Originally Posted by xxxxx

The system wasn't behaving badly, just doing what it was designed to do.

For flights to the US your passport must have been swiped which is a US govt rule, the CIK at EDI would have done this for you.

On all longhaul flights plus 4 shorthaul destinations, before you can go through in to the departure lounge a BA member of staff must "tick a box" to say that your passport meets the requirements for entering the country you're travelling to. This is one of the 7 conformance checks. (Flight operating, correct terminal, passenger has enough time, visa/passport check OK, APIS in booking, government/regulatory checks OK and passenger has seat) This means that at the gate the agent will check that you match your passport only and won't even check the validity, its known as clean boarding.

I would always recommend you get this done at the outstation.

Some people become incredibly rude when they are asked for their passport to be checked at the domestic FCC.