So I went to Aruba for Christmas. It was sort of a last minute beach vacation to get away from things and the Upper Midwest cold. Once again, US airlines/agents are clueless when it comes to RTDs. I flew there with SunCountry. It took about 1 hr of back-and-forth bickering (almost yelling) with the gate agent to get things figured out. She insisted I needed a green card bc they had to check people were able to get back to the US. Umm, what? You're supposed to check I can get into the destination country, my return trip ain't none of your business, especially because I was traveling with a different airline on a completely separate ticket. Agent said "everyone" needs a green card to be able to get back into the US. Um, what? And you think every single visitor here has a green card? There were 2 Indian families (with a mix of green card/visas), 2 Canadian citizens, and one Asian passenger, and basically everyone without a US passport had trouble boarding bc the gate agent was a complete moron. I don't think they let the Asian passenger on the flight. They called a supervisor. I had to show several USCIS websites, the Dutch Embassy website, and an email from the Dutch Embassy I had obtained saying I didn't need a visa if I had a US RTD (I-571) to enter the Dutch Caribbean. In the end I simply told them I wasn't coming back here, and since I had no other flights with them, they let me board the flight since they had verified I could get into Aruba. I've had a bad experience flying with SunCountry basically every time, their agents are rude and overworked, and their systems are incredibly antiquated. So I would avoid them at all costs if you're flying internationally with an RTD, whether you have a GC or not, as their system might not be able to check whether you can fly to your destination country or not.
Return flight was with American Airlines. Checking in online was a PITA because, once again, their options for entering passport/visa information don't exactly match with an RTD. As it turns out, however, Aruba also has CBP on the island, (I gotta stop using these airports) lol. So I went through US immigration before even getting to the gate. This time however the process was much smoother and faster. First officer only took my picture (no fingerprints this time). Then set me aside in a waiting area outside the office where he brought in my RTD for "secondary." After about 10 minutes of waiting, a different officer came out, called my name, returned my RTD, and wished me a happy flight. The stamp this time was different - "admitted as a returning refugee under section..." The re-entry stamp from Europe was a regular one. So I didn't have to deal with the airline to board the flight at all. I want to believe though that American would have been more knowledgable about the different acceptable documents to be able to return to the US.
Return flight was with American Airlines. Checking in online was a PITA because, once again, their options for entering passport/visa information don't exactly match with an RTD. As it turns out, however, Aruba also has CBP on the island, (I gotta stop using these airports) lol. So I went through US immigration before even getting to the gate. This time however the process was much smoother and faster. First officer only took my picture (no fingerprints this time). Then set me aside in a waiting area outside the office where he brought in my RTD for "secondary." After about 10 minutes of waiting, a different officer came out, called my name, returned my RTD, and wished me a happy flight. The stamp this time was different - "admitted as a returning refugee under section..." The re-entry stamp from Europe was a regular one. So I didn't have to deal with the airline to board the flight at all. I want to believe though that American would have been more knowledgable about the different acceptable documents to be able to return to the US.
