I will try to be as detailed as possible.
I am curious if this is a common occurrence with Lufthansa or they simply had overbooked and wanted to let some people go.
Since this experience, I have been able to travel to Canada and back home (Kenya) on a visitor visa BUT with different airline.
A few months back I had just received my visitor visa (temp residence) and I went ahead and booked my flight from NBO to Toronto via Frankfurt. This is a code sharing flight between Air Canada and Lufthansa. my flight was booked weeks in advance.
On the day of travel, I had all my documents printer ready just incase. I arrived about 3hrs before the flight. I get to the airport and went through to the pre-check-in where the airline checks documents before proceeding to the actual check in. In this airport the process is preCheckIn->Check In->Passport Control->Gates
The attendant asked for the following items in this order:
1. Your passport (She proceeded to go through it to see the VISA and returned it to me seemingly okay with it)
2. Invitation letter (I was attending an event) - I presented this as well
3. Passport of person who invited me - Presented this as well.
Everything was looking good at this point. Interestingly, she asked I open my IRCC portal, which I did. She navigated to the status page and could see my passport request letter and that place is says a decision has been made and my application has been approved.
After a pause, she said she cannot see what she is looking for, therefore I cannot board unless I produce it. I was confused and asked what exactly she is looking for. She said she is looking for a documents status table that is supposed to be on my IRCC portal. This was very confusing as I believe the embassy would not have given me a visa weeks before if something was missing. As I stood there shocked and complaining, the same thing happened to about 10 more passengers who came after me as I watched. We tried complaining and asking to speak to management at Lufthansa because we did not know about this. In-fact my friends who had booked with a different airline did not even have this requirement and had departed hours ago.
Long story short, they froze us and the plane departed as we watched. No one from the airline was willing to explain what exactly was wrong. They told us "give us a few minutes we will be back with an explanation" and NEVER came back. Next thing we saw was the plane departing. we were so confused. I went home after about 6hrs that the whole ordeal lasted.
Confused, I approached the security agents at the airport to ask if this is a common occurrence (these agents are not workers of the airline). I was told they have never seen anything like this before and that I should follow up for a refund since the plane had left.
Next morning I went to the Lufthansa main offices and demanded to be told what the issue is with my experience. after a few calls to the airport, the attendant told me that she cannot see anything wrong with my VISA and is willing to rebook my flight. Fearing the same experience at the airport with the same airline, I demanded a refund which I was given.
The attendant did however mention to me that I should try booking with a different airline. She could not tell me why Lufthansa refused me boarding on the basis of a "documents status table" which I have never heard about before.
I went ahead to book a with Emirates the next day. I was able to get on the flight, travel to Canada, visit my friends and come back home after 2 weeks. No issues at all with Emirates.
Some of the other 10 passengers who followed up as well were able to book with different airlines and were able to fly out.
Months later, to this day I am so traumatized by this whole experience with Lufthansa. I have a long term Canadian visa and I fear ever booking with Lufthansa again to travel back to Canada.
My questions: "What is a documents status table on the IRCC portal? Is it a requirement to fly out?" If it is a requirement, why do some airlines check and some do not check, why do some IRCC portals have it and some do not?
I am curious if this is a common occurrence with Lufthansa or they simply had overbooked and wanted to let some people go.
Since this experience, I have been able to travel to Canada and back home (Kenya) on a visitor visa BUT with different airline.
A few months back I had just received my visitor visa (temp residence) and I went ahead and booked my flight from NBO to Toronto via Frankfurt. This is a code sharing flight between Air Canada and Lufthansa. my flight was booked weeks in advance.
On the day of travel, I had all my documents printer ready just incase. I arrived about 3hrs before the flight. I get to the airport and went through to the pre-check-in where the airline checks documents before proceeding to the actual check in. In this airport the process is preCheckIn->Check In->Passport Control->Gates
The attendant asked for the following items in this order:
1. Your passport (She proceeded to go through it to see the VISA and returned it to me seemingly okay with it)
2. Invitation letter (I was attending an event) - I presented this as well
3. Passport of person who invited me - Presented this as well.
Everything was looking good at this point. Interestingly, she asked I open my IRCC portal, which I did. She navigated to the status page and could see my passport request letter and that place is says a decision has been made and my application has been approved.
After a pause, she said she cannot see what she is looking for, therefore I cannot board unless I produce it. I was confused and asked what exactly she is looking for. She said she is looking for a documents status table that is supposed to be on my IRCC portal. This was very confusing as I believe the embassy would not have given me a visa weeks before if something was missing. As I stood there shocked and complaining, the same thing happened to about 10 more passengers who came after me as I watched. We tried complaining and asking to speak to management at Lufthansa because we did not know about this. In-fact my friends who had booked with a different airline did not even have this requirement and had departed hours ago.
Long story short, they froze us and the plane departed as we watched. No one from the airline was willing to explain what exactly was wrong. They told us "give us a few minutes we will be back with an explanation" and NEVER came back. Next thing we saw was the plane departing. we were so confused. I went home after about 6hrs that the whole ordeal lasted.
Confused, I approached the security agents at the airport to ask if this is a common occurrence (these agents are not workers of the airline). I was told they have never seen anything like this before and that I should follow up for a refund since the plane had left.
Next morning I went to the Lufthansa main offices and demanded to be told what the issue is with my experience. after a few calls to the airport, the attendant told me that she cannot see anything wrong with my VISA and is willing to rebook my flight. Fearing the same experience at the airport with the same airline, I demanded a refund which I was given.
The attendant did however mention to me that I should try booking with a different airline. She could not tell me why Lufthansa refused me boarding on the basis of a "documents status table" which I have never heard about before.
I went ahead to book a with Emirates the next day. I was able to get on the flight, travel to Canada, visit my friends and come back home after 2 weeks. No issues at all with Emirates.
Some of the other 10 passengers who followed up as well were able to book with different airlines and were able to fly out.
Months later, to this day I am so traumatized by this whole experience with Lufthansa. I have a long term Canadian visa and I fear ever booking with Lufthansa again to travel back to Canada.
My questions: "What is a documents status table on the IRCC portal? Is it a requirement to fly out?" If it is a requirement, why do some airlines check and some do not check, why do some IRCC portals have it and some do not?
