My family just had an awful trip flying from Manila to Athens on a Cathay Pacific ticket with a British Airways codeshare between LHR and ATH. We’re Filipino, so we usually need visas for most destinations.
On the way there, Cathay’s staff in Hong Kong checked our Schengen visas and let us board. Our flight to London was delayed, and BA wouldn’t let us on our Athens connection even though the plane was still at the gate. Cathay rebooked us on the next flight, so that part worked out.
Coming home was a nightmare. In Athens, BA said we couldn’t board because we didn’t have UK visas, even though we were just transiting through Heathrow. I explained we weren’t entering the UK, just changing terminals, but the agent insisted we needed a visa. She was rude and sarcastic the whole time.
After showing US visas, she let the rest of us board, but my dad who’s 71 didn’t have his old passport with his visa, so they offloaded him. I had to buy him a last-minute Turkish Airlines ticket so he could get home.
When we got to the Cathay lounge at Heathrow, the staff there said BA was completely wrong and that he never needed a visa for transit. Absolutely terrible experience and zero compassion from BA in Athens.
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