Originally Posted by
KenInEscazu
Thank you. I now understand. It never really bothered me, as I would be some kind of frustrated if I flew to my international departure city only to learn that I had left my passport in yesterday's pants upon arrival from somewhere else. That is something I'm very capable of doing.
I would also add that there is a difference between the credentials check and just seeing the passport.
The credentials check insures that the pax has valid entrance into the destination. That means VISA, whatever. Not just passport.
Airlines generally implement this check at the start of journey, not at the gate. It would be a real pain if GA were validating VISAs.
Does this apply to the OP's case? Yes. Unless UA knew otherwise, how could they know the kid could enter the UK? Thus, is they allowed the kid to start the journey, then some GA would have to validate he was legit to travel to the UK.
OK, this might seam like nonsense. But what if we had the exact same story and the kid was some nationality the UK did not accept w/o a VISA? Where would that be verified?