A few questions about online check in
 

Hi there

Not long to go!

Just wondering about a few things:

I don't have a printer so if I check in online the day before can I always print my boarding passes at the airport?

What is the best way to check in for my return from NYC? Can I just do it at the airport? Or is it best to check in the day before?

Thanks in advance

Yes ..check in online and then select option to collect boarding pass at airport. Simply use the self servcie machine at lhr to print.

For the return flight would suggest olci for best choice of seats.

In addition to what cbagent has said;

Might be worth mentioning the difference between checking in online and printing your boarding pass...

DO check in online (as early as possible which is T-24 hours before your flight). The main reasons are to effectively 'tell' BA that you are indeed still planning to fly on this flight and make sure your 'seat' doesn't go to someone else if they have overbooked it AND to get the best seat possible for the cabin you have booked (unless you have some status or have paid for your seating in advance). Using MMB you simply confirm you are not going to bring any dangerous goods onboard by ticking a box then you let them know how many bags you are 'planning' to check in (you can check in more or less but I think they use this for fuel and weight planning) and then confirm your seat or change it to your choice and then as mentioned earlier simply select the 'collect at airport' option. Then you should get a confirmation screen that says you are now checked in but you need to collect your boarding pass at the airport.

Regarding printing your boarding pass...if you want to and have access to a printer at some point then you could...however, it may be worth waiting for two real reasons which are;

You can't possibly lose or forget a boarding pass you haven't printed before you get to the airport! (especially if one is prone to such things;) ) secondly, and most importantly...you can go through the check in procedure as many times as you like online up to T-1 IF you haven't printed out a boarding pass. Once you do print it out you cannot change anything. (by T-1 you should really have made it to check in desk anyway!) and change your seat selection if you wish...I mention this as sometimes BA will upgrade someone that was in an exit row seat or 'better' seat (everyone has their own idea what this means...it could be a window seat or aisle or bulkhead, etc...) which then becomes free...so I would suggest checking in online at T-24 to get the best seat you can at that time and then checking again just before you leave for the airport to see if anything has changed (and get an idea of how full the cabin may be).

sometimes you get lucky but I don't want to get your hopes up too much as most of the time nothing will have changed. You may notice that at T-5 or so that most people will have checked in and maybe there are some seats which you could select which have a middle seat empty effectively giving you and the other person some extra space...effectively an upgrade!

In any case always good to check in online as early as possible but printing can wait until you get to a self service machine or a check in desk.

Hope that helps and that you have a good flight!

Thanks Cbagent and BotB

Thanks very much for the advice. I will definitley check-in online here and the not printing a boarding pass yes it will be one less thing to remember! ;)

I have selected seats already.

So I will need to find a internet cafe or hope the hotel has a PC to allow me to do it on the return

Another question please:
I haven't got a ticket so just need to take my debit card to the airport? Is this a pretty straightforward process for both legs?

Thanks

You mean an e-ticket?

What if I check -in online and then don't make it to airport? Not planning on having accident/traffic, but one never knows.

You will be offloaded from the flight and will be a no show....rebooking required.

lol yes sorry I do have a ticket!! lol I mean e ticket lol