUNDABLE ROUND TRIP TICKET, YOU LOOSE: $1450
TO CHANGE TICKET: $20
TO BOOK ANOTHER BA TICKET : $792.00
THE LOOK ON YOUR Future Father-in-Laws face when you present him with a Chivas Regal: Priceless
There are somethings Money cant buy , for things you can, there is British Airways waiting to suck it out from you before you do.
Right now I am supposed to be on a Flight to Heathrow and in a few hours time from there taking a connecting flight to Bangalore. 5 hr layover in Heathrow.
Why am I blogging right now? At 5.08 .am and after 2 years? Just to get the information across on why not to fly British Airways and also to give you information British Airways doesn't give you when you book your tickets. British Airways thinks their responsibility stops once they get your $1450. Am I sour, bitter ....yes I am. I am short of $1450. My travel arrangements are messed up, my vacation cut short by a day over a Direct Airside Transit Visa (DATV). WHEN YOU TAKE A CONNECTING FLIGHT FROM HEATHROW YOU NEED A DATV. YOU NEED IT EVEN IF YOU DONT CHANGE AIRPORTS. EVEN IF YOU HAVE A LAYOVER OF 1 HR. If you belong to the following countries you need one.
AFGHANISTAN, ALBANIA, ALGERIA, ANGOLA, BANGLADESH, BELARUS, BURMA (MYANMAR), BURUNDI, CAMEROON, PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA, COLOMBIA, CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (ZAIRE), ECUADOR, ERITREA, ETHIOPIA, GAMBIA, GHANA, GUINEA, GUINEA-BISSAU, INDIA, IRAN, IRAQ, IVORY COAST, KENYA, LEBANON, LIBERIA, MACEDONIA, MOLDOVA, MONGOLIA, NEPAL, NIGERIA, PAKISTAN, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY, RWANDA, SENEGAL, SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO, SIERRA LEONE, SOMALIA, SRI LANKA, SUDAN, TANZANIA, TURKEY, TRNC, UGANDA, VIETNAM, YUGOSLAVIA, ZAIRE (FORMERLY DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO), ZIMBABWE.
www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/doineedvisa/visadatvnationals
You can board the flight if you have a valid US visa. Check out the link .My visa stamp expired last year. I am going down to India to get a stamp. I have valid Schengen C visa. This is not acceptable. I have an I-94 valid for the next 6 months. Not acceptable. British Air mentioned they are fined 20,000 pounds. I move to next desk it becomes 10,000 USD. You get different info from each of the guys from other side of the desk. We can let you fly if you are visa expired in the last 3 months. Another lady " No it is 6 months". Then the desk lady asks me to call up Reservations: 1-800-247-9297. They mention they cant do anything about it. They just give you a number.I had to wait on the phone for 18 minutes listening to their blissful music. BTW had two cellphones dialing the number. British Air mentions its not their responsibility, not boarding the flight is treated as No Show. So you are ticket is Non-refundable. I asked them to keep the Return leg of the journey open and not refund me for the Departure Leg from BWI to BLR. I mention, I dont need your refund, please let me travel back on my Return leg so that my wife (FWD 2 weeks) doesn't celebrate her Honey Moon alone.
NO SHOW.NO REFUND. TICKETS STANDS CANCELED. YOU LOOSE $1450. YOU GET BACK AIRPORT TAXES. HE DOESNT TELL ME HOW MUCH THAT IS. YOU WILL GET TO KNOW IN 7-10 days, thats what he mentioned. I then had to rebook the same Return flight from BLR that they canceled for $792.00. I swore never will I fly British Air again after this ordeal.
Are the flights cheap. No way. Think about this to get a DATV you spend $100 + 8 hrs of your time. You need to submit your Biometric data for which you need to make an appointment at a center near you. Then send out yours docs (passport, I-94....Originals).. to any of the 4-5 of the centers in the country (USA). $50 for postage both ways. In case they end up misplacing any of your documents...good luck from then on.
www.visa4uk.fco.gov.uk/ApplyNow
If you need Visa info for the UK ,you got to pay for this on the phone using your credit card. They work Mon-Fri. If you need to cancel or change your tickets on British Airways you need to pay $20.
I came to know about the DATV a week before my departure. I just got my passport back from the Netherlands Embassy.I couldn't risk sending out my passport, I-94, 797 etc to the UK consulate for the sole reason that I am going down to India for a wedding. Any of my documents misplaced during the 5 days rush transit, I am stuck here in the US.
I call up British Airways call center to cancel my ticket a week before I leave. The answer I get from them is the visa rules keep changing and we cannot inform them to you. To place "you might need a VISA for your connecting flights" on your website/Itinerary is very hard to do. I understand. It doesn't make good business sense.
Was it my ignorance. YES. Can British Airways give you VISA information when you are booking tickets. Yes sure they can. Other travel websites (Orbitz) do or at least mention about it. Luftansa allows you to travel on an I-94. I am going to my home country. I am changing flights at Heathrow, I am not getting out of the airport Nor am I changing airports to go missing. I cant slip out of an airport without going thru Immigration . Unless UK believes their Immigration Clearance sucks and just cant rely on them.
All in all I screwed myself by flying British Airways. Never Will. Never Again. Even if I have a valid US visa. Once they get your money, its all misty from then on for them. Their helpline/call center sucks Camels balls. Fly via Frankfurt or Amsterdam. I am not sure about Air France. Check on that.
Okay I have vented by frustration out enough. I am on my way in a few hours. Another day, a New beginning. This time its Air-India....:-)
DATV - $100
NO DATV, NON REFUNDABLE ROUND TRIP TICKET, YOU LOOSE: $1450
TO CHANGE TICKET: $20
TO BOOK ANOTHER BA TICKET : $792.00
THE LOOK ON YOUR Future Father-in-Laws face when you present him with a Chivas Regal: Priceless
There are somethings Money cant buy , for things you can, there is British Airways waiting to suck it out from you before you do.
Labels: BRITISH AIRWAYS, DATV, H1B, HEATHROW, LONDON, TRANSIT VISA
posted by Babbles at 6:33 AM
73 comments
