T5 e-gates now open: Australia, Canada, Japan, NZ, Singapore, S Korea & USA citizens
May 25, 2019, 4:07 am
#31
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: JER
Programs: BA Gold/OWE, several MUCCI, and assorted Pensions!
Posts: 32,145
One has to ask why, oh why, did they drop the lovely robust solid plastic page we have in our current passports?
May 25, 2019, 4:10 am
#32
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Vale of Glamorgan
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 2,991
I had precisely this problem at LCY yesterday, with a newish passport, and it took me a while (and several instructions to "try again") to work out what the problem was. It seems to be a bit of a design flaw.
May 25, 2019, 4:12 am
#33
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Cheltenham
Programs: KLM Plat for Life , BA Gold, HH Silver, (Other half Diamond), IHG Gold
Posts: 2,398
My UK passport happily works at e gates through out the world , but has never worked on return to the UK. Apparently Smiths and Kumar’s are particularly affected ..... the thing that annoys me as they still make me try and use the e gates before letting me use the manual check .
May 25, 2019, 7:24 pm
#34
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Sapporo, Japan
Programs: Junior Jet Club, Nando's Card 1 Red Chilli, Tesco Clubcard, BAEC Gold, TK M&S Elite
Posts: 520
Mine worked perfectly for about 2 years, then one day it stopped working altogether on UK eGates. It works in every other country I've tried, and the UKBA staff have been everything from uninterested through to threatening when I've suggested that there must be a block on my passport or name.
"It's probably a faulty chip" :: definitely not, I can read it with an NFC reader on my phone.
"You must have changed how you look" :: nope, the eGate camera doesn't even move to my face, I'm 6ft 3 and it's usually pointing at my chest.
"You're not holding it on there properly" :: oh, then I must be only good at it in literally every other country I've tried it.
Considering getting a second passport again, as now the "seek assistance" queues are getting longer.
"It's probably a faulty chip" :: definitely not, I can read it with an NFC reader on my phone.
"You must have changed how you look" :: nope, the eGate camera doesn't even move to my face, I'm 6ft 3 and it's usually pointing at my chest.
"You're not holding it on there properly" :: oh, then I must be only good at it in literally every other country I've tried it.
Considering getting a second passport again, as now the "seek assistance" queues are getting longer.
May 25, 2019, 8:58 pm
#35
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,220