Possibly overly paranoid but I've avoided having my FT account identifiable to an airline.

sorry, no. I turned up on the day of departure. Maybe it's clearer in timeline format.

Saturday: i get MH email saying to checkin online. I'm unable to do so even (it's a non connecting mh coded mh metal flight). Previous calls for the same issue had me told that tickets with other carriers on it need airport checkin.

Sunday: MH emailed to say the flight was rescheduled (i already knew that was coming as the plane was hours late for some days, I also knew the new time was false as it was an unrealistic ~30ish mins after the inbound was scheduled to land).

Monday: I got to the checkin desks as per the airport info boards 20 mins before checkin was due to close but nobody from MH was around.

Lots of literal running around and an hour ish later I have the gate on the phone before boarding has commenced. I hear the supervisor ask and be told that yes the checkin desk was open till 1hr before the (unrealistically early) departure time and he then declined to issue a boarding pass so I could try to catch the flight.

An hour after that the flight departed.

An hour after that I finally have an in person conversation with mh airport staff and eventually we work out the issue was MH had changed the checkin desks and asked for airport to update this but hadn't checked so didn't know it wasn't done.

mh then said it's an AA ticket so only AA can fix it. It was D2 for the next day and I said that might change. They did go from blaming me and saying they had no power to arrange a hotel to arranging a (pretty poor) one after it was clear the issue was not me arriving late but them not ensuring the info boards were updated when they changed desks.

alas the aa rtw desk was closed and aa reservations would not change the date. Then a little later D2 became J0 (for days).

Tbh, I can't see either mh or aa helping (beyond standard date changes from aa). I'm just really tired, plus frustrated (there's a lot of knock on impact if I can't continue the rtw tomorrow and I can't see how i will given rerouting isn't really an option)

I assume you have to check in at the airport. Just arrive earlier. Even without that you shoud be fine. I mean, I've never ever ever heard of the info boards giving the wrong checkin desk number.

No airline changes its checkin desks, airport management assigns these desk locations, and any changes are at minimum approved in advance by airport management. I agree with zoombee , I've never heard of or experienced airport info boards giving the wrong checkin desk location for an airline. I can't help but wonder whether there's more to the story. For example, how did all the other passengers find the correct checkin desk?

What I was told seemed credible and the person saying it seemed honest:

The flight was delayed so checkin needed to stay open longer than their recurring everyday desks were available (another airline had them booked for after, probably every day too). They did this by starting at the original desks then switching 3ish hours before the flight. They asked the airport to update the boards but they didn't check it had happened (until after an hour of me saying I turned up on time and being told i didn't... the guy thought to check. All tol late by then).

Almost everyone will have checked in online and many may well have arrived for the original time so ages before. For those dropping bags, i guess partly they had more time to search, partly they were more observant or just less flustered, and partly they didn't think to run downstairs with their luggage to try and find the airline office..if I hadn't had that idea then I likely would have found the desks in time. I did come back about 50 mins before the (fake re-)scheduled departure time but I believe they had left by then (the desks go unbranded)

Mostly freakish bad luck. I just feel a bit crappy being treated as a no show even after they _eventually_ accepted I had arrived in time and gone to the published checkin desks.

Fwiw I have a short video of the mh guy talking the checkin desk switching stuff through with a piece of paper showing the times they were at the first set of desks (where i went and the boards showed) and then the second set (not far but I missed it).

I figured i might need a bit of proof that I'm not making this all up. Maybe it opens up help or compensation from an airline or insurance but my inner sense (and the lack of voices to the contrary) points at me needing to sort this out as if I no-showed.

Fyi the help next day from a different supervisor was such a contrast vs the day before (when later it turned out that MH had used marking me as no show to hack my "we can't touch it" ticket by pulling all their segments out of it -- including ones months away -- as well as a seemingly random aa segment even later. Fortunately the aa rtw desk sorted that before I went back to the airport).

I found a supervisor in the office where she calmly listened, then focused on what might help rather than on it not being MH's fault. She was able to open up an inop seat whilst the rtw desk were on the phone so it could be grabbed and allowed me to get ticketed and checked in. She was clear to note I might not get a business seat (if it wasn't safe) or a fully working one. She then diligently followed up with engineering to (successfully) get an ideal outcome, and finally checked on me in person before the ground staff left the plane.

lessons that come to a tired mind;
* rememeber all risks are heightened if a flight is delayed
* the main airport info desk is likely to have substantially more experienced and knowledgeable staff vs a smaller one
* if you get a supervisor on your side, especially if there's less rush, they have a fair chance of pulling a rabbit out of a hat

Btw the flight was delayed again (knock on from a few days ago) and once again the checkin desks changed. Their usual desks for their usual time, then desks one block along (not visible from the normal block) for an extra (the final) 40 mins.

I don't know how relevant it is but I had a pretty rough time with MH check in in MNL a few months ago on a CX issued RTW. The problem there is they are contract agents and are clueless about MH policies or OW elite benefits. I had 3x check in bags, which is not abnormal for me. They weren't particularly heavy but were too big and full to consolidate.

First they tried to claim that they only have xx KG allowances from MNL and didn't know about piece concept. Then after pushing back, explaining it wasn't a weight based ticket, the MH contract agents can only see 2x allowed on the ticket (piece concept ticket since it transited the USA). They don't understand that OW Emerald get 1 more no matter what, have to prove it to them on the MH website. This takes nearly 2 hours of calls between various supervisors, multiple screenshots they sent via Whatsapp... the flight was thank God 3 hours delayed or I'd have never made it. Fortunately it got sorted, but was a real sh*t show in true MH fashion. I felt bad for the guy trying to check me in, he got it, but was helpless to do anything that his contracted system didn't allow him, and adding a 3rd bag wasn't one of them.

With other airlines I'd have said F*-it and paid a fee, applied for a refund later, but I don't trust MH any further than I can see them to do the right thing. I've had good experiences with them in general, including really good treatment and rescheduling during IRRPOS, but I know about the thousands of other horror stories of folks who haven't. I knew because of the crazy delay that day, I had ample time, so just rode it out until they figured it out.