March 28, 2025 at 5:49 pm

Friend Is Denied Entry Into Another Country, And Now She Expects Her Other Friends To Change Their Travel Plans

by Laura Ornella

two women sit in an airport

Reddit/Pexels

Traveling with friends can be the true test of bonds, especially when there are unexpected problems that occur.

In today’s story, the problems started very early on in the trip, and it’s all because one friend was a little lazy.

Now she’s literally paying the price, but her other friends think they shouldn’t have to change their plans.

Are they right?

Read the story below for all the details.

AITAH for not wanting to reimburse my friend due to her being denied entry?

Two of my friends and myself decided to plan a trip to Egypt & Switzerland.

The plan was to fly from NYC to London and then catch a flight to Egypt then Switzerland and circle back to London to catch a flight back to NYC.

I warned both of my friends to do the ETA before we left.

But of course — both friends failed to do so.

Neither one of them did, and it wasn’t until we bordered the plan last night and arrive this morning in London did I realize this.

Border agents told them they needed to do the ETA immediately or they would have to be back on the next flight to the U.S.

Okay, cool.

They waited.

Friend 1 (Well call her Jessa) and Friend 2 (Ellie) both completed it there.

Ellie’s approval came back within 10 minutes, and we waited for Jessa’s to come back.

It turned into one hour and then two hours and then almost three hours later of us waiting at the airport she’s hit with a denial.

This is something that needs to be resolved quickly.

So, we’re freaking out because we’re suppose to be flying out to Egypt in 24 hours.

They told her she would not even be allowed to transfer and would have to go back to the U.S. and reapply with a standard visa.

But this friend feels that a reschedule is only fair.

So at this point, she’s telling us that we should go back with her and just re-plan the trip.

Mind you, we are on the basic economy tickets with Delta, so if we leave we lose money that we can’t get back.

We tell her no and that we’re going to continue the trip with just us two.

Here’s the price breakdown.

We did book shared accommodations ($1,600 or $533 a piece), I booked our flights to Egypt & Switzerland ($1,305 or $435 a piece), and we had already booked a few excursions (around $600-700 a piece).

Not to mention, all the money would be lost.

The accommodations and flights are nonrefundable, and I was able to cancel three excursions for a full refund, but she wants us to come out of pocket and repay her, and I don’t think it’s fair.

Am I wrong here?

Is this traveler in the wrong for proceeding to vacation without their friend? Let’s see what Reddit has to say below.

One Redditor noted, “actions have consequences.”

Screenshot 2025 03 14 at 2.32.26 PM Friend Is Denied Entry Into Another Country, And Now She Expects Her Other Friends To Change Their Travel Plans

Another said “NTA,” and that the woman’s reasoning wasn’t ironclad.

Screenshot 2025 03 14 at 2.32.37 PM 1 Friend Is Denied Entry Into Another Country, And Now She Expects Her Other Friends To Change Their Travel Plans

And finally, one commenter had questions.

Screenshot 2025 03 14 at 2.32.45 PM Friend Is Denied Entry Into Another Country, And Now She Expects Her Other Friends To Change Their Travel Plans

No one should have to reschedule their travel plans due to this someone else’s laziness.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who invited herself to her parents’ 40th anniversary vacation for all the wrong reasons.