didier
Senior Insider
We had an early 6 a.m. flight out of boston to sxm. we arrived early for check in ( a good idea) we were third in line for the 3 agents that were checking people in. we got the person who was obviously new to the gate agent game. we handed her our passports, we already had our boarding passes, we were only checking luggage.
the first words out of her mouth were, can I have your visa please to put into the system, she says this to didier who had handed her his french passport. he informs her that he does not need a visa. she said oh no sir, you are flying into a dutch country and you have to have a visa. we explained that st. maarten is half french/half dutch, but even if that were not the case, didier would not need a visa anyway as st. maarten is part of the european union, he can travel anywhere in europe without a visa. she said, no sir, you have to have a visa.
at that point in the conversation, we said we need a supervisor as didier does not have nor does he need a visa to travel home.
she said she would call someone, but while she was waiting for someone to come on the line, she would like to know when didier plans to return to the usa. he said he did not know as he was going home to his french country. she then said she would have to have a date that he would return to put into her computer or he could not fly today. can you imagine all this? bizarro check in station. we finally made up a date to make her happy, we said okay december 20, 2016. she put that into the computer. this is over right? no,not by a long shot,
what airline will you be returning on mr. greaux? and if its delta, I can print this out for you. by the way, I had no problem at all with my american passport and flying to a dutch country.
finally someone came on the line and they talked and talked and talked. she kept explaining into the phone how mr. greaux would return to the usa on december 20th, ( yikes, he is french guys, he never HAS to return to the usa!) but was not sure of the airline he would fly back to the usa on, will this be a problem?
finally after about 30 minutes went by, ( I kid you not) and about thirty other people had checked in around us. she finally put down the phone and said everything is okay now, we will let you fly today mr. greaux. we made it to the gate with a few minutes to get a biscuit before boarding the plane.
the good news, I was upgraded to first class for the first leg of the flight, didier stayed in coach.
needless to say in the future, we will do curbside check in
the first words out of her mouth were, can I have your visa please to put into the system, she says this to didier who had handed her his french passport. he informs her that he does not need a visa. she said oh no sir, you are flying into a dutch country and you have to have a visa. we explained that st. maarten is half french/half dutch, but even if that were not the case, didier would not need a visa anyway as st. maarten is part of the european union, he can travel anywhere in europe without a visa. she said, no sir, you have to have a visa.
at that point in the conversation, we said we need a supervisor as didier does not have nor does he need a visa to travel home.
she said she would call someone, but while she was waiting for someone to come on the line, she would like to know when didier plans to return to the usa. he said he did not know as he was going home to his french country. she then said she would have to have a date that he would return to put into her computer or he could not fly today. can you imagine all this? bizarro check in station. we finally made up a date to make her happy, we said okay december 20, 2016. she put that into the computer. this is over right? no,not by a long shot,
what airline will you be returning on mr. greaux? and if its delta, I can print this out for you. by the way, I had no problem at all with my american passport and flying to a dutch country.
finally someone came on the line and they talked and talked and talked. she kept explaining into the phone how mr. greaux would return to the usa on december 20th, ( yikes, he is french guys, he never HAS to return to the usa!) but was not sure of the airline he would fly back to the usa on, will this be a problem?
finally after about 30 minutes went by, ( I kid you not) and about thirty other people had checked in around us. she finally put down the phone and said everything is okay now, we will let you fly today mr. greaux. we made it to the gate with a few minutes to get a biscuit before boarding the plane.
the good news, I was upgraded to first class for the first leg of the flight, didier stayed in coach.
needless to say in the future, we will do curbside check in
