Why do airlines give 'officially' printed boarding passes at the checkin counter when you have e-boarding pass printed already and ready to go? I have had this experience in almost of all AK, MH, Z2, MI and TR flights.
Thank you
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Re: Boarding passes
For people like us to collect in a little box.
Not sure of the real answer! Maybe their computers just do it automatically when you check in a bag or something?
Not sure of the real answer! Maybe their computers just do it automatically when you check in a bag or something?
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- studentdrbev
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Re: Boarding passes
Vasu wrote:automatically when you check in a bag or something?
I usually travel with only cabin baggage and sill I get the counter-printed boarding passes.
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- LGAviation
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Re: Boarding passes
Depends, especially in Asia (I hate the experience multiple times although I'm not too sure if thats still true) and Africa, there are still some countries that on international flights require a proper boarding pass that can be stamped by immigration, security etc. Obviously home-printed boarding passes in this respect are somewhere in between of agent-issued boarding passes and mobile boarding passes. Also in Australia, mobile boarding passes are the norm for domestic flights but at least 15 months ago, I still had to obtain a physical boarding pass at the counter for my SYD-AUH segment whereas I was already in possession of a mobile boarding pass for the onward segment.
Re: Boarding passes
studentdrbev wrote:I usually travel with only cabin baggage and sill I get the counter-printed boarding passes.
Now I'm confused. Why are you going to the check-in counter if you already have a boarding pass and you're not checking a bag? Even when I do check a bag they don't issue me another boarding pass if I already have one. Do they do it differently in other countries?
Re: Boarding passes
On NZ domestic you scan your e pass at the gate and have to wait for a moment so they can print an abbreviated boarding pass right at the gate. You then walk to the other end of the loading bridge and show it to the flight attendant at the door. I have no idea why they feel that is necessary.
Re: Boarding passes
Never underestimate the potential for regulatory oddities either - for a while VA's mobile boarding-pass plans got ahead of CASA's relaxing of mobile phone rules, so passengers using a mobile pass to board a flight from the apron (rather than by jetbridge) got issued a paper pass at the gate followed by an instruction to switch off their phone.
Re: Boarding passes
What I've found interesting over the last couple of years is that if I'm travelling to the US from Canada or vice versa, sometimes the airline will issue me an electronic boarding pass and the next time, it'll tell me that I have to proceed to a kiosk to print a boarding pass. Despite being the same airline and all the pre-flight information given to the airline in advance is the same.
Re: Boarding passes
Probably depends on the way it's done. Most airlines systems as far as I know have the capability to just add a bag to your reservation, but some agents just do the check-in option and do the bag that way. If it's done the latter, it automatically prints them. In my time with AA, I would recommend people take our copies just in case. Every day, without fail, someone's phone dies, or the app isn't working, or their printed copy from home is crappy and won't scan, etc. It's easier to have the card stock BP just in case to save time.
Re: Boarding passes
studentdrbev wrote:Vasu wrote:automatically when you check in a bag or something?
I usually travel with only cabin baggage and sill I get the counter-printed boarding passes.
You are carrying on luggage only and you still go to the counter to check-in?
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- studentdrbev
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Re: Boarding passes
putthoff wrote:studentdrbev wrote:Vasu wrote:automatically when you check in a bag or something?
I usually travel with only cabin baggage and sill I get the counter-printed boarding passes.
You are carrying on luggage only and you still go to the counter to check-in?
For some reason, I get 'Document verification required' always in my boarding pass. Has it got something to do with my passport?
Re: Boarding passes
studentdrbev wrote:
For some reason, I get 'Document verification required' always in my boarding pass. Has it got something to do with my passport?
Are you flying from one country to another? In Canada or the US, if you're travelling across the border - a document check is always required, either at the Kiosk, check-in counter or gate.
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- studentdrbev
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Re: Boarding passes
ACDC8 wrote:studentdrbev wrote:
For some reason, I get 'Document verification required' always in my boarding pass. Has it got something to do with my passport?
Are you flying from one country to another? In Canada or the US, if you're travelling across the border - a document check is always required, either at the Kiosk, check-in counter or gate.
Yes, this happens during international flights. For domestic, I haven't experienced any frills yet.
Re: Boarding passes
ACDC8 wrote:studentdrbev wrote:
For some reason, I get 'Document verification required' always in my boarding pass. Has it got something to do with my passport?
Are you flying from one country to another? In Canada or the US, if you're travelling across the border - a document check is always required, either at the Kiosk, check-in counter or gate.
Some airlines won't print it on the Boarding Pass, but yes they definitely need to do a verification at some point in the process and at check-in is easiest (ie before they've accepted your luggage and while they still have as much time as possible to reallocate your seat).
QF for example maintain special queues for "Online Check-In" customers at their international check-in desks so passengers can at least maintain some of the time-savings, while if you're checking-in for a domestic flight then connecting to an international sector they'll send you to special "International Connections" desks for bag-drop and document clearance.
(I imagine many other airlines also do but most of my personal experience is with QF)
Re: Boarding passes
And as a particular niche case - travel as a domestic passenger on an international add-on sector in Australia and you'll definitely get issued a cardstock pass regardless of what you already had, as it needs to carry the D-Pass endorsement to get through the border controls at both ends: 
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- george77300
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Re: Boarding passes
studentdrbev wrote:Vasu wrote:automatically when you check in a bag or something?
I usually travel with only cabin baggage and sill I get the counter-printed boarding passes.
If you are travelling cabin baggage only check in online and print or put on your phone and you can avoid the check in/bag drop queues all together and go straight to security when you enter the airport!
Re: Boarding passes
studentdrbev wrote:For some reason, I get 'Document verification required' always in my boarding pass. Has it got something to do with my passport?
Maybe it depends on the airline, but for me whenever that's happened I wasn't allowed to print my boarding pass at home at all. The airline wouldn't issue me a boarding pass until I had showed my documents at the check-in counter. This had only happened when traveling to a country that required a visa; they wanted to verify that I had a proper visa for my destination country before they'd give me a boarding pass. Both times this has happened was on United, or at least United was the carrier operating the first leg. I don't know if the fact that I was connecting to a Lufthansa flight in one case and Brussels Airlines in the other had anything to do with it.
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