With the end-of-year holidays in full swing, many have already made plans to jet off to their respective vacation destinations.
However, even before they could board their flight, a family was allegedly stopped at a check-in counter by airline staff at Changi Airport.
As it turns out, they did not have the necessary visa for their trip to Australia and ‘lost’ about S$8,000 in booking fees and deposits.
In a Facebook post, the OP, Gary Tan, claimed that staff from the airline stopped his family at a check-in counter at Changi Airport.
Source: Gary Tan on Facebook
At the airport, they were allegedly not allowed to enter the transit area, Gary told MS News.
This was because they did not have an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) visa, he explained.
His family immediately started applying for the ETA visa as they needed approval before their flight.
However, only two of Gary’s family members managed to get their ETA approved, while the other three needed to submit more documents.
Unfortunately, they did not receive the approval and missed their flight.
In his post, Gary said that as a Singaporean, he “took it for granted” that he wouldn’t need a visa.
After checking with individuals from his social circle, he claimed that only three of his friends were aware that they needed a visa. According to him, these friends had either recently or frequently travelled to Australia.
In total, Gary allegedly paid S$5,000 for five return tickets to Brisbane but only managed to get S$1,000 back.
He added that he “lost” about S$8,000 after taking into account bookings and deposits.
When he contacted the airline for assistance, they reportedly stated that they were unable to do anything as he had already been refunded.
Source: Gary Tan on Facebook
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Featured image by MS News. For illustration purposes only.
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