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Old May 10, 2019, 10:25 pm
  #1  
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What’s the point of online checkin...

...when the gate agents then pull you out of the queue to reprint “proper” boarding passes before they let you on?

Also the aggressively demanding any connecting BPs as well.

This was at HKG the other day.
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Old May 11, 2019, 12:01 am
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I don't know why but for all Middle Eastern carriers the situation is the same. One of the main reasons that they still want paper boarding passes are that the ground staff count passengers by counting boarding passes ( the torn part ). Indeed their systems are eligible for mobile boarding passes and printed boarding passes via OLCI, however, they don't want to deal with them.

The situation is the same for most Indian and most East-Asian carriers.
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Old May 11, 2019, 1:22 am
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Originally Posted by ISTFlyer
I don't know why but for all Middle Eastern carriers the situation is the same. One of the main reasons that they still want paper boarding passes are that the ground staff count passengers by counting boarding passes ( the torn part ). Indeed their systems are eligible for mobile boarding passes and printed boarding passes via OLCI, however, they don't want to deal with them.

The situation is the same for most Indian and most East-Asian carriers.
Interesting thanks.
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Old May 11, 2019, 1:30 am
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Originally Posted by crowe

Also the aggressively demanding any connecting BPs as well.


Could be to check the status/validity of an onward connection to avoid having to return you to your origin.
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Old May 11, 2019, 2:10 am
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Originally Posted by IAN-UK
Could be to check the status/validity of an onward connection to avoid having to return you to your origin.
We did have those but again, they had all the API data so should have been valid I would have thought. They were also doing it for anyone with an online BP, so not just those connecting (then again most people probably are).
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Old May 11, 2019, 5:16 am
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They almost always give us new BP's when arriving at the airport for international travel to the USA from Europe. Plus you'll still want to check in online even if they give you new BP's because otherwise your seat isn't somewhat guaranteed.

At least that's how it was at Delta. They had to re-book us on another flight once at the airport (after missing a connection due to delays) and they moved some other people off of their reserved seats so that we could sit together as a family, even breaking up a group that was sitting together. I asked how she could do this and she said it was because those people hadn't checked in yet.
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Old May 11, 2019, 5:30 am
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Originally Posted by crowe
...when the gate agents then pull you out of the queue to reprint “proper” boarding passes before they let you on?
For me the point is being able to go through security without having to queue at check-in.
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Old May 11, 2019, 6:12 am
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OLCI saved me from being bumped off a full flight (twice!!)

The agent at the airport initially said I don’t have a seat and said I’ll be transferred into another flight. Should them my OLCI confirmation with the seats, they made a few calls, station manager came and apologised profusely that I was considered to be bumped off (really unnecessary apology really), and they magically printed out the BPs
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Old May 11, 2019, 1:28 pm
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Originally Posted by ISTFlyer
I don't know why but for all Middle Eastern carriers the situation is the same. One of the main reasons that they still want paper boarding passes are that the ground staff count passengers by counting boarding passes ( the torn part ). Indeed their systems are eligible for mobile boarding passes and printed boarding passes via OLCI, however, they don't want to deal with them.

The situation is the same for most Indian and most East-Asian carriers.
That's not true. I often fly using a mobile BP on EK and don't need to reprint anything. However something to keep in mind is that with a mobile BP they must still do a document check and often your first interaction is at the gate. Some stations the lounge staff can't perform the doc check
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Old May 11, 2019, 3:35 pm
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I sometimes ask for a manual BP, incase my phone battery dies or a glitch happens. A manual BP is handy as a back up, and I may get my onward connection flight BP as well.
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Old May 11, 2019, 7:11 pm
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Originally Posted by ISTFlyer
I don't know why but for all Middle Eastern carriers the situation is the same. One of the main reasons that they still want paper boarding passes are that the ground staff count passengers by counting boarding passes ( the torn part ).
Emirates often don't even detach the detachable bit in DXB so it's not that for them.
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Old May 11, 2019, 7:36 pm
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Originally Posted by Giantlonglegs
I sometimes ask for a manual BP, incase my phone battery dies or a glitch happens. A manual BP is handy as a back up, and I may get my onward connection flight BP as well.
Originally Posted by Giantlonglegs
I sometimes ask for a manual BP, incase my phone battery dies or a glitch happens. A manual BP is handy as a back up, and I may get my onward connection flight BP as well.
Well played
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Old May 11, 2019, 11:32 pm
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Originally Posted by Giantlonglegs
I sometimes ask for a manual BP, incase my phone battery dies or a glitch happens. A manual BP is handy as a back up, and I may get my onward connection flight BP as well.
i always have a paper one certainly not relying on mobile!
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Old May 12, 2019, 4:46 am
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Originally Posted by skywardhunter
That's not true. I often fly using a mobile BP on EK and don't need to reprint anything. However something to keep in mind is that with a mobile BP they must still do a document check and often your first interaction is at the gate. Some stations the lounge staff can't perform the doc check
Originally Posted by ft101
Emirates often don't even detach the detachable bit in DXB so it's not that for them.
Forgotten Emirates, which I last flew back in 2014.

Originally Posted by crowe
i always have a paper one certainly not relying on mobile!
If your battery dies, ask the gate agent to print you a physical boarding pass. This is the solution that I use when I use a mobile boarding pass.
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Old May 12, 2019, 5:40 pm
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IMO, the idea of checking in some arbitrary time before the flight (24 / 30 / 48 hours) is sort of pointless. In the days of paper tickets, there were confirmations (which were abolished) and a check-in process. I don't understand why checking in persists.

If you are booked on a flight and selected a seat, you are assumed to be showing up. Checking in does confirm that you're taking that flight, but it's not until the check in closes that they know who isn't showing up, because any pax can still check in at the airport all the way to that point.

I've learned that nothing is ever guaranteed... seats get reassigned, flights change, people get bumped... it's all part of the game. Meh...
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