This is a real story that happened today. After making sure that my long time GF (African) can fly to spend her vacation with me in Ecuador, I bought us both flights, booked airbnb, booked car rent, etc etc for over 5000 usd. To make sure that she can fly, I asked her to write to KLM support email and they responded that she can fly connecting in Europe without a problem. Same info is on their website. Today at the airport the poor girl comes to check in at KLM stand in Nairobi and what they tell her is "you can't fly without husband or father". When she takes out her phone to record this weird KLM rule, they start saying that she needs an EU visa to fly. When she askes them to see her conversation with their KLM co-worker or to check the KLM website, they refuse. 4 hours later she leaves Nairobi airport in tears. KLM did not even give any paper notice about her cancelled ticket nor they sent an email despite her and my demands. What will they say tomorrow, "a no-show"? she recorded some part of the conversation with them.
NO this is not scam. I wasn't scammed I'm 100% sure. I never sent that girl money or gifts, and it was her interest same as mine to fly to spend the vacation. We are still attempting to meet in Ecuador.
Our moral and financial loss due to this unlawful KLM behavour is huge. There's absolutely zero reason why KLM would have the right to do so. We were totally prepared with all reservations and insurances etc etc. What we were not prepared for was the spirit of KLM airline company.
Please help! what can I do now?
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I'm a Kenyan woman who has travelled solo multiple times to different countries and I have never heard of this. Women here are free to travel however they want as long as they have a passport and meet the visa requirements.
I would not be shocked if this is scam.. they are very popular here, verify what she's saying before spending more money.
I have a family member who is Ugandan and she travels all the time. She's never had this problem. It really does scream scam.
For sure... I'm not feeling too confident of this series of events.
Have you actually met her in person? What you're describing is basically a line for line example for a romance scam. They'll always come up with an excuse to blame someone else for being unable to meet you.
Hijacking the top comment to say apparently someone lower down did a little stalking and yes, OP has actually met her in person and the GF is real and they have met before.
Have you actually seen that video? And are you sure it was KLM staff, and not local staff?
I find it very hard to believe that KLM staff would refuse an adult woman on a flight for not being accompanied by a man. The rule for adult women to travel accompanied only applies or applied in some very religious countries. Even Saudi Arabia has abandoned this rule - apart from the Hadj - in recent times, so not sure if there are even any countries left that require this. It for sure doesn’t apply to Kenya, The Netherlands and Equadore.
An airport visa also isn’t required for The Netherlands either, as can be confirmed here: https://www.netherlandsworldwide.nl/visa-the-netherlands/visa-required
My guess is that you’re being scammed. And if not, it wasn’t KLM staff she was dealing with.
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It would appear from his profile that he has spent a decent amount of time in East Africa where he met the woman in person.
So if the GF is scamming him, it’s not the typical mail order bride scam.
u/janbankovsky, your post reads like the dime-a-dozen scam where you “talk” to a “girl” from a foreign country and pay money for her to come see you and then she never shows. If I hadn’t stalked you a bit, I would never know that you’ve actually met her in person. You should edit your post to include that because it changes perceptions. People might have different advice. You also should include that when you post in other places and even maybe with various customer support. Otherwise everyone is just going to assume you fell for the mail order bride scam.
Near the top of your posts, tell us you’ve been with her a year, have met her in person and spent however long in Tanzania.
Even if it's not a scam, the gf can still make up an unbelievable lie to avoid the travel for whatever reason. Especially if she has heard word of mouth of this lie working (assuming it is a common lie used in scams). Could be as simple as she may have needed to cancel but doesn't want to upset OP after spending money on the airfare. Every response seems to be "your girlfriend is lying so she must be scamming you" but people lie for lots of reasons. I can see OP feeling sure he is not being scammed in the traditional sense, but I don't see how he is so sure that she isn't making this up.
