Tiger Airways Transit Visa

[James56]

Today Margarita was due to arrive in Perth today on a Tiger Airlines flight, after connecting at Bangkok since Turkmenistan Airlines terminate there. She had her Australian Visa, I'd paid her fares etc. Her travel agent had told her visa's weren't necessary for her stop overs in Bangkok and Singapore. I was a little worried about Singapore, and had made several inquirys because of the Budget Terminal layout. It transpired that she was entitled to a 96 hour visa free stopover if she had a ticket for onward travel and a visa for the destination. It seems most counties have provision for travellers enroute to other countries for transit visa's issue on arrival or trasit visa free periods.

Bangkok was hard to get information on, every thing I'd read indicated no visa would be necessary if you remain in the international zone, I probably should have called the embassy here, but as far as I could ascertain a continuing international flight shouldn't be a problem, because she wouldn't need to leave the international area to switch planes. Messages in this forum only touched on leaving the airport while in transit.

The Thai Authorities response was that, Tiger Airways was a domestic airline and she had to pass through customs to check in, and as she had no transit visa she was arrested, fined and deported! A bad Saturday for both of us, after 3 months of planning and trying to get everything right! We had both holiday'd together in Bangkok in April, and the was no indication that Tiger Airways was any different from other airlines in the departure lounge when we checked in at the end of our holiday.

When she sent her passport to Moscow, the agent was to have passed it on to the Singapore and Thai embassies for a transit visa application. They said it wasn't necessary and returned it with her application fee.

I cannot undertand why an international airport doesn't ensure carriers are catered for in such a way that transient travellers can continue their journey in such a case. Rules are rules they would say, but they could at least make them known to the traveller, and I think Tiger Airways should be held responsible for not disclosing their "Domestic Status" so international travellers don't get unwittingly deported.

I'm sure Tiger Airways are fine with this event, because they get a fare without the inconvenience of a passenger. As for Margarita, she has to live with a DEPORTED stamp across her passport, which will probably affect her future ability to travel, which is difficult enough already, through no fault of her own, but the result of a chance event that saw her born in a country of misfortune.

When I travelled to Thailand, I did not need a visa of any description, just because I was lucky in my chance birthplace.

Well I have travelled once, and I now think my travelling is over!!

Jim

[batami]

I cannot argue with the facts of the case as you have presented them but it strikes me as odd. Tiger Airways is, of course, an international airline - they fly from Singapore.

I think the issue here is that - true to tiger's colors of cheap no frills we do not do anything extra for you unless you pay and only then if we think it is worth our while - Tiger do not interline bags or passengers at BKK (that would cost money) or anywhere else - not even Singapore which is their hub. So, you must enter Thailand to collect your bags and then depart from Thailand again.

Even if you have no bags, as Tiger will have no interlining arrangement with anyine, you still have to enter the country and depart.

I would guess the advice you have received is generally correct if you were dealing with a normal international airline - Tiger is not a "normal" international airline.

Did you make it known to Tiger that Maragrita was arriving and connecting with one of their flights -- did they give you any advice? Did you read the Terms and Conditions -- see below ...... I guess you didn't!!

Bad luck.. but let it be a lesson to the rest of us!

Note - from http://www.tigerairways.com/flight/useful-...information.php

Tiger's terms and Conditions:

Tiger Airways offers passengers the option to purchase more than one flight in a single reservation, for example Darwin to Singapore to Bangkok. For these itineraries, Tiger Airways is allowing passengers the flexibility to plan their entire journey in one reservation. All passengers travelling on Flight Combination must clear customs and immigration, where applicable and have reclaimed any Checked Baggage before checking in for their onward flight. A minimum of two hours must be allowed in order to complete such arrival and check-in formalities.

There are no transfer facilities for Flight Combinations, so all passengers choosing to book a flight combination need to ensure they have the relevant travel documentation to enter the intermediate country.

and under Connections:

* Tiger Airways is strictly a 'point-to-point' airline. We therefore do not offer and cannot facilitate, the transfer of passengers or their baggage to other flights, whether operated by Tiger Airways or other airlines.

* All rail and coach transfers detailed on Tiger Airways.com or promoted by Tiger Airways are operated independently of the airline and connections cannot be guaranteed.

* Tiger Airways is not responsible for late, cancelled or incorrectly featured transfer information.

* All passengers will be required to clear Immigration/Customs where applicable and collect their baggage upon arrival of their Tiger Airways flight. No transfers using 'Airside' facilities will be permitted.

[James56]

I cannot argue with the facts of the case as you have presented them but it strikes me as odd. Tiger Airways is, of course, an international airline - they fly from Singapore.

I think the issue here is that - true to tiger's colors of cheap no frills we do not do anything extra for you unless you pay and only then if we think it is worth our while - Tiger do not interline bags or passengers at BKK (that would cost money) or anywhere else - not even Singapore which is their hub. So, you must enter Thailand to collect your bags and then depart from Thailand again.

Even if you have no bags, as Tiger will have no interlining arrangement with anyine, you still have to enter the country and depart.

I would guess the advice you have received is generally correct if you were dealing with a normal international airline - Tiger is not a "normal" international airline.

Did you make it known to Tiger that Maragrita was arriving and connecting with one of their flights -- did they give you any advice? Did you read the Terms and Conditions -- see below ...... I guess you didn't!!

Bad luck.. but let it be a lesson to the rest of us!

Note - from http://www.tigerairways.com/flight/useful-...information.php

Tiger's terms and Conditions:

Tiger Airways offers passengers the option to purchase more than one flight in a single reservation, for example Darwin to Singapore to Bangkok. For these itineraries, Tiger Airways is allowing passengers the flexibility to plan their entire journey in one reservation. All passengers travelling on Flight Combination must clear customs and immigration, where applicable and have reclaimed any Checked Baggage before checking in for their onward flight. A minimum of two hours must be allowed in order to complete such arrival and check-in formalities.

There are no transfer facilities for Flight Combinations, so all passengers choosing to book a flight combination need to ensure they have the relevant travel documentation to enter the intermediate country.

and under Connections:

* Tiger Airways is strictly a 'point-to-point' airline. We therefore do not offer and cannot facilitate, the transfer of passengers or their baggage to other flights, whether operated by Tiger Airways or other airlines.

* All rail and coach transfers detailed on Tiger Airways.com or promoted by Tiger Airways are operated independently of the airline and connections cannot be guaranteed.

* Tiger Airways is not responsible for late, cancelled or incorrectly featured transfer information.

* All passengers will be required to clear Immigration/Customs where applicable and collect their baggage upon arrival of their Tiger Airways flight. No transfers using 'Airside' facilities will be permitted.

I guess we were in experienced travellers. I previously bought my ticket to Bangkok online and it worked for me. It was my first time overseas.

I purchased Margarita's ticket online not realizing the significance of this condition.

( * All passengers will be required to clear Immigration/Customs where applicable and collect their baggage upon arrival of their Tiger Airways flight. No transfers using 'Airside' facilities will be permitted.)

I don't understand why they have it. I thought it was intended only for the Budget terminal in Singapore, which seemed to be poorly designed to me. I thought the new BKK airport one unit, and expected international flights to have access to the international transit area.

When purchasing an online ticket there isn't much scope for communication. The contacts I did make responded in a less than concise manner. Maybe I should have used a travel agent, but the saving Tiger offered made the trip seem affordable.

Jim

[batami]

and under Connections:

* Tiger Airways is strictly a 'point-to-point' airline. We therefore do not offer and cannot facilitate, the transfer of passengers or their baggage to other flights, whether operated by Tiger Airways or other airlines.

I guess we were in experienced travellers. I previously bought my ticket to Bangkok online and it worked for me. It was my first time overseas.

Jim - read this bit again "Tiger Airways are strictly a "point - to - oint " carrier. etc etc

this is where you came adrift. And one of the biggest problems is that many agent who might buy tickets for you do NOT know the significance of this ... hence you got some bad and conflicting comments and advice.

Sorry you had the problems, I am, I guess, a seasoned and expereinced traveller, and as such am very wary of budget carriers for anything other than "point to point" - it is generally more hassle than its worth. You gets what you pay for ... and this is no more true than with Tiger (I almost said Ryan Air - which, of course, is a significant shareholder -- and these are the guys who ordered planes with NO seat back tables and no recline because it saved money !!!)

Better luck next time

B

[malzy]

I suppose if deported is stamped on Margarita's passport, then when she renews it (maybe looses it) , I wonder if it will have stamp on new passport.???

[ovenman]

For what it's worth, this problem is not exclusive to Tiger Airways. You'll encounter the same scenario with any of the budget carriers as they are all strictly point-to-point operations. It wouldn't have worked out any differently had she been connecting to/from say, an AirAsia flight.