Quick assistance with Tirana check in
 

Hi, BA app says online check-in not available for TIA to LGW, and when I go to manage my booking in the "at the airport" section it says

Online check in not available
Self service check in not available
Airport desk check in not available

Is this just a temporary glitch, or does my ticket have a problem? Standard ticket, poug taken.

Thanks
Snuffi

When I flew from Tirana recently it was certainly only possible to check in at the airport - no on-line options available, so make sure you have selected your seat before T-24. Quite why it is saying that desk check-in is unavailable is clearly a glitch, obviously you have to be able to check in at the airport...

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...ficulties.html might help.

Was there in the last few weeks. Think it's a location specific thing.

It's a Tirana thing.

Also be aware that the handling agents don't bother with priority boarding as the local manager thinks it's better for priority passengers if they board last because it's a bus gate so they might as well wait in the lounge and be the last to board to avoid the scrum. I understand his logic, but I would prefer to have the advertised and promised method of priority boarding rather than having him choose it for me. (He was very nice and courteous, just wrong :p )

I'll be flying from there in January. Is the lounge any good?

Last on the bus is first on the plane, isn't it?

Yes, if there’s only one bus.

If memory doesn't deceive me, Tirana is one of those so-called 'remote airports' (others that spring to mind, unless they changed, are the Croatian airports), where they use their own DCS system and then send all data to BA's.

I was there in September , good lounge airside , everything else a bit " Albanian" place gets bussy in evenings as there are numerous flights on unknowen airlines flying mostly to Italy . One advantage the airport has is there are three or four moderate and cheap hotels all within a few hundred yards of the terminal

There is a reasonably comfortable lounge airside. I wouldn't plan to spend too much time there though, Cathay first class lounge quality it was not! Enjoy Tirana, I thought it was a fascinating place.

Just to say that all was fine at the airport, regular check in counter experience.

What was not fine was the complete absence of gin and tonic in the TIA business lounge. A massive omission. I'd walked 10 miles today and really deserved one!

Can confirm only desk checkin is available at Mother Theresa International. The lounge is fine, although lacks newspapers, gin and any decent food. BA normally boards from Gate 6, which you is directly opposite the lounge - I tend to look out of the lounge window and go down once the last few passengers are boarding. As noted above CE passengers are called to board first, but there is no priority line after that.

Sadly still no OLCI here. Only 3 check-in agents - not really enough given the nearly full flight. Had to wait 15 minutes even in the CE/status holders queue.
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Fast track at security merged with one of the regular lanes and people were pushing in front. Seems they have been taking lessons from MAN :D

The check-in agent had stamped my boarding pass allowing me to claim a €12.50 credit at Bar Segafredo, the designated alternative to the still-closed lounge. Online the airport website claimed the refurbishment works would be complete by now, but evidently not. It's a shame as it looks a decent enough place.

The fare at Bar Segafredo was poor quality and overpriced IMHO (€12.50 wouldn't even fully cover a limp pizza, coffee and orange juice!). Also very noisy as it had nothing separating it from the terminal.

The terminal itself was nice and airy but as usual, insufficient seating at the gate. No attempt made to board by groups - just one huge scrum and then held in the rain outside whilst fuelling was completed (a Finnair policy I'd expect the gate agents to be familiar with by now, as most BA TIA flights are currently AY wet leases).
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Overall a very poor experience.