Originally Posted by
djcrooks
Like you, I use my passport on a very regular basis. My current passport was issued in 2014 and out of the starting gate it often could not be read by swiping it at the counter or check in kiosks and I have given up even trying to use the readers on the Global Entry machines and instead immediately click on the "Problem reading document" option and just enter it manually. No check in agent has ever mentioned anything and when it won't swipe they just enter it manually without fuss. If even the Global Entry kiosks have an option to manually enter your data it makes no sense that an airline agent couldn't do the same unless they are amazingly lazy.
My old passport would only scan about 25% of the time. Apparently (this is based solely on what a customs agent told me) my photo page w/ the chip was bent slightly so the chip was likely damaged, and the back-up scan of the text at the bottom wouldn't work because the text was printed misaligned clear to the left. There were several times where I cut it close on departures and it almost caused me to miss a int'l flight.
Last time I was back in the States for a week+, I booked a long layover in Denver and stopped at the passport office there (about 15 minutes from the airport). After seeing the printing misalignment, they issued a new passport (w/ same expiration date as the prior but new #) for free and it showed up at the address where I was staying in about 3 days. It has been well worth the hassle.