British Airways and Visa checks

[mickeymiles]

Sorry to be a pain, again, but was wondering if anyone has had any bad experiences with British Airways, departing from London, with regards to flying with or without a visa?

 

I have flown with Etihad for the last ten years travelling maybe 25 times to Bangkok and have never once been asked if I had a visa.

 

I am thinking of getting a 5 month return with British Airways this year with just a 60 day visa and was wondering if anyone had heard any bad things with being denied flying or given a hard time.

 

Many thanks,

 

Mickey

[NiceGuyEddy]

No problem at all if you have a visa. The only time you will have a problem is when you are going with the expectation of a 30 day exemption.

[steve187]

BA UK is all auto checkin with machines

[NiceGuyEddy]

Quote

BA UK is all auto checkin with machines

they still do a visa check

[ubonjoe]

54 minutes ago, mickeymiles said:

I am thinking of getting a 5 month return with British Airways this year with just a 60 day visa and was wondering if anyone had heard any bad things with being denied flying or given a hard time.

There is no requirement to have a return or onward ticket if you have a valid visa for entry to the country.

[ubonjoe]

A off topic post and a expected reply to it has been removed.

[mickeymiles]

OK Chaps, thanks for the info.

 

I will make sure I have a 60 day visa before booking the flight, just hope the price of the flight does not rise whilst waiting for the visa, lol.

 

Much appreciated,

 

Mickey

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, mickeymiles said:

OK Chaps, thanks for the info.

 

I will make sure I have a 60 day visa before booking the flight, just hope the price of the flight does not rise whilst waiting for the visa, lol.

 

Much appreciated,

 

Mickey

You can book the flight at any time. It is when you are checking in that having a visa is relevant.

[The Old Bull]

Never a problem if you book a return. People used to book a one way and then a return from the other end as business class was about half price from Bangkok. To combat this the airlines would demand a visa. Now the difference is not so much.

[Maestro]

9 hours ago, mickeymiles said:

I have flown with Etihad for the last ten years travelling maybe 25 times to Bangkok and have never once been asked if I had a visa.

 

They don't need to ask because they can see it in your passport.

[Suitcase]

17 hours ago, Maestro said:

 

They don't need to ask because they can see it in your passport.

  With Delta they don't thumb through your passport looking for a visa.

You get your boarding ticket and at the gate, before boarding, they ask

to see your visa.

[Maestro]

1 hour ago, Suitcase said:

  With Delta they don't thumb through your passport looking for a visa.

You get your boarding ticket and at the gate, before boarding, they ask

to see your visa.

 

Is that at London Heathrow airport for flights to Thailand?

[baboon]

I flew BA on the 2nd of this month, my return date is in March. My departure airport was Newcastle, but obviously I transited via T5. I was not asked at any point to show proof of a visa.

[BritTim]

16 minutes ago, baboon said:

I flew BA on the 2nd of this month, my return date is in March. My departure airport was Newcastle, but obviously I transited via T5. I was not asked at any point to show proof of a visa.

Did your passport contain a visa that the check in staff may have seen (I assume they did examine your passport as they are obliged by UK law to verify your identity)? Did you have an onward ticket out of Thailand that the airline was aware of (in that case, no visa is required)?

 

It is possible for an airline to omit checks for a visa or onward ticket. Usually, that happens at airports in the region close to Thailand. These days, ignoring IATA guidelines for flights out of the UK would be rare.

[baboon]

5 minutes ago, BritTim said:

Did your passport contain a visa that the check in staff may have seen (I assume they did examine your passport as they are obliged by UK law to verify your identity)? Did you have an onward ticket out of Thailand that the airline was aware of (in that case, no visa is required)?

 

It is possible for an airline to omit checks for a visa or onward ticket. Usually, that happens at airports in the region close to Thailand. These days, ignoring IATA guidelines for flights out of the UK would be rare.

Yes, I did / do have a visa. However all the Check In staff were interested in was the photograph page. They would never have found my visa surreptitiously in my well worn Passport full of Thai stamps.

 

No, I did not have an onward ticket.

[jacko45k]

And when Etihad flew you was your return flight perhaps within 30 days and no visa was required?

Usually this action is not carrier specific, and often the check-in staff do not work directly for the specific airline.

If you do have a visa this time, it is not a problem as the 30 day check for a return booking is not required at the Thai end.  I certainly have had my Visa extension checked by Etihad at check-in myself.

 

[Suitcase]

19 hours ago, Maestro said:

 

Is that at London Heathrow airport for flights to Thailand?

No, Minneapolis to Japan to BKK.

[Riojasue]

We flew Heathrow to Bangkok at the end of September and they didn’t look at the Visa page at all, only the page with the photograph on. We always fly BA to Thailand and they’ve never checked our Visa status.


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[The manic]

BA are dreadful.

[Briggsy]

I recently flew Etihad from Manchester. Check-in asked me to show my Thai visa as she couldn't find it. She then scrutinised the validity date. All was in order.