Even if they met, and even if she didn't have bad intentions at the time, it's quite possible that someone in Kenya convinced the gf, even against her will, to try and pull a scam on OP.
I've flown in and out of Nairobi with KLM. There were solo women in my group coming and going from different parts of the world, none of them needed a husband or father to fly.
I'd be very, very, very suspicious.
NAL
Possible scam aside, I'm not sure if you'll have a case against KLM, since it is entirely possible that you need a visa even if you just have a layover in Europe (which I assume she did not have), in which case the airline isn't at fault.
EDIT: TIL I’m wrong about this.
You don't need a visa for connecting flights as you don't leave the airport so you never enter the country.
While I can't speak specifically about OP's friends itinerary, you are incorrect about connecting flights in certain countries. As an example if you have an international connection in the USA you do in fact need a visa to do that.
That is not completely true.
In many European (Schengen/EU/EEC) countries (including the Netherlands), if you’d normally require a visa to enter the country, then you may need an airport transit visa, even when you don’t leave the airport.
Assuming OP’s girlfriend is Kenyan since she boarded in Nairobi,ETA: Depending on OP’s gf’s nationality, she’d need the ATV to connect through Schiphol. There are some exceptions: having ordinary residence or permanent residence in certain countries (US, Japan, Monaco, Canada, Schengen or other European countries etc.).My parents were able to escape this requirement transiting through Amsterdam because they’re American green card holders (permanent residents).
People from Kenya don’t need a transit visa when they travel through Schiphol Airport - Amsterdam, on route from Africa to Equador, provided they don’t leave the international transit area.
https://www.netherlandsworldwide.nl/visa-the-netherlands/visa-required
OP doesn't say she has a Kenyan passport, only that she was flying from Nairobi
I stand corrected on my point about Kenyan nationals then.
If you are traveling internationally and have a layover in a different country, an 'airport transit visa' is generally necessary. Even if you do not intend to leave the airport, you may still need an 'airport transit visa' if:
You recheck bags
You transfer between terminals
Your booking consists of multiple airline reservation codes
Not in Europe though
Some nationalities do require transit visa for Europe as well.
It literally depends on the airport. Some airports don't have an international transit passage and you need to fully leave the airport (going through border control in the process) and enter it again. Source: I have an EU-EU layover in Luton last week and it's a pain in the ass.
This is untrue. I was a travel agent for years. You certainly do need one sometimes. They are called transit visas and it will largely depend what passport you have and which countries you are passing through.
I grew up in Kenya and, I want to say this as kindly as possible, this sounds untrue. Kenya really doesn’t have those kind of views on women. Women travel solo (cars, matatu (bus), planes) everyday with zero issue. This dosen’t pass the sniff test
It sounds like a lie. Sorry.
Where in Europe did she connect? Amsterdam? France? If it is Amsterdam, then she didn't need a visa according to this website of the Dutch government:
https://www.netherlandsworldwide.nl/visa-the-netherlands/visa-required
I filled in Ecuador as destination, and her nationality as Kenyan. The last one is an assumption from my side. A different nationality may result in a different visa requirement! But with these inputs, she didn't need a transport visa. If she connected in a different country, then different requirements may apply.
Either way, you/she will have to resolve this with KLM. Call them, contact them and make your case. If they don't budge, you are protected by EU law and they will have to compensate you royally if it is indeed their fuck-up. There are specific EU forms you can fill out for these cases.
(Unless it is some weird Kenyan law that women can't fly without a husband, but that can't be true.)
Edit: the website does have a disclaimer that the result is not legally binding. It might be worth it to contact the embassy of Kenya in the country she would have connected.
Amsterdam, yes. She did not need visa, they made it up to cover their unspoken rule to not let out women without husband or father accompanying.
Honestly, this doesn’t make sense. Nairobi is a big airport and KLM is a big airline. There should have been well trained and professional airport staff checking her in. Them making this rule up is weird. It doesn’t sound very believable, to be honest.
Either way, your first line of action is to resolve this through KLM. Contact them. Or have your GF go to the airport in person to get a resolution.
She visited their office today. They say the check-in staff took her passport to emigration officers and those requested her ticket to be cancelled. They just don't want to accept responsibility.
So now she's claiming they confiscated her passport?!
Has your girlfriend sent you video of any of this event, since you say she pulled out her phone to record?
stop ignoring the red flags, man. take stock of your situation. how many other inconsistencies can you think of, little things you brushed off?
THINK, broheim.
This doesn't make any sense. Check-in staff can deny boarding to someone who doesn't meet the visa requirements of the country of arrival, but there's no reason why immigration officers in Kenya would care about a visa in the Netherlands. Except if your gf has some kind of arrest warrant and can't leave the country, there's no reason for immigration officers at the country of departure to care.
Then, check-in staff can't just "bring her passport to immigration officers", and there's no reason why immigration officers should confiscate her passport. And it's not up to them to get her ticket canceled, that's would be an airline company matter.
OP, you're getting scammed, or your gf is being scammed by someone at the airport.
Have you considered it’s a scam instead of accusing airline workers of being super racist? KLM is a very respected airline, why would they be racist and sexist?
This makes no sense
Oh buddy.
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She's 23 and there's no need for any visa for her for that destination and connection...
One year ago in a different post you said your GF was 25 and you are 37. Different woman? Or have you gotten the age wrong? 😑 just to confirm, you are 38 now, dating a 23 year old?
It's a new woman apparently, and I think it's pretty clear what's going on here...
Just a side note never to check with an airline on your entry exit requirements for travel. She may also have had some health requirements like yellow fever vaccines. She may not be able to enter Ecuador without proof of vaccination.
It’s not KLM responsibility if she needs an EU visa, she needs to check the requirements with the authorities not with the airline. It’s the passengers responsibility to have all the documents required to travel.
Yeah but the fact is that eu visa was not required for her. That's EU air law!
Then it doesn’t make sense they said that. She could have show them the information online. My husband who is Indian had a similar situation once, showed them what the regulation said and problem solved.
She tried to show them but they refused to have a look.
OP I have cross posted this to the r/Kenya sub and by all indications it is a scam as last year or so we had the same exact case. Search the Kenya sub and you’ll see such a post with almost the same details and we all told OP then that he saw scammed.
Bro get your head straight. What rule in Kenya states she must travel with a man? You’ve been scammed
You say it's not even a matter of visa but of a rule that women can't travel alone. I'm sorry but that doesn't make any sense.
Ok so there are a few things to unpack here leaving aside the scam angle.
The airline can check at boarding if the traveler has all the documents required for transit and entry to the destination because otherwise they are obligated to cover the cost of the flight back. This usually happens at the checkin counter or the gate. But this doesn't seem to be what happened to your GF.
Many years ago I had an argument with a KLM stewardess once because she insisted I needed my passport to re-enter the EU which was not true. She summoned the police to have me arrested at arrival on Schipol but the police just laughed with me about the misunderstanding. This happened on the plane.
So yeah while there are things that could have happened you are not getting the whole story here.
This is a scam. OP, what happens next is she going to ask you to send money to cover various expenses. It's up to you whether you do it or not, but she never left her house that day, and the airline didn't refuse her.
Who purchased the tickets? Did you buy them, or did you send her the money to buy them?
I just want to recommend a podcast episode that could shed some light on how well orchestrated the scams are. Whether you are or not, it’s a good listen for everyone. And other episodes too.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5aMdHWKHRXBgHQ36R05ErY?si=_3w_iOxGRPmQDgENPSVWrg
You got scammed
Yes, you did get scammed. "She's" just attempting to play the long game now.
You got played
Bro none of this actually happened because she is scamming you.
Ask her for video evidence, you will see.
Romance scam
This is baloney, there's no such rule, you are being scammed.