AA kiosk won't print boarding pass ~50 min before departure
Nov 1, 2011, 5:47 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: o'hare field
Programs: aadvantage gold, AA citibank MC, amtrak
Posts: 13
AA kiosk won't print boarding pass ~50 min before departure
Fairly new poster here, searched FT for info on this but couldn't find anything that explained my problem.
I had a pretty dreadful return trip starting at JFK yesterday and am not quite sure where things went wrong:
Booked an open-jaw ticket to New York, ORD-LGA and then JFK-DCA-ORD on the way back. Checked in online and printed boarding pass for ORD-LGA. Trip to LaGuardia goes smoothly.
During my time in New York I receive an email that my itinerary has changed. The JFK-DCA leg, AA (Eagle) 3843 departing at 12:29 PM, has changed to AA 4543 departing at 11:05 AM. No big deal, actually helps alleviate a tight connection time at DCA.
I step off the AirTrain at JFK at 10:10 AM. The AA app on my Android phone is telling me flight is on time for departure at 11:10 AM. Proceed to the self check-in kiosk to get a boarding pass. I am not checking bags. The kiosk tells me it cannot generate a boarding pass and prints out a card for me to take to an agent. I present it to the agent at the front of the check-in line. She looks at the code on the bottom of the card ("FINAL") and tells me I've missed my flight. I tell her it's not due to leave for an hour. She tells me to go to the Resolutions desk (over in the corner, by the bag drop lines).
The card that got printed in lieu of the boarding pass is time-stamped 10:14 AM.
I then stand in the Resolutions line, one agent at the desk, time ticking by. I reach the counter at 10:38. Without explanation the agent prints a boarding pass, then tells me I need to please hurry through security and "the plane will NOT wait for you." (Yeah, no kidding, thanks dude.)
I sprint to security, manage to get through the TSA fairly quickly, start running as fast as I can to the gate. About halfway there I hear the announcement "all ticketed and confirmed passengers must be on board at this time," figure I'm screwed. Manage to arrive at the gate, panting, just in time. Take my seat, door to the plane closes less than 2 minutes later.
Now, fortunately this all worked out, but an extremely stressful situation and one that seemed pretty needless. Insult to injury added with an agent telling me matter-of-factly that I've missed me flight, then another telling me planes don't wait for late passengers as if I don't know that.
Ok, story told, I turn to you all for answers:
- What the heck caused the kiosk to think the flight was in final boarding at 51 minutes before departure? I wasn't checking bags, so the 60-minute cutoff there was irrelevant, and I was well within the 30-minute check-in limit.
- Did anything I do bring this on, or could I have prevented this? I didn't have access to a printer to get a boarding pass while in New York, but would have gone out of my way to do so had I foreseen this and been able to check in online. I might add I'm an AAdvantage member with no elite status, on a Q ticket.
- With my lowly Q ticket, would I have been SOL in terms of rebooking without additional charge if I had not made it in time?
- More generally, was arriving at JFK a mere 60 minutes before departure simply a bad idea? I've flown 12 segments on AA this year, leaving from airports large (ORD) and small (FNT), all checking in <60 min before at the kiosk, never had this kind of problem.
My thanks in advance for your insights.
I had a pretty dreadful return trip starting at JFK yesterday and am not quite sure where things went wrong:
Booked an open-jaw ticket to New York, ORD-LGA and then JFK-DCA-ORD on the way back. Checked in online and printed boarding pass for ORD-LGA. Trip to LaGuardia goes smoothly.
During my time in New York I receive an email that my itinerary has changed. The JFK-DCA leg, AA (Eagle) 3843 departing at 12:29 PM, has changed to AA 4543 departing at 11:05 AM. No big deal, actually helps alleviate a tight connection time at DCA.
I step off the AirTrain at JFK at 10:10 AM. The AA app on my Android phone is telling me flight is on time for departure at 11:10 AM. Proceed to the self check-in kiosk to get a boarding pass. I am not checking bags. The kiosk tells me it cannot generate a boarding pass and prints out a card for me to take to an agent. I present it to the agent at the front of the check-in line. She looks at the code on the bottom of the card ("FINAL") and tells me I've missed my flight. I tell her it's not due to leave for an hour. She tells me to go to the Resolutions desk (over in the corner, by the bag drop lines).
The card that got printed in lieu of the boarding pass is time-stamped 10:14 AM.
I then stand in the Resolutions line, one agent at the desk, time ticking by. I reach the counter at 10:38. Without explanation the agent prints a boarding pass, then tells me I need to please hurry through security and "the plane will NOT wait for you." (Yeah, no kidding, thanks dude.)
I sprint to security, manage to get through the TSA fairly quickly, start running as fast as I can to the gate. About halfway there I hear the announcement "all ticketed and confirmed passengers must be on board at this time," figure I'm screwed. Manage to arrive at the gate, panting, just in time. Take my seat, door to the plane closes less than 2 minutes later.
Now, fortunately this all worked out, but an extremely stressful situation and one that seemed pretty needless. Insult to injury added with an agent telling me matter-of-factly that I've missed me flight, then another telling me planes don't wait for late passengers as if I don't know that.
Ok, story told, I turn to you all for answers:
- What the heck caused the kiosk to think the flight was in final boarding at 51 minutes before departure? I wasn't checking bags, so the 60-minute cutoff there was irrelevant, and I was well within the 30-minute check-in limit.
- Did anything I do bring this on, or could I have prevented this? I didn't have access to a printer to get a boarding pass while in New York, but would have gone out of my way to do so had I foreseen this and been able to check in online. I might add I'm an AAdvantage member with no elite status, on a Q ticket.
- With my lowly Q ticket, would I have been SOL in terms of rebooking without additional charge if I had not made it in time?
- More generally, was arriving at JFK a mere 60 minutes before departure simply a bad idea? I've flown 12 segments on AA this year, leaving from airports large (ORD) and small (FNT), all checking in <60 min before at the kiosk, never had this kind of problem.
My thanks in advance for your insights.
Last edited by curnonsky; Nov 1, 2011 at 6:19 pm Reason: fixed a typo on one of the airports
Nov 1, 2011, 5:53 pm
#2
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: AUS TUS
Programs: AA PLT, UA GLD
Posts: 993
I'm sorry... any reason you didn't check in with your cell phone app?
Nov 1, 2011, 6:02 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: o'hare field
Programs: aadvantage gold, AA citibank MC, amtrak
Posts: 13
Yeah, this did occur to me once I got on the plane....
Most of the time I fly out of an airport not set up for the mobile boarding pass, so I've not gotten in the habit. I did think about it the day prior, but wandering around NYC and using GPS frequently meant my battery was usually quite low, and I didn't want to check in then show up at the airport with a dead cell phone. I'm curious to think if I could have still checked in with the phone after the kiosk denied me.
Most of the time I fly out of an airport not set up for the mobile boarding pass, so I've not gotten in the habit. I did think about it the day prior, but wandering around NYC and using GPS frequently meant my battery was usually quite low, and I didn't want to check in then show up at the airport with a dead cell phone. I'm curious to think if I could have still checked in with the phone after the kiosk denied me.
Nov 1, 2011, 7:20 pm
#4
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 1,546
Check in from your phone, then print a paper boarding pass from the kiosk. Even though the official check-in deadline for domestic flights is T-30, it is safer to check in early and then print when you get to the airport.
Nov 1, 2011, 7:30 pm
#5
Join Date: Jan 2007
Programs: UA, AA
Posts: 234
The OP's story happened to me two years ago, but luckily involved slightly less running. Note that checking in early does not guarantee you a boarding pass from the kiosk. Mobile BP is a great option if and when it works. It has been my experience in the past that the kiosks will not reprint inside of the cutoff window even if you did already check in.
Nov 1, 2011, 8:41 pm
#6
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: LAX
Posts: 6,769
Wow. OP's story happened to me 8 years ago with a very similar situation. Arrived at JFK with 50 minutes and no check-in luggage, but kiosk wouldn't let me check in. Went to counter and ticket agent said I had to get a BP by 1 hour before departure. I thought it was 30 minutes, but she said not for JFK. I was booked on a flight for the next day and went back home.
Since then, I've never liked JFK.
Since then, I've never liked JFK.
Nov 2, 2011, 5:46 am
#7
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2006
Programs: AAdvantage PP
Posts: 13,913
My rule of thumb at JFK is always at least 60 minutes. Security at times can be a nightmare. The PA just dumps into overcrowded lanes and even the PA lane gets very backed up. Add to that the size of the terminal, particularly if you schleping down to fly Eagle out of gates 31/32.
I've never heard though the 60 minute rule for JFK. Howver, given the issues with the terminal (as noted above) it would not surprise me.
I've never heard though the 60 minute rule for JFK. Howver, given the issues with the terminal (as noted above) it would not surprise me.
Nov 2, 2011, 6:09 am
#8
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: BOS
Posts: 2,315
aa.com says JFK cut off time is 45 minutes. Also has a list of some other "gotcha" cut off times.
http://www.aa.com/i18n/travelInforma...false&from=Nav
Update - just reread the website and the wording is unclear whether JFK is 30 minute check in cut off but 45 minutes to check bags, or all is 45 minutes.
http://www.aa.com/i18n/travelInforma...false&from=Nav
Update - just reread the website and the wording is unclear whether JFK is 30 minute check in cut off but 45 minutes to check bags, or all is 45 minutes.
Nov 2, 2011, 6:48 am
#9
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 3,698
For customers checking baggage, cutoff time for baggage check-in is 30 minutes before departure for all airports in the U.S., Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands with the following exceptions:
Nov 2, 2011, 7:23 am
#10
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 208
Last week, I was not allowed to check in online @ AUS. But everything went smoothly at the airport.
Nov 2, 2011, 8:23 am
#11
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: New York
Programs: AA Plat, CO Gold
Posts: 1,598
aa.com says JFK cut off time is 45 minutes. Also has a list of some other "gotcha" cut off times.
http://www.aa.com/i18n/travelInforma...false&from=Nav
Update - just reread the website and the wording is unclear whether JFK is 30 minute check in cut off but 45 minutes to check bags, or all is 45 minutes.
http://www.aa.com/i18n/travelInforma...false&from=Nav
Update - just reread the website and the wording is unclear whether JFK is 30 minute check in cut off but 45 minutes to check bags, or all is 45 minutes.
Nov 2, 2011, 8:27 am
#12
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Dallas, TX
Programs: WN A-list Preferred and CP, AA EXP, Hilton Diamond, RIP Kimpton
Posts: 853
If you would've paid $5 for your boarding pass at the airport then this wouldn't have bee a problem! 
I had this issue at DFW once. I believe the cutoff was 30 minutes. Fortunately a lady at the ticket counter printed one off for me so I could rush to the gate...only to watch my flight end up delayed for 5 hours due to weather.
I had this issue at DFW once. I believe the cutoff was 30 minutes. Fortunately a lady at the ticket counter printed one off for me so I could rush to the gate...only to watch my flight end up delayed for 5 hours due to weather.
Nov 2, 2011, 9:01 am
#13
Join Date: Jul 2008
Programs: AA EXP 1MM
Posts: 8
Similar situation at JFK at few weeks ago: I attempted to check in at the kiosk approximately 55 mins before departure of a domestic segment - it wouldn't let me check in with a similar "FINAL" note. I would have checked in online / mobile earlier, but was unable to do so because my connecting flight was to PVG, and AA wanted to see the Visa / didn't provide a way of entering it online in advance.
Nov 2, 2011, 9:57 am
#14
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 3,698
Personally, I think it would be worth writing customer service to ask that they either reprogram their kiosks or update the website to match whatever logic the kiosks actually implement.
Nov 2, 2011, 10:29 am
#15
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: LAX
Posts: 6,769
So while my situation happened 8 years ago, the reason why I couldn't check in earlier was because I was on the LIRR and then the AirTrain and didn't have a smartphone back then. I didn't really think I was going to be late, but sometimes, the AirTrain takes longer than you wish. The kiosks, at least based on what the ticket agent told me, did not distinguish between check-in luggage pax and not.
However, it could have been 45 minutes for the cutoff. I remember being soooo close, as in 1 minute close. The annoying thing was that the agent seemed new and didn't want to print out BPs for us. She said JFK was a big airport and we would need to run.
However, it could have been 45 minutes for the cutoff. I remember being soooo close, as in 1 minute close. The annoying thing was that the agent seemed new and didn't want to print out BPs for us. She said JFK was a big airport and we would need to run.