What happens when a Pinay misses flight to Israel over an immigration officer’s “irrelevant questions”? Well, she had to rebook the flight and incur more expenses!
Have you also experienced this at the immigration office?
Pinay Misses Flight Due to “Irrelevant Questions”
Plenty of travelers have bad experience with the immigration office in the Philippines, especially those who are going abroad for the first time.
Cham Tanteras was set to travel solo to Israel last December. But her excitement for the trip turned to anger and frustration after the immigration officer allegedly made her miss the flight at the NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport).
This led the traveler to post an angry “Immigration Rant” on TikTok, which gained sympathy from many travelers who had also experienced a similar thing through the same office.
Tanteras was set to fly at 11AM that day, so she made sure to be at the airport at 3AM. She didn’t want to miss her flight – that’s for sure.
She was already in line for the immigration office at 6AM.
Photo credit: @chamtanteras
In her rant, she narrated how she was brought to the immigration office at Terminal 1, but the immigration officer kept asking her “irrelevant questions,” such as whether her parents are still together or if she was bringing her yearbook on this trip.
The yearbook was truly irrelevant because 1) who would actually bring their yearbook on a trip and 2) she had graduated from college some 10 years ago!
The furious traveler said that she allegedly asked to write an essay about her freelance job, aside from going through her documents and emails.
Eventually, the immigration officer allowed her to go – but by then, the gates to her flight have already been closed. She had to book another flight, costing her more money.
The post went viral, gaining close to 300k views.
https://www.tiktok.com/@chamtanteras/video/7205258502426725658
A follow up video sharing a feature on GMA news gained more than 2 million views!
https://www.tiktok.com/@chamtanteras/video/7209089146650971397
It seems that many travelers can relate with Tanteras – and they found a voice in her rant.
Who Pays for Rebooking if You Missed Your Flight?
You pay for the tickets if you miss your flight – even if you missed it because you were “offloaded” or because you didn’t clear the immigration office fast enough to get to your boarding gate before it closes.
