fender5787

Hey all,

So I’m at JFK now waiting for BA116, and when I was checking in at the First wing, the agent was unable to issue my connecting IB boarding pass. I’m on a JFK-LHR-MAD itinerary where I’m taking BA116 and connecting to IB3163. They were able to check my luggage to Madrid but were unable to issue a BP. The rather unhelpful agent told me I had to go through UK customs and immigration and then check in with Iberia. Is there no Iberia transfer desk? Also, is this normal for BA to be unable to check me in on a codeshare flight? Fwiw it’s a single ticket booked via AA in J. Any help would be greatly appreciated as I def don’t wanna have to go over the UK border. Thanks!

scottishpoet

before going landside try at flight connections, see if they can print your boarding pass

fender5787

Is the flight connection desk before transit security/UK border control. Sorry for all the questions, but I never had to use the flight connections desks at LHR.

YacozA

Yes should be able to follow the signs to flight connections and try and find a ticketing desk.

If you have checked luggage though might need to clear border to retrieve it which would be a pain.

Tobias-UK

I’m pretty sure there is an IB customer service desk at Flight Connections in T5A - it’s where the BA desks are just before the get to the BP scan before transit security. There should be no need to go land side.

Tobias-UK

There is no need to retrieve luggage at LHR, the luggage will go straight through to MAD.

scottishpoet

The OP has said in the original post that the bags are checked through so they do not need to pick them up and recheck them. All they need is a boarding pass

scottishpoet

yes, the desk is in the flight connections area before you go up to security. With the windows behind you and the escalator to security in fron of you, the UK transit boarding pass scan and passport check is .on the left, the "eeverywhere else" boarding pass scan is in front of you, the transfer desk is on the right

fender5787

Thanks all for the advice! Fingers crossed it all works out when I get to LHR in 7 hours!

TTmex

Download Iberia app and get BP there?

fender5787

I did, and I have a IB mobile boarding pass in my apple wallet but both the BA check in agent and the lounge dragon said I actually wasn’t checked in and that BP isn’t valid. Genuinely a head scratching situation.

TTmex

Bizarre. Perhaps two systems not matching up. If you have a decent enough connection time I'm sure you'll be ok, especially as your baggage is checked through.

fender5787

I have 2hr 20 mins I believe so hopefully that’ll be enough!

TTmex

Plenty. Most people only arrive to airport that much before the flight. Have a great trip

1Aturnleft

Definitely a case of two systems not matching up. I had to rebook a BA cancelled booking onto IB the other day and was chatting to the BA agent while they were processing the reissue. The level of code that IB requires an agent to input to sufficiently prepare a flight booking (includes BA codeshares operated by IB) so that a passenger can check in successfully is far more in depth that a stand alone BA operated/ BA coded booking.

So I'm thinking AA didn't do all they could have done in the first place when the OP booked their ticket to ensure a smooth experience and the BA agent at JFK just gave up and passed the buck over to London to sort out when their inputs failed to generate a boarding pass... little wonder as BA did the dirty on tenured terminal staff at JFK couple of years ago who in my experience generally had in-depth ticketing knowledge and experience and replaced them with $20 per hour agents who aren't as well trained or as experienced to the same degree to understand what's going on in situations like this.