bocastephen

Are there no kiosks at SJC? Usually I do my best to avoid contact with any human airline employees for this very reason. If there were kiosks, the OP's friend should have gone directly there and not the counter - even after being denied at the counter, they could have used a kiosk to reprint the BP.

I've been in a similar situation with Delta, and when refused by the agent, I just ignored them, found a kiosk and reprinted from there and went on my way.

YEGcg

canadiancow

If this were AC staff, I'd say there was a miscommunication. The agents thought the passenger was not checked in, and didn't understand he just needed a BP.

But it was contract staff. So who knows. I'm a little surprised they were still at the desk but unable to help. I'd have a lot less sympathy if they had simply been gone, but they weren't.

Sigh.

I had a similar issue at SFO once, but the concierge saved me.

dblumenhoff

The IDB laws were written to disincentivize the overbooking of flights for airlines and provide consequences for what were essentially intentional cases of IDB (the airline books it this way with the knowledge that people will be IDB). They don't have a law in the US (EU is different obviously) to provide compensation for things that are within airline control but unintentional, such as software glitches, mechanical delays, and GA idiocy, as long as the airline gets the pax to the destination. Most airlines have the practice, in those cases of "within airline control but unintentional", to make people whole for their hard costs such as hotel, food, and necessary purchases on the overnight but not for lost time, etc. It seems to me that this falls into that case where the airline should reimburse for hotel and meals, but asking for additional compensation is inconsistent with generally accepted practice. So yes, he was "denied boarding" and it was "involuntary," but it's not the situation that the DOT was trying to remedy when they made the regulation since it was an error.

jonsg

I do both, with one paper copy in my pocket and another in my carry-on. If I can, I use the app, and leave all the paperwork undisturbed.

YYC009

I don't get the IDB argument. To be involuntarily denied boarding you have to have met all the conditions per the tariff.
The customer did not arrive at the gate and was ready to board by -15min to departure, which is in the tariff.
End of story.

Now, there are many reasons why a customer may not be at the gate, some of their own accord, some because of someone else, and some because of the airline, but regardless of the fact, IDB boarding is a tariff issue and AC did not violate the tariff.

Was this a customer service fail? Sure sounds like it. So treat it accordingly and offer appropriate goodwill customer service recovery compensation.

But to insist on a legally defined process where no tariff breach occurred, that is stepping into an ugly grey area that could set precedence for unintended consequences down the road.

jrpallante

I would never rely solely on a link. I always store the BP in my wallet, and also email myself a PDF of the boarding pass. For international travel, I take it a step further and print out a paper boarding pass. 999 times out of 1,000, these extra safeguards are not needed, but it just takes seconds to create a Plan B and Plan C.

TIGA31328

skybluesea

This is blaming traveler, when AC or their local contract staff could have easily called the gate and confirmed traveler was on the manifest.

Then, a hand-printed BP could have been put together, and staff could have walked the traveler to TSA, spoke to Supervisor , and away they go.

A paper backup for a system that is fully digital in nature?

Relying on a single paper token to get through process when so many other things can go wrong with digital and/or customer service process - fill your boots if this makes you feel better.

ps...if you lose your paper BP, your still going back to check-in/kiosk???

YYC traveler

Another data point. My spouse was traveling mid-day yesterday and did the OLCI via mobile phone on Wednesday evening and per our SOP requested electronic boarding pass via SMS. The message was promptly sent and received, containing the boarding pass link. Clicking on the boarding pass link resulted in a message pop-up indicating that an update to the Air Canada was required due to the recent security breach. Unfortunately the mobile device is a corporate device that is locked down, so it wasn't possible to update the Air Canada app until it was pushed from corporate IT.

The only workaround was to use a desktop PC, go through OLCI again and print paper boarding pass(es).

ffsim

Let me start by saying that I've learnt a lot from this thread. And, for the purpose of this reply, and this reply alone, let's put all that new knowledge aside

When a layperson like me sees "IDB" and understands that those letters mean "involuntary denied boarding," it's not a giant leap of English to associate that acronym with this situation.

Despite not meeting the specific definition of IDB which has been explained many times here (thanks, everyone!), OP's colleague was literally involuntarily denied boarding. It shouldn't be hard to understand why the argument is being made: not everyone, including yours truly, understood the very narrow scope of that combination of words as it relates to the the commercial aviation world.

rsercely

Sounds very, very strange all around.

However - one think that I now do (it is actually recommended in the AA mobile ap). When you get your e- boarding pass on your phone - screen shot the boarding pass. Takes seconds, and now you only have to worry about losing your phone and such. I really recommend this, as I have had the link fail more than once.

wds17

Aren't iOS wallet passes saved locally and therefore not affected by connection issues?

jensha

I haven't read the full thread so sorry if this is a duplicate answer:
I once had a problem pulling up the boarding pass on my phone at the gate. The GA suggested that next time I make sure I follow all the steps all the way through and then take a screen shot of the boarding pass. That way it is on your phone no matter what. I can't remember if she then helped me get a paper pass or if the link finally worked, but I didn't miss the flight.

ffsim

Saved locally by default and optionally saved to iCloud and pushed to other devices.

I won't tell people not to take screenshots (or go for an actual printout) if it offers additional peace of mind, but once a pass is in iOS Wallet, its availability is not dependent on cellular connectivity. Battery, yes, but cellular no.