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Originally Posted by emma69
(Post 18444501)
Are you not able to check in online, select sears etc, then ask at the baggage drop off for your bags to be interlined? I've not had an issue having my bags tagged to my final destination at the bag drop desk, having done 2 sets of online check in, but it may have been because they were both * Alliance?
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Originally Posted by Aviatrix
(Post 18442075)
Can't you?
That's never been my experience. I've always been issued a boarding pass for my international flights, and have been able to go straight to the gate unless I was checking baggage. Document checks are done at the gate. Or were you specifically talking about international flights originating in the USA? Perhaps the United computers now have my passport information and will allow OLCI on future international flights. We will see. |
Originally Posted by 45128
(Post 18444096)
Balderdash - utterly, totally and completely.
I fly regularly with BA ex London airports to destinations in Europe, north America and Africa, and I have always checked in on line and printed the requisite boarding cards. If I am travelling to a non-European destination I show my passport at the BA visa check desk and then hey presto! I am on my way to security etc etc. |
Originally Posted by Often1
(Post 18442008)
In addition, if, as an example, one had a ticket IAD-NRT-PEK and were denied at NRT, the pax would be returned to IAD (origination), not sent on to PEK.
There are plenty of other scenarios where passengers can be removed to countries other than those of their flight origin and indeed in some cases, even countries other than their country of origin, destination, citizenship or