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BA automatically checking you in and emailing boarding pass

BA automatically checking you in and emailing boarding pass

Old Jan 19, 2016, 5:26 am
  #16  
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Originally Posted by sammyg901
Seems a bit odd to me, surely all these people need offloading if they no show? You'd think for flight management / clearing standby etc it'd be better to have a more accurate prediction of likely no shows. Also if you didn't have Internet access to check in you probably don't have anyway to print a boarding pass 6 hrs prior....
Depends on the location. At AMS and LCY I can't see them waiting one minute longer for anyone. At T5 and T3 they will know if you have gone through Conformance / Positive Boarding, you won't even be on the list until you do that. FLY locations, mmm, that would be interesting! (Though I think it's the baggage issue that is proving challenging, rather than the total no-shows).
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Old Jan 19, 2016, 10:46 am
  #17  
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It would be nice to be able to opt out of this.
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Old Jan 19, 2016, 11:21 am
  #18  
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Another 'enhancement'?

One benefit of status is being able to select your seats, not have some computer do it randomly. BA's IT is bad enough without giving it the opportunity to have a couple sat at other ends of the cabin.
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Old Jan 19, 2016, 11:40 am
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Originally Posted by T8191
Another 'enhancement'?

One benefit of status is being able to select your seats, not have some computer do it randomly. BA's IT is bad enough without giving it the opportunity to have a couple sat at other ends of the cabin.
Don't tell BA, but some couples might pay good money for that.
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Old Jan 19, 2016, 12:35 pm
  #20  
 
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Originally Posted by T8191
Another 'enhancement'?

One benefit of status is being able to select your seats, not have some computer do it randomly. BA's IT is bad enough without giving it the opportunity to have a couple sat at other ends of the cabin.
Surely if you haven't bothered to select your seats by T-6 though, it's not unreasonable for the computer to assume you're not too fussed where you sit?
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Old Jan 19, 2016, 12:39 pm
  #21  
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Personally I select when I book - that was what being Silver was about But I still have to check constantly over the ensuing months to make sure the airline hasn't decided to do something random!

As to T-6, not everyone sits at a computer all day, every day, thinking about seat selection ... unless they're FT-ers
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Old Jan 19, 2016, 1:57 pm
  #22  
 
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I got one of these this morning and thought it as some sort of phishing email so I deleted it. Was still able to check in on my BA app.
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Old Jan 19, 2016, 3:09 pm
  #23  
 
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What's the point of checking in? I assumed it was to show the airline you had the intention of taking the flight, but with airlines such as Easyjet allowing check-in 30 days in advance I'm obviously wrong.

If check-in happens automatically, why bother; why not just sell the ticket and be done with it?
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Old Jan 19, 2016, 10:48 pm
  #24  
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Originally Posted by adrianlondon
What's the point of checking in? I assumed it was to show the airline you had the intention of taking the flight, but with airlines such as Easyjet allowing check-in 30 days in advance I'm obviously wrong.

If check-in happens automatically, why bother; why not just sell the ticket and be done with it?
It is a legacy of paper tickets that we are stuck with because electronic tickets were designed to be functionally identical to paper tickets.

The check in process is part of how the airline gets paid for the flight. At this time the airline collects the (electronic) flight coupon from the (electronic) ticket which acts as a financial document. Actually the airline collects the coupon when you board the plane, but it would be rather inconvenient if you were allowed to get to the gate with your bag in the hold before a ticketing problem or non-payment situation were discovered.

If the coupon were transferred to the airline earlier, it would make it difficult for a travel agent to make changes to the flight or for you to use an open coupon on a different flight (or carrier), while ensuring everything is properly audited and ensuring everyone knows which airline is supposed to get paid by whom. So IATA decided that this should not happen more than 30 hours in advance of departure.

Of course we can all invent different ways for the accounting to work but this system is tried and tested for the last forty years. And everyone uses it so you need to change everyone globally at once, or maintain compatibility with the old system while you change all the procedures and training and computer systems.

If the airline doesn't need to work with travel agents or other airlines, then it of course is free to arrange boarding passes how it wishes.

Last edited by Calchas; Jan 19, 2016 at 11:00 pm
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Old Jan 20, 2016, 5:51 pm
  #25  
 
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Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
I've not seen this yet, I'm not one to OLCI at the first opportunity so I'll doubtless get it at some point. But I wonder if there is a workaround: if you OLCI upfront, but do not print the boarding pass, the system will have you as checked in and the SSCI machines will still allow you to move elsewhere. By "print", I also mean App BP Download, Save, Fax and Email as well.

Now it may be that they will email the BP anyway, so that workaround won't work, but my suspicion is the test is simply "checked in, yes or no".
this sounds like a good ploy - will have to try it out next time ... especially as i got moved on Tuesday between checkin (T-22) and departure, as J got expanded by 3 rows

i flew JetBlue last month for the first time, and their app allows you to change seat (repeatedly) after checkin - which was handy (to try and get an empty neighbouring seat).
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Old Jan 24, 2016, 2:18 am
  #26  
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Surely this will make no difference.

If i check in myself or the computer does it, I still go to the desk to pick up a paper boarding pass.

At that point the agent can change my seat if I request and it is available.

I guess the only issue is that by auto checking people in the available seats at this point might be far fewer.
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Old Jan 24, 2016, 3:29 am
  #27  
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Originally Posted by GentleGiant
At that point the agent can change my seat if I request and it is available.

I guess the only issue is that by auto checking people in the available seats at this point might be far fewer.
Yes, you're right on the first point, on the second point I think not, since those seats would probably have been "held" for the non-checked in people. However the SSCI machines have a benefit in showing the whole cabin clearly, including the exit rows, and you can ponder your options without feeling the daggers from the person behind you in the agents' queue wanting you to make your mind up. If the agent shows you the seating plan on their DCS screen it's not very clear to the uninitiated, though it is clearer on FLY.
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Old Jan 24, 2016, 4:02 am
  #28  
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Can't say I have ever used a machine - I have always gone to a human at the check in desk.

Maybe I ought to try
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Old Jan 24, 2016, 4:23 am
  #29  
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Originally Posted by GentleGiant
Can't say I have ever used a machine - I have always gone to a human at the check in desk.

Maybe I ought to try
If you don't have bags to check I see little point going to the staffed check in desks unless there is something you need to sort out. Either a printed bp or mobile bp means you don't waste time and can just head to security.
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Old Jan 24, 2016, 4:35 am
  #30  
 
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LX do this (or at least they did, haven't flown with them for about 18 months). They allowed opt-out, which I always did. IIRC, if you hadn't opted out, you were checked in at T-24. Not a big fan, though more often than not I am checked in by T-6 anyway.
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