Traveling the world should be straightforward. Yet, recent experiences have shown us just how complex and sometimes frustrating—it can still be. Earlier this year, Oluwasegun A. and I faced two significant incidents at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) involving Kenya Airways and immigration authorities. These experiences highlighted the very real obstacles that travelers continue to face.
In our first encounter, we held valid documents and onward business-class tickets to Egypt. Yet, during immigration clearance, an officer insisted we “go back to our country to fly from.” This undue scrutiny led us to miss our flight. It wasn’t until we escalated the issue to airport authorities that we found resolution and were able to fly the following day, but by then, the damage was done.
Our second encounter was even more absurd. En route to Cape Town, we cleared check-in and immigration, only to be stopped at the boarding gate by Kenya Airways without a valid reason. They went as far as removing our bags while we tried to find out what the problem was, leaving them exposed to the rain and ultimately leading to some stolen items. They also ensured we couldn’t purchase any ticket that day or the following day, even after we followed up with an immigration officer, who made it clear they “work as one” and wouldn’t sell us a ticket. They further falsified our information by altering our names and passport numbers to justify denying us boarding. No one was willing to render any help, despite countless emails to the JKIA and the Kenya Airways sales team.
We eventually overcame this by purchasing a ticket the following day through a third party that took us back to fly from Lagos, which cost an additional 10 million Naira for a trip that was originally planned to be 5 hours and cost 3 million. Once again, we watched our plans unravel due to needless obstruction.
Experiences like these underscore the importance of building a solution like Travla LLC . Our mission with Travla AI is to simplify travel—empowering travelers with seamless booking, real-time guidance, and reliable immigration support to navigate even the most challenging situations. If we’d had access to a tool like Travla AI, with proactive insights and support, much of the confusion and frustration we faced could have been avoided.