carlosdca

I just flew ATH-LHR-JFK.

Arrived to T5 on BA, took the bus to T3, cleared security (x-ray) and then I got to the Airline Desk area. BA TA had given all my boarding passes in ATH. However, there was a sign near the AA desk that said to see an agent.
I went to the First Class line and there were two guys in front of me who where chatting forever with the AA agent. IT was finally my turn, she asked me the usual questions ("has your bag been with you all the time, etc") and put a sticker in my passport. Then, she directed me to the TA. I said "I already have boarding passes". She said, you still have to get your boarding passes issued by AA. So I did. The whole thing took at least 25 mins. At the end, the 2+ hours connecting time I thought were enough to at least check out the famous BA Terraces were not and I just had to proceed directly to my gate.

Now, here is my question: IS there anyway I could have avoided this whole process at the "airlines desk" area since I had boarding passes? Like just skip the AA security questioning/ seeing the TA and proceed directly to the gate or to the AA lounge? Did I really need the "AA issued" boarding pass?