Bengaluru student denied boarding to Vancouver flight via Seattle for not having US Visa: Report

A 25-year-old student traveling to Vancouver via Seattle was denied boarding to her Qatar Airways flight as she did not have a US transit visa.

Published on: Apr 7, 2023, 15:30:25 IST

By Yamini C S

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A 25-year-old Bengaluru woman was forced to shell out an additional ₹1.4 lakh at the last minute for a flight to Vancouver, Canada, after she was denied boarding to her original Qatar Airways flight - via a stop at Seattle - for not having a US transit visa. The incident occurred Wednesday at the city's Kempegowda International Airport (KIA).

The student was forced to shell out at additional ₹1.4 lakh at the last minute to fly via London on a British Airways flight. (File photo/For representation)

The woman, identified as Simran, is a resident of Koramangala, and was traveling to Vancouver to attend college, where she had secured a seat in a reputable university, The Times of India reported.

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She had booked her Qatar Airways flight QR573 in early January for ₹77,000, which was scheduled to take off from Bengaluru on Wednesday. The flight would stop at Doha, where the woman would take a connecting flight to Seattle and then reach Vancouver.

Having no choice when the airline's ground crew stopped her from boarding, the woman cancelled the ticket and flew to Vancouver via London and Toronto on a British Airways flight the next day by paying for a fresh ticket, costing her ₹1.4 lakh. This route did not require her to have a transit visa.

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“I was extremely disappointed as when I was booking my ticket on the portal it didn't provide me any information regarding the US visa, else I would have done the needful,” the woman told the publication. The airline is processing a refund of her original ticket, the report added.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Yamini C S
Yamini CS is a Senior Content Producer at Hindustan Times with nearly six years of experience in digital journalism. She is part of the India News desk, where she works on a wide range of stories cutting across civic issues, city-based developments, politics, governance, public policy, breaking news, trending topics, and international affairs that have an impact on India. Her role involves tracking fast-moving developments, verifying information from official and on-ground sources, and presenting news in a clear, accessible format for a digital-first audience. A significant part of her work includes handling live blogs during major news events, such as elections, court verdicts, political developments, civic disruptions, protests, weather-related alerts, and unfolding national or international incidents. Through live coverage, she focuses on timely updates to help readers follow complex stories as they evolve. Before moving to the broader India News desk, Yamini was associated with the Bengaluru desk at Hindustan Times, where she extensively covered urban governance, infrastructure, traffic and transport issues, weather events, public grievances, and civic administration in the city. This experience strengthened her grounding in city reporting and sharpened her focus on citizen-centric journalism. She began her career as a correspondent with Reuters after completing a postgraduate diploma in journalism from the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media. Her early training instilled a strong emphasis on accuracy, sourcing, and news ethics, which continue to shape her reporting style. Outside of work, Yamini enjoys reading across genres, listening to music, and spending time with her family, which help her maintain balance in a fast-paced newsroom environment.Read More

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