Trip Reports - SAN-JFK-SAN How to get return board pass w/o leaving terminal

I have a rookie question... the good news is that 6 months of lurking has taught me a thing or two thanks to all your great posts. When I got bumped down to AA Gold I wondered briefly about spending the $595 to upgrade back to Platnium (blasphamy)and then realized that I could Challenge my way back and invest the same money into a couple of MR's and get lots of yummy miles at the same time - a much better of use of $595. (duh)See what a good influence FT is.

How do yuo get your return boarding pass on MR's where you arrive at a destination and then turn around and fly back out on your return an hour or two later.

I'm doing SAN-JFK-SAN same day return with two hours between arriving JFK and departing again.

Do I need to go out thru security to get a boarding pass then come back thru security to the gate? I know gate agents used to be able to issue boarding passes, but I have no idea since 9/11. Are there electronic kiosks that issue BP's inside the terminals or are they all outside?

Is there a business center in the terminal where I can check in online and print my boarding pass and if yes is there a problem if it hasn't been stamped (or whatever) by security?

I'll be arriving and departing terminal 9.
I'm flying AA (no luggage to deal with). Thanks for the help (and providing the inspiartion for my first MR)!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by cjbryant:
I have a rookie question... the good news is that 6 months of lurking has taught me a thing or two thanks to all your great posts. When I got bumped down to AA Gold I wondered briefly about spending the $595 to upgrade back to Platnium (blasphamy)and then realized that I could Challenge my way back and invest the same money into a couple of MR's and get lots of yummy miles at the same time - a much better of use of $595. (duh)See what a good influence FT is.

How do yuo get your return boarding pass on MR's where you arrive at a destination and then turn around and fly back out on your return an hour or two later.

I'm doing SAN-JFK-SAN same day return with two hours between arriving JFK and departing again.

Do I need to go out thru security to get a boarding pass then come back thru security to the gate? I know gate agents used to be able to issue boarding passes, but I have no idea since 9/11. Are there electronic kiosks that issue BP's inside the terminals or are they all outside?

Is there a business center in the terminal where I can check in online and print my boarding pass and if yes is there a problem if it hasn't been stamped (or whatever) by security?

I'll be arriving and departing terminal 9.
I'm flying AA (no luggage to deal with). Thanks for the help (and providing the inspiartion for my first MR)!</font>

Welcome to FT, and BTW this question should be posted on AA forum, not travel reports, a rookie mistake and I'm sure the moderator will move it for you. No big deal. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

You use to be able to check-in on line for R/T, but according to some reports, not anymore. But there is still a way around it. Once you board for your outbound, have some one check you in on line for the return. Once you arrive in JFK, walk up to any available gate agent and tell them that you missplaced your return BP and they will print a new one for you since it's only a replacement.
I have not done MRs for some time so I forget, but there may be a kiosk airside at JFK, some NY natives may be able to tell you more on that.

Gate agents can still print boarding passes. No prob. If they ask how you got through security, just tell them you never left (ie, you had a meeting at the Admirals Club).

UA can print my return BP before I leave on my outbound. I'm sure AA can do the same.

Don't worry! I did this sameday return things much. You can get a boarding pass from the gate agent and no question will be asked. As we know, some airports allow folks to get in with just an official printout of your itinerary.

But just a word of cautions, the JFK flights are running between Terminal 8 and 9 these days. If you have to switch terminal, you will have to leave security area and go through security again. Then you can head downstair and get a new boarindg pass from the machine or one of the agents.

Enjoy!
Carfield

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by zrs70:
Gate agents can still print boarding passes. No prob. If they ask how you got through security, just tell them you never left (ie, you had a meeting at the Admirals Club).

UA can print my return BP before I leave on my outbound. I'm sure AA can do the same.</font>

To address your fist suggestion. There could be a problem if the outbound is late. If he arrives with less than 30 minutes or whatever AA cutoff time is for check in, before the return flight , he could be screwed. His seat could be given away with no recourse as he did not check in on time. That's why people like to be checked in before on such short turnarounds. Yes any gate agent will check you in but it's just safer to know you already are. That's why my suggestion.

For some reason I don't think AA will check you in for a R/T. I know it was possible, but and I may be wrong, I remember reading on AA forum that they won't anymore.



[This message has been edited by andrzej (edited Mar 12, 2004).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by andrzej:
Welcome to FT, and BTW this question should be posted on AA forum, not travel reports, a rookie mistake and I'm sure the moderator will move it for you. No big deal. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif</font>

Since andrzej already saved me the hassle of typing that out, I'll just take care of the moving now and refer you to his excellent summary for the reasons!

Thanks
Sean (B747-437B)
Moderator
Trip Reports