BENGALURU: A joyous trip to join college in Vancouver,

Canada

turned sour for a 25-year-old

Bengaluru woman

after Qatar Airways ground crew at

Kempegowda International Airport

(KIA) denied her boarding stating she needed a US

visa

as she was booked on flights with a two-hour transit at Seattle. After losing Rs 77,000 on the ticket, the student flew to her destination via London on Thursday by shelling out Rs 1.4 lakh.

Simran from Koramangala had secured an admission for masters in arts and entertainment management with a well-known college in Vancouver and received her Canadian student visa. With classes starting by April-end, the youngster booked her tickets to Canada on the official website of Qatar Airways in early January.
She reached KIA early Wednesday to board flight QR573 from Bengaluru to Doha and was scheduled to take a connecting flight from Doha to Seattle and finally to Vancouver. "To my dismay, I was told by the ground staff of Qatar Airways that I can't board the flight as I don't have a valid US visa for the travel. I was extremely disappointed as when I was booking my ticket on the portal it didn't provide me any information regarding the US visa, else I would have done the needful," lamented Simran, who was forced to return home after cancelling the economy class ticket worth Rs 77,000. Her request to Qatar Airways for a refund is being processed.
The Bengalurean was forced into spending an additional Rs 1.4 lakh on another ticket on a British Airways flight to Vancouver via London and Toronto without needing a transit visa.

'It's an old rule'
Indian passport holders passing through the US on their way to a final destination country require a US transit visa. If not, the passenger will be denied boarding from the airport of origin.
"It is an old rule as Indians need a valid visa to transit via US airports to Canada, no matter however short the layover in the US may be. It is also the other way round when flying to the US via Canada as it is mandatory for Indian passport holders to obtain a Canadian transit visa," explained Kasturinagar-based travel operator Bhaskar Pattani.

He said Indian students tend to make the mistake of booking flight tickets via the US in their quest for affordable fares.