Me and my family were flying from Lebanon to the US thru france . flight was cancelled for mechanical problem . My siter in law , A lebanese citisen and a US green card holder was with us . this was our hell . 1 - every one we met but one was mean and uproffessional . 2 - even though we were all US citisen or green card holders visa were denied to my sister in law and we had to sleep in the airport like refugee . My sister in law is 4 month pregnent and has a one yr old baby . 3 - they woke us to mover from hall to another 3 times and every time we had to wake the kids up . 4 - police called twice because I refused ot wake kids up to move them . 5 - police woke me up twice by kicking me on the foot as if this how to say excecuse me in french . 6 - my nephew had diarrhea and we ran out of diapers and they provide us with none . 7 - I will never ever step foot in that country again and I will pass my experiance to as many as i can so it would not happen to anyone else .
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Without knowing all the details of your experience, it does seem like the problem was with your AIRLINE.
If your flight was cancelled due to mechanical problems, you should have insisted on/received hotel vouchers.
Everyone also needs to plan for this type of contingency, as flights do get cancelled or delayed for one reason or another.
I cannot imagine why you would expect diapers to be provided.
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Let me pass my experience on to other passengers that have a similar situation.
There are at least 3 hotels at the airport, and they are located on the free bus shuttle line that loops the airport. The Ibis hotel is relatively inexpensive even if the airline would not pick up the expense. They do have shops that sell diapers, and numerous other consumer items. I%26#39;m sure the airline will provide liason help to rebook the next leg of your flight. You will know when your plane departs.
If for some reason the French Immigration officers will not allow you through immigration, then you will have to look into your own heart for the reason. I certainely can%26#39;t blame all of France when all the facts are not known. Something smells here, and it%26#39;s not a dirty diaper.
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It%26#39;s important to remember that a US green card is an official document to the US government, only. It means nothing to any other nation.
If you would be required to obtain a visa for entry into any particular country, you will not be permitted to leave the secured areas of their airport, no matter what the circumstances.
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Having traveled frequently through CDG I have frequently run into travelers who had this experience when in transit from the Middle East. If the flight cancels or they miss the connection they are hostage to the airport and can%26#39;t go through to the other side of security. I empathize with this woman%26#39;s ordeal.
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Joan1- she said that her plane was cancelled. It would have certainly been nice for her airline to suggest a hotel within the airport.
Did your airline not offer to put your family up in an airport hotel? Did they not at least tell you that you could use one? What is the airline, by the way? It sounds more like a problem with the airline.
Its not a French problem. The same thing happened to an Uzbek friend. She, too, has a US green card and when her transit flight in Brussels was cancelled, she was stuck in the airport for over 24 hours.
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1BC may have the answer to most of these questions - if a traveler is not authorized to enter the country, they have to stay in the secure area of the airport (which would not include the hotels). I%26#39;m surprised the airline didn%26#39;t try to get least some supplies for them, since they were not going to be able to leave the secure area, and on that point I think the criticism is warranted. As to why they did not go to a hotel, however, I suspect they could not have (assuming 1BC is correct, and his/her assessment certainly souonds logical).
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why doesn%26#39;t everyone just take it easy? (especially you Joan going around insulting people!)... apparently this person went through a tough ordeal, got victimized by the airline, and treated poorly by the aiport, all compounded by the fact that they were tired and responsible for children who weren%26#39;t feeling well... plus, none of you knows what it%26#39;s like to be a Middle Easterners flying through European airports, constantly subjected to bigotry and feeling defensive...
if you read a bit deeper into the post, the problem was that the one person without US citizenship, the green card holder, was not allowed through immigration in order to even access an airport hotel, therefore holding everyone back... it%26#39;s not about %26quot;looking into your heart%26quot;, it%26#39;s just a matter of security measures that fail to consider the humanitarian dimension... and why shouldn%26#39;t the airport provide diapers? it%26#39;s not such a wild idea... just like many public places and airlines provide feminine sanitary products, aspirin, or toothpaste, diapers could be a logical option, especially if a family is forced into a situation under the care of a government agency, i.e. French immigration...
and if being forced into this wasn%26#39;t bad enough, these people were being treated like cattle and kicked by French police! it may or may not have been racially motivated, but either way it%26#39;s entirely unacceptable, especially when women and children are involved...
so take it easy, and at least have the modicum of sympathy that the French authorities obviously didn%26#39;t provide these people...
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In the absence of proper entry visas ANY foreign national at any airport would be restricted to the Immigration controlled and secured spaces of that airport. That their outbound airline didn%26#39;t make some appropriate action is the fault of the airline...not France or the French. A US Green Card may allow entry privledges into the US by a foreign national...but it does not confer the same privledges anywhere else...and no doubt their traveling companion knew this. The US citizens (who may enter the EU without visas) in this party could have left the controlled spaces of the airport and found other more comfortable accommodations for the night (their outbound airline should have offered such accommodations)...but evidently they CHOSE to remain with their Lebanese national sister-in-law and child.
If there is anything useful from this...it would be that when anyone engages in foreign travel, they should familiarize themselves with the laws and regulations of any foreign nation that they will set down in along their route. If these travelers have a beef with anyone, it is with the airline that cancelled their outbound flight. CDG airport has no obligation to compensate passengers for the failures of their airline (curiously un-named and un-blamed in the complaint).
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Good point, KDK - one would think that the airline that caused the problems (and apparently made no arrangements for any of this group of passengers) would at least be identified.
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