You have decided to travel. Irrespective of the purpose of your travel (visiting your friends/ relatives, leisure or business travel), before purchasing the ticket, all passengers are advised to inform themselves of the following:
- The conditions for entering a country. Check for visa regime as well as any other conditions related to visa validity or termination of stay at a chosen destination;
- Under the extraordinary circumstances, due to current situation caused by coronavirus, you should stay informed of the conditions laid down in a country of destination concerning required medical documents. The ground staff will allow you to board the plane if you have in possession a vaccination certificate (vaccine type and manufacturer, number of doses received, date of vaccination) or a test certificate. This applies to transit passengers as well. Most of the countries have not mitigated the measures concerning prevention of COVID-19 pandemic for transit passengers. Thus, when you are travelling from Belgrade connecting flight via Istanbul to Doha, you must have in mind the measures applicable in Turkey (transit airport) as well as those applicable in Qatar (final destination). Air carriers are not liable for denied boarding if passenger fails to follow the measures that are in force at the moment.
- Safety risks (military operations, partially restricted free movement based on various types of derogation, natural disasters etc.) that can also disrupt your plans, and flight cancellation by the air carrier due to force majeure.
- Fare rules. You should have in mind that each air carrier may impose its own additional rules laid down by general conditions of carriage; therefore, passengers are advised to read these conditions carefully prior to their flight. Ticket prices may vary significantly depending on the tariff, and there is a reason for it. Therefore, passengers are advised to choose refundable tariffs- flexible flight tickets with the option of rebooking or refund on the ticket and of higher probability to get alternative flights.
- Cabin baggage dimensions and weight allowance. Passenger (or an intermediary purchasing a plane ticket on behalf of the passenger) has been informed of cabin baggage dimensions and weight allowance when purchasing the ticket. Any irregularity may result in: handling your baggage as checked baggage (loading your baggage with the other checked baggage in cargo compartment, imposing a fee on additional bags, posing a risk of fragile items being loaded with the other checked baggage instead in a relevant compartment, denied transport of the baggage when the limit of total weight allowance has been exceeded).
- Allowed number of checked bags: as regards ticket reservation and the abovementioned tariffs, it has become more common (at low-cost carriers) for the basic tariff to include only transport of passengers and their cabin baggage. Each additional piece of baggage is charged in accordance with the air carrier’s tariff that is publicly available. You should have in mind that it's nearly always cheaper to book extra checked luggage in advance rather than to pay excess baggage fees at the airport.
- Allowed baggage content: any items or substances inside your hand/ checked baggage posing a potential threat to passenger and aircraft safety, will be removed. If you have any questions related to the list of items and substances that are allowed onboard, you should contact operating airline.
Have in mind that inadequate passenger documents are considered a valid reason for denied boarding and in such case, the passenger is not entitled to reimbursement nor does he have any other rights in accordance with Regulation (EC) 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004 on establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights (Official Journal L 046 17/02/2004), transposed in the national legislation by the Law on Obligations and the Basics of Property Relations in Air Transport (“Official Gazette RS” No 87/11 and 66/15).