Have a TA record locator and a BA booking ref. for a Vueling / Iberia two sector flight tomorrow with the return on Sunday.

ba.com offers online check in... goes away and thinks for a bit, but then says it can't do it because it's a partner airline

iberia.com offers online check in, finds the booking and then says it can't do it... reason not given

vueling.com says it's a travel agent booking so it can't do it.

This never usually happens to me on TA bookings (although flying Iberia codeshares is a first for me)

but what is the point of being a Oneworld Emerald able to select seats if the online systems clearly say the booking exists and is confirmed / OK but don't actually function?

That's fifteen minutes wasted and I give up!

Come on OW, you can do better than this...

This is interesting as i have a AA booking coming up soon which showsin my BA MMB screen.

MAN to DFW booked on AA thru.

Will i have to check in on ba gor my domestics and AA for my transatlantic?

Or will it be similar to above or not work at all :-(

When OLCI fails if there a charge to check in at the airport?

No, BA is a proper airline. Just check in at the airport, no biggie.

Vueling is not part of oneworld and British Airways doesn't have an interline agreement with them which is possibly why you're having trouble. I'm guessing it was issued on IB ticket stock for an IB flight number.

I'm flying DTW-ORD-LHR this afternoon...

MMB shows me the big "Check in now" button, but as soon as I hit it, I get "your first leg is on American Airlines, please use your AA record locator to check in for this leg, and subsequent legs on www.aa.com".

I obviously don't have an AA record locator (because it was all booked through BA, including the ORD-LHR leg on BA metal). This'll mean that I'll have to fight my way past the AA "desk dragons" who'll demand the record locator that I don't have. They'll only check me as far as ORD, which means I probably won't be able to get on the new "BA Express Bus" to the BA terminal.

I also don't get the chance to move my seat (now that OLCI is open). Obviously upgrading any of the legs through MMB was also completely out of the question.

None of this is a biggy, but it's all a bit tedious on what is essentially a BA flight, booked through BA.

This may be totally incorrect but IIRC if you use an app or website like CheckMyTrip, by inputting your main booking ref you also see the other airlines booking refs in the detailed breakdown
Alternatively in the itinerary/ receipt I have previously located all reference numbers for all the airlines I am flying on "one" ticket. I may not be able to check in all on one site but then have the individual refs to go to appropriate site
I am fairly certain I have successfully found mixed references before this way but the exact details I can't quite remember

They charge for seats if you don't have states just the same as the non proper airlines though!!

Everyone can select their seat free of charge by checking-in online, or at a check-in kiosk at the airport. Families are seated together 3 days before departure, people travelling with infants can select their seat at time of booking as can customers with additional needs.

If someone wishes to access the seat map and doesn't have status or fall in to one of the other categories that allow pre-seating, they can do so for a fee.

I've a few more delights for you to look forward to on your Vueling sectors:

• No dedicated/priority check-in
• No fast track security
• No adavance seat selection (even though you may have a seat allocated, at OLCI you may find that you're actually seated somewhere else)
• No lounge access (well not until you've had a protracted conversation with them)
• No checking baggage through to your final destination (maybe I caught them on a bad day? I gave up in the end - despite showing the check in agent a printout of my itinerary and my BAEC MMB page, they still tried to convince me that I was only flying to Barcelona and not continuing to Heathrow). "No possible..."!
• No priority boarding
• No TPs or Avios (unless you enter your Iberia Plus number - and then still no TPs, obviously)
• No food or drink (unless you pay for it - but you knew that already)

"We're a low cost airline", "what did you expect?" Well, I booked Iberia, not a low cost airline and my tickets were not exactly 'low cost'...

On a positive note, greeted by name as I boarded and priority luggage worked well (appeared first on the carousel) at BCN.

Palmer