Couple’s Birthday Trip to Tahiti Cancelled at SFO Because They Didn’t Have a Doctor’s Note for Coronavirus

Two days before their flight, French Bee Airline reportedly required passengers who had been to a listed country to prepare a health certificate that clears them of such symptoms, which include fever, tiredness and dry cough.

 

Unfortunately, Will Escobar and Stephanie Lui had recently been to Vietnam — a country on the airline’s list.

Without a doctor’s note, they were not permitted to board the Tahiti flight, missing a two-night stay that was supposed to celebrate Lui’s 30th birthday.

As it turned out, French Bee did send Escobar the advisory, but not to the email address that he had provided upon booking.

“It really just broke my heart seeing him go through that frustration and being turned away at the ticket counter,” Lui told the ABC7 News I-Team.

The airline suspects that the email may have instead gone to Kiwi, the third-party agency Escobar had used to book their flight.

“Just heartbroken as well, because this was a present that I wanted to present to my girlfriend and it felt like it was just taken away,” Escobar added.

French Bee Airline and Kiwi have since entitled Escobar and Lui to a refund. Alternatively, they can rebook their flight.

Meanwhile, the hotel they were supposed to stay at for their first night has agreed to give them a voucher. Booking.com, which supposedly accommodated them on their second night, also entitled them to a refund.

Tahiti is part of French Polynesia, a semi-autonomous territory of France. Since Jan. 28, passengers arriving on international flights have landed at the islands’ main airport, Faa’a International Airport in Tahiti, to undergo measures such as thermal scanning, Forbes noted.

Feature Image Screenshots via ABC7 News I-Team