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Thread: Spurious 'Gate Close' times on Boarding Passes at Outstations
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Old Mar 10, 2014 | 4:27 am
  #13  
cziwkga
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Originally Posted by hillrider
Originally Posted by cziwkga
This suggests AA's systems apply a blanket rule with no actual knowledge of actual practice at each airport.
AA does not post "gate closing", but "boarding time", on their boarding passes. This is the time when boarding is scheduled to commence; it is a standard 30 minutes for narrow-bodies and 40 minutes for wide bodies, as per union contract. It's a straightforward piece of reliable information, even though, as we know, all sort of things happen and schedules are not always followed or at times all employees concerned can agree to board before the contractual time.
OK, I was incorrect in some of what I said in my original reply. The wording on the AA BP does refer to 'boarding time', not 'gate close.' However - it may be 30/40 minutes for AA flights but certainly isn't for others. The time intervals between boarding and departure for my AA-issued BPs the other week were:

SFO-ORD 30 mins (AA-operated by a 737, so fits)
ORD-LHR 40 mins (BA-operated, but still fits the above rule)
LHR-EDI 45 mins BA-operated with narrow-bodied aircraft, and definitely not a
'straightforward piece of reliable information' for this flight.


Originally Posted by hillrider
Originally Posted by cziwkga
It was also noticeable that the AA BPs just had less information on them than the BA BPs I am used to.
Here are the differences I found when comparing a BA-issued boarding pass for a BA flight with an AA-issued boarding pass for an AA flight (both obtained by an agent, not a kiosk or OLCI):
  • AA does not print
    1. baggage info (the number of checked bags and their weight and number of unchecked bags) nor
    2. the check-in sequence number (which AA's systems don't use)
  • BA does not print
    1. the PNR code (record locator),
    2. the e-ticket number,
    3. the nationality and last 3 digits of the passport used,
    4. the actual class booked (it replaces it with a generic cabin code), and
    5. the agent ID of the person who issued the boarding pass (i.e. checked you in)

All in all I think the AA boarding pass has much more information, and is more useful.
Again, I don't disagree with your analysis and perhaps it would have been better to say that I felt less informed by the BP I got from AA. But I realised we aren't comparing the same things. I am comparing the boarding passes I get when I print my own BP from either BA or AA. You are looking at passes issued by gate agents.

So, for a self-printed BP, of the items you mentioned above:
  • Neither show anything about baggage, since that's not known when the BP is issued
  • Both show the record locator
  • Only the AA pass shows the eticket number
  • The AA pass does show the nationality & last 3 digits of the passport - but I until you mentioned this I had no idea that that was the meaning of 'GB123' as it appears as a code without explanation
  • Both show some information about class, or more accurately cabin, but neither show fare class information. In fact the AA BPs are somewhat inconsistent here. Of the three flights on my booking, the area just below the flight number is used to say:
    1. 'Priority access' - not quite sure what that means.
    2. 'Electronic' - yes, just that.
    3. Business Class/Electronic - for the final domestic sector in the UK.
  • The AA BP shows the flight duration and the scheduled arrival time, two very useful pieces of information not available in any form on the BA BP
  • The BA pass (for a heathrow departure) shows the time bag drop opens and when it closes, the time by which I must clear security, and the gate close time. It also tells me where I need to go to drop bags. The AA pass only tells me when boarding starts.
  • The BA pass tells me the arriving and departing terminals for each flight segment. The AA pass does not.
  • The AA pass carries some symbols about in-flight services which the BA pass does not. However, the utility of these is in doubt since they are wrong on almost all counts.
  • The BA pass tells me about my baggage allowance - number of pieces and maximum weight. The AA pass does not.
  • The BA pass has one third of its area taken up with garish adverts. The AA pass, surprisingly, does not. Just one and a half lines of small-print text encouraging me to use aa.com to book car hire and hotels. Definite advantage to AA there!

I'm really not trying to say one is better than the other; a lot probably comes down to what we are used to, and this is the only time I think I've used AA's online checkin and printed my own BP as a result. But the differences are interesting, as are the inconsistencies
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