Denied boarding with approved esta

The facts, as I see them, are pretty clear.

The OP’s family did NOT have valid ESTAs when they got to the airport and tried to check in. The CBP says in that situation you will likely be denied boarding, which is exactly what happened.

The OP did subsequently obtain ESTAs, before check-in closed, but VS apparently didn’t receive the marker from the CBP required for travel. The OP claims VS refused to call the CBP to seek permission to fly until it was too late.

So: could VS have done more to help? Maybe, but is it obliged to? That’s the question that will decide whether the OP can claim compensation for involuntary denied boarding.

So: could VS have done more to help? Maybe, but is it obliged to? That’s the question that will decide whether the OP can claim compensation for involuntary denied boarding.

None of us were there to know but I’ve worked in customer service before and a lot of ‘going the extra mile’ depends on whether the customer passes the ‘attitude test’.

Quite.

Having an approved ESTA is not the same as VS’s system saying you have an approved ESTA. And the latter is what determines whether you fly, not a screenshot of the email confirmation you’ve just had from the CBP.

Now as anyone who’s ever worked on the front line will attest, there are cases where you’ll go above and beyond the call of duty to help a customer who’s made a mistake. And there are cases where if the computer says no, it’s a no. Rules are rules.

Quite.

Having an approved ESTA is not the same as VS’s system saying you have an approved ESTA. And the latter is what determines whether you fly, not a screenshot of the email confirmation you’ve just had from the CBP.

Now as anyone who’s ever worked on the front line will attest, there are cases where you’ll go above and beyond the call of duty to help a customer who’s made a mistake. And there are cases where if the computer says no, it’s a no. Rules are rules.

That is 100% correct and I said as much earlier in the thread. You can wave as many phones or pieces of paper at an airline saying you have an ESTA as you like but airlines MUST go by the CBP marker. After all anyone can mock up a screen shot.

With a visa you usually have a stamp or sticker actually in your passport and so that is much easier for an airline to verify that you comply with the immigration requirements. It's why if you have a still valid visa in an old passport you have to take it with your new one.

I'm sorry the OP resorted to petty insults But if he thinks flyer talk will be more sensitive then he'll have a shock!

But the issue to take away from this is what matters is what the CBP tells an airline is the position regarding the passengers approval to board and not what we as passengers think it is. No airline is going to risk boarding a passenger to the US without the right authorisation and risk being fined.

There are two processes that the CBP allows airlines to use to send APIS data to it. One involves sending an entire flight as a single batch no later than 30 minutes before departure but that risks last minute refusals and problems removing passengers and baggage from the plane causing delays.

The other is a real time transmission which is what most airlines do and happens from the point you add your APIS data and again at OLCI . Obviously the latter gives the passenger a little more warning there may be a problem investigate and resolve . And not every problem checking in is ESTA related - it could be something as simple as ticket name not fully matching passport or a transposition of a passport number but it down to us as passengers to get that information right otherwise we risk not being approved for travel.