Originally Posted by
Schwann
Isn't it switched off at most places at the moment because of checking tests/docs etc?
I'm not sure OLCI has worked for me EU-UK at all this year.
I flew DUS-LCY on 8 August and was able to check-in online as normal for that one, although I note another poster was unable to do so flying FRA-LCY which just seems... inconsistent! GIB-LCY was also OK, although slightly different circumstances there.
Originally Posted by
fruitcage
Sounds like a pretty bad experience, but if it’s really among the worst in 750 flights, I would say the OP has been very lucky.
Ha, I did wonder whether someone would raise this! I've had far worse things happen, but I don't really mind if they are my own fault or I can wander off and do something else. For some reason, being stuck in a queue or similar with no real idea of timescales and the situation entirely out of my control sends my stress and anxiety levels through the roof. Here are some of the others:
- Booked HKG-MEL in J as part of a much longer award ticket. Stayed out far too late and slept in, missing flight. Result: 3 extra days in HKG until I could find a cheap onward ticket.
- FR flight from BRS-RAK diverted to Fez due to weather. Told there would be a coach but no idea when. Other passengers waited hours, I found my way to the train station and jumped on a train.
- Booked STN-SXF on Ryanair. Spent too long in the bar and arrived just after gate closed, to be denied boarding. Friends weren't happy but I used some Avios to get us to Berlin the next day on BA.
- 9 hour delay on LATAM SYD-AKL. Found out about it early so basically enjoyed an extra day in Sydney.
- US Airways flight MCI-PHX diverted to ABQ due to weather. Booked a cheap hotel myself and enjoyed a bonus night out in Albuquerque after calling the airline at my leisure for a rebooking. Then slept in and missed the rebooked flight...
- GOT-LHR-JFK on BA changed first to YYZ then BOS due to ever-moving snowstorms. Eventually made it to BOS and enjoyed a nice Amtrak ride down to New York the next day.
Originally Posted by
corporate-wage-slave
OLCI is turned off on BA for many (most?) routes outside the CTA. This is being reviewed route by route since it depends a bit on the local interpretations of restrictions. Those locations with MMB documentation checks such as Greece should be OK for OLCI. For KRK - LHR then VeriFLY would probably help, not in terms of the staff at KRK - who at this stage probably haven't heard about VeriFLY but more to trigger OLCI. I must admit if I had been in the OPs shoes I would have turned up at about 75 minutes to departure, or even a bit less, since almost everyone is turning up at 90 minutes to 120 minutes, and there isn't much benefit in trying to get ahead of that group.
This is what I'm not clear about - would VeriFLY actually have helped? I was aware of the app and it was mentioned in the small print in the BA pre-flight email as something that "you can use to pass through the airport with ease" but nowhere does it say either 1) you can't online check-in without this or 2) using this will unlock online check-in. And the BA app and MMB were equally silent on this, simply saying "Online check-in is not available for this flight" which implies there's nothing you can do as an individual to make it available - off to the airport you go!
On your second point, yes, absolutely, in this situation, travelling alone, I would have turned up just over an hour before departure. But my partner was insistent we arrived early due to not being able to check-in online.
Originally Posted by
Jumbodriver
Surely vaccination status is very relevant for Poland? It’s on the Amber list so your vaccination status alters the test package you need to have booked. It’s up to the airline to check this before you fly.
I'm not sure that's correct - the airline only needs to check you've filled in a passenger locator form, what you've actually put on it is between you and UKBF. And despite the lengthy waits, they weren't checking the contents of the PLF anyway, only that you had filled one in.
Originally Posted by
krispy84
Each to their own etc ……
A 2 hour queue to check-in is frustrating and unpleasant, but doesn’t cross into ‘dreadful’ and ‘never flying BA again’ territory IMO.
Particularly, as the OP noted, it was the first BA flight since Jan and the local staff had presumably a steep learning curve.
I didn't say I would "never fly BA again", quite the opposite actually, the onboard experience was good and I'd like to be able to regain my status. I wanted to find out the routes where OLCI is disabled so I could avoid those specific routes, for the time being. But a two hour largely unnecessary queue when you are used to zipping through the airport is dreadful if you aren't used to it (and yes, I do always feel sorry for those families I see glumly standing in mile-long queues at the likes of PMI, AGP, TFS etc waiting to check-in their bags before their flight home at the end of their two week holiday).