Originally Posted by
tkassum
Hi all
I'm just full of new experiences while traveling on BA. That is not a ringing endorsement, I have to say. Anyway, I had another first time experience today and I'd like to find out if it is common practice, unheard of, or frankly illegal.
While checking in at CDG today for my flights to LHR and then BOS, the gate agent asked both my wife and I for a second piece of photo ID in addition to our passports. I asked why, and she said it was for "extra security control" and implied it was random.
Is this standard practice? If I have a passport, doesn't that dominate all other documents? Also, what if I had not been carrying my driver's license - would BA have not let me on the flight?
The whole episode struck me as intrusive and borderline illegal. A passport is, well, a passport. The fact that it's not good enough for BA is kind of amazing.
When it comes to boarding any flights bound for the US, this sounds perfectly plausible because they seem to do whatever they want. Wonder if you have an SSSS awaiting you at Heathrow?
My only other thought is that they've taken a requirement for "Secondary ID check" too literally and asked for a secondary ID instead of checking your ID for a second time