Air tickets purchased via Orbitz, undisclosed information

[friedice]

Hi,

Here's my situation. I purchased roundtrip air tickets via Orbitz for travel to Minsk, Belarus.
Here's the itinerary:

San Jose, California (SJC) - Los Angeles, California (LAX)
Los Angeles California (LAX) - Moscow, Russia (SVO)
Moscow, Russia (SVO) - Minsk, Belarus (MSQ)

During the purchase I was given a generic information about that it's my responsibility to obtain all the necessary visas. And I had one for Belarus. However, I did not know and there was no way I could've known, that I would need a transit visa through Russia. It is because the arrival from LAX and departure to MSQ are from different airports located several miles apart from each other, so to travel from one to another a transit visa is required. In the itinerary it simply stated the arrival to and departure from SVO, which one would naturally assume is the same airport. The Aeroflot (Russian Airlines) representatives would not allow me to board the plane. The only solution they offered me is to purchase tickets to a different destination through Moscow which would bypass the visa requirement, because the departure is from the same airport. So I did purchase them for $1630 extra.

Los Angeles (LAX) - Moscow (SVO)
Moscow (SVO) - Kiev, Ukraine (KBP)

Now, Orbitz did not provide me with enough information about the visas. I believe it's their fault and I should get my money back. However, I went through a lot of trouble trying to figure out how to obtain visa in Russian airport, having to deal with Aeroflot's incredibly rude customer service, having to wait 4 hours until they unload my baggage, missing my connection, having to spend a night in a room with a stranger in which Aeroflot placed me for missing my flight etc. I want to sue Orbitz in small claims for both set of tickets I purchased and possibly for emotional disstress suffered. How realistic do you think my claim would be?

Also, Orbitz is based in Chicago, Illionois. I reside in San Jose, California. The initial tickets were purchased over the internet. Where should I file a claim?

ThanksWhat is the name of your state?

 

[Zigner]

You have no case - it is your responsibility to obtain the necessary visas.

 

[friedice]

But in the itinerary the airport for arrival and departure was the same! How could I have possibly known I would need a visa?

 

[Zigner]

But in the itinerary the airport for arrival and departure was the same! How could I have possibly known I would need a visa?

Research perhaps?

 

[You Are Guilty]

How could I have possibly known I would need a visa?

How could Orbitz have possibly have known (you're the one with the Belarus visa)?

 

[FlyingRon]

Something is wrong here.

SVO is Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow. While there are four airports serving Moscow, SVO is a specific one the others are (BKA, DME, and VKO). When ticketers want to refer to any Moscow airport they use MOW.

 

[friedice]

Well, the arrival from LA was at Sheremetyevo 2 and departure to Minsk was from Sheremetyevo 1, which are located several miles apart.

 

[sathishraok]

They had porovided the detailed itenary well in advance and I think it is your responsibility to make sure that you check if you have all the necessary VISA (including the transit visa).

I dont see how this is their fault.

 

[mb94]

When you use Orbitz (or any other internet ticket site) you are basically serving as your own travel agent. They'll get you the tickets, but they don't do anything else (like providing information about transfers, visas, etc.). If you need a deeper level of service, where they inform you of extra travel issues, you need to use a full service travel agent.

It reminds me of the situation where a family using Orbitz thought they were buying tickets to Athens, Greece but ended up in Athens, GA.

 

[moburkes]

It reminds me of the situation where a family using Orbitz thought they were buying tickets to Athens, Greece but ended up in Athens, GA.

Now THAT is just FUNNY!