US check-in agents bend the passport--how to deal with it?
Aug 12, 2019, 6:11 am
#17
Join Date: May 2009
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold, IHG Platinum, HH Diamond, Hertz PC,
Posts: 1,985
Aug 12, 2019, 7:03 am
#18
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 494
I never print my own boarding passes, so the baggage tag is usually stuck on the back of the last boarding pass of the set, leaving my passport clear. If I'm checking a bag, why waste my own ink and paper on something the airline will provide.
Aug 12, 2019, 7:17 am
#19
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jan 2009
Programs: Battleaxe Alliance
Posts: 22,127
For those of you complaining about the baggage tag on the back of passports, I hear you! I hate that too.
The sooner you peel them off, the less sticky residue is left there, so peel them off quickly and stick them on the back (or front...) of something else.
The sooner you peel them off, the less sticky residue is left there, so peel them off quickly and stick them on the back (or front...) of something else.
Aug 12, 2019, 7:28 am
#20
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: JER
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Aug 12, 2019, 7:29 am
#21
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Around somewhere
Programs: Gold, Some red card and some hotel cards.
Posts: 705
We all have our triggers! In actual fact I have become much less precious about mine since my water bladder disgorged its contents all over the inside of my skiing backpack thereby resulting in a soggy passport... it has survived another four years since then so perhaps that should reassure the OP about the robustness of British passports at least.
Because its pain when they have to be told again and again to take it out of the cover when checking in or when the passport is being checked at the gate or immigration.
Aug 12, 2019, 7:34 am
#22
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: The North
Posts: 1,844
However, the worst part about the newer passports is that the personal information was moved from the inside of the robust back page to the flimsy penultimate page. It's noticeably more fiddly and time-consuming to present this to security or immigration officials, and I suspect is easier to damage the new ones by scrabbling around for the right page.
Aug 12, 2019, 7:34 am
#23
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 1,475
With BA at Heathrow there should be no reason for a tag to be stuck to the back of your passport. If you drop a bag at a machine then it will spit out a till receipt style tag. If you drop a bag at Club check-in or First wing then the agents should be sticking the tags on to a way-finder leaflet where it says "attach bag tag here". If you aren't given a tag on this then you should insist on it if you don't want it stuck to the back of your passport.
Aug 12, 2019, 8:30 am
#24
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Flatland
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold 1MM, BA Gold, UA Peon
Posts: 6,105
I have never had a "way-finder leaflet" at the Heathrow F or Club check-in, and I almost always check a bag. Clearly only the better class of passenger gets those, not scruffs like me 
I usually don't print my own boarding pass either (I like the punched-card-sized ones), and the staff usually stick the baggage tag to the boarding pass. That is where I want it so that is fine with me.
I usually don't print my own boarding pass either (I like the punched-card-sized ones), and the staff usually stick the baggage tag to the boarding pass. That is where I want it so that is fine with me.
Aug 12, 2019, 9:05 am
#27
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 410
Some transatlantic security people in Heathrow, including those from AA, like to stick a sticker on your passport to indicate they have asked you random and fairly pointless questions about your travel, work, and place of residence. They get quite upset if you remove the sticker and put it on anything else before you get to the boarding gate.... so I remove it shortly after boarding. The adhesive is far less tacky if removed quickly than if left for a long time, so the best way to deal with them is to clear your passport of them as soon as possible. Passport covers do not avail you.
Aug 12, 2019, 9:22 am
#28
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: UK
Programs: Mucci Chevalier de Actes Bénéfiques pour les Autres, BAEC Gold.
Posts: 1,477
I am no luddite, but I really think the UK ought to go back to passports covered with stiff blue card on the outer. Also with hand written details (I used to like inside where it said ’Occupation’ and I had ‘Government Service’ written next to it). Okay, if they must have biometrics on an inside page then so be it.
I still have my stiff blue passports from the 1970’s/80’s (with the corners now snipped) and they are still in much better shape than my ‘EU’ one issued only 3 years ago.
The blue ones went through both the Falklands War and first Gulf War unscathed – I dread to think how the newer ones would fare in those situations!
I still have my stiff blue passports from the 1970’s/80’s (with the corners now snipped) and they are still in much better shape than my ‘EU’ one issued only 3 years ago.
The blue ones went through both the Falklands War and first Gulf War unscathed – I dread to think how the newer ones would fare in those situations!
Aug 12, 2019, 9:40 am
#29
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: Lost Angeles
Programs: BA/American
Posts: 45
It's not small talk, it's one layer of security.
that a good ‘interrogator’ is counting on, especially when the bamboo
slivers under the finger nails reach pay dirt!
Aug 12, 2019, 9:47 am
#30
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 4
I have noticed a definite decline in quality on my new (3 year old) passport vs the previous one. The previous one survived a decade of travel without the gold "leaf" rubbing off at all. In a single trip only a few months after I got the newer one, it had begun to rub off. I don't think I treated it any differently, either - it's not as if I went hiking in the jungle!
However, the worst part about the newer passports is that the personal information was moved from the inside of the robust back page to the flimsy penultimate page. It's noticeably more fiddly and time-consuming to present this to security or immigration officials, and I suspect is easier to damage the new ones by scrabbling around for the right page.
However, the worst part about the newer passports is that the personal information was moved from the inside of the robust back page to the flimsy penultimate page. It's noticeably more fiddly and time-consuming to present this to security or immigration officials, and I suspect is easier to damage the new ones by scrabbling around for the right page.
