First Wing visa check
Aug 1, 2018, 6:38 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Lincoln, UK
Programs: BA Gold, TK, DL, IHG Diamond, HHonours Gold, Hertz Presidents Club
Posts: 497
First Wing visa check
Can the two BP checkers/dragons in the First Wing do a visa check or do you have to go to a desk?
Last edited by Leaping_Deere; Aug 1, 2018 at 6:44 am Reason: silly spelling mistake
Aug 1, 2018, 6:41 am
#2
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
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Yes, visa checks can be done within the First Wing, including at the entrance area to the gates. In some cases an expert may need to be paged, depending on the visa concerned.
Aug 1, 2018, 6:47 am
#4
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: London
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Never even thought to do that. Although as it depends on the confluence of 1) me being gold, 2) usually going to JFK and 3) it being sufficiently busy at the other gates for it to be an issue, that I don't think it's come up lately for me. In fact I have a feeling my last JFK was pre the new First Wing, so I doubt I would have even thought of it as an option.
Aug 1, 2018, 8:09 am
#6
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Join Date: Aug 2002
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Was that the check-in staff at a desk? They've always been able to do that, naturally. I think the OP's question was really directed to whether one can skip that and go straight to the agents who are in effect doing the lounge entry check just before the conformance gate.
Aug 1, 2018, 10:21 am
#9
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: SAV/HHH
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold (current GGL), HH Diamond
Posts: 1,293
Can anyone explain the logic of this visa check in my scenario?
At least half the time when passing through the First Wing, I am sent back to the visa check desk to have them scan my passport. I'm usually HBO...a US passport...boarding pass on my phone...and on the final leg of a trip, returning to the US.
Before the FW existed, I would always go to a visa check desk when arriving at LHR because it was more of a pain to be sent back if I didn't stop there first. Now I just take my chances.
This has never made any sense to me. They have my passport in the APIs, and the details were confirmed on the first leg of the trip. Why do I have to go to this desk?
At least half the time when passing through the First Wing, I am sent back to the visa check desk to have them scan my passport. I'm usually HBO...a US passport...boarding pass on my phone...and on the final leg of a trip, returning to the US.
Before the FW existed, I would always go to a visa check desk when arriving at LHR because it was more of a pain to be sent back if I didn't stop there first. Now I just take my chances.
This has never made any sense to me. They have my passport in the APIs, and the details were confirmed on the first leg of the trip. Why do I have to go to this desk?
Aug 1, 2018, 10:35 am
#10
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Bronze
Posts: 1,089
Can anyone explain the logic of this visa check in my scenario?
At least half the time when passing through the First Wing, I am sent back to the visa check desk to have them scan my passport. I'm usually HBO...a US passport...boarding pass on my phone...and on the final leg of a trip, returning to the US.
Before the FW existed, I would always go to a visa check desk when arriving at LHR because it was more of a pain to be sent back if I didn't stop there first. Now I just take my chances.
This has never made any sense to me. They have my passport in the APIs, and the details were confirmed on the first leg of the trip. Why do I have to go to this desk?
At least half the time when passing through the First Wing, I am sent back to the visa check desk to have them scan my passport. I'm usually HBO...a US passport...boarding pass on my phone...and on the final leg of a trip, returning to the US.
Before the FW existed, I would always go to a visa check desk when arriving at LHR because it was more of a pain to be sent back if I didn't stop there first. Now I just take my chances.
This has never made any sense to me. They have my passport in the APIs, and the details were confirmed on the first leg of the trip. Why do I have to go to this desk?
This used to cause issues prior to FLY with customers connecting onto AA at LHR, where they couldn't verify the source of the passport data that BA was sending them. Thankfully this has been resolved as a scan is required for any flight involving a connection on same PNR to the US.
Aug 1, 2018, 10:58 am
#11
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
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Which presumably means (since I've never tried it) that the alternative to going to visa check is to reprint the boarding pass at one of the SSKs? [I fear it just reprints without asking for a passport scan, but I don't actually know].
Aug 1, 2018, 10:59 am
#12
Join Date: Dec 2004
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Aug 1, 2018, 2:05 pm
#13
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: SAV/HHH
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold (current GGL), HH Diamond
Posts: 1,293
I tried it once a few years back (pre-FW), and the machine did ask to scan the passport, but I still got sent to the visa check desk anyway. But, it's worth another try...thanks for the info SpeedbirdLHR.
Aug 1, 2018, 2:13 pm
#14
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: coastal Croatia
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if this is done on the first leg of a trip, why does it have to be done again at LHR? If it has to be done at LHR, why does it have to be done on the first leg? could somebody please explain? Are the systems just not talking to each other?