Originally Posted by
ESpen36
Be aware that at DFW, apparently not all GE kiosks are created equal. On my entry a couple of weeks ago, I went up to use a random GE kiosk that seemed to be functional and normal, but it would not scan my passport after several tries. I looked around, and a passenger service representative came over to me and said, "oh, don't use one of the bad kiosks, you need to use one of the good ones." She pointed out a nearby kiosk that looked identical, but when I scanned my passport, it worked on the first try!
Clearly, the rep knew from watching thousands of GE members that some kiosks simply do not scan the passports. And yet, they all appear to be the same (they all have the same screens showing that they are in service). Perhaps the scanning mechanisms are dirty/broken on some of the kiosks?
It is not the first time that a kiosk has refused to scan my passport, but when I try a different machine, it works (at various airports in the system). Has anybody experienced the same?
Yes. I had trouble with bad kiosks in a lot of places, most notably in Dublin the last time. The GE officer there said that sometimes the machines have difficulty reading the RFID in the passport because the sensor gets dislodged. He said the trick is to push the passport all the way in, then slowly pull it back until it reads. He did it for Mrs. FlyMe's passport and it worked on the first try. I tried it on my own and failed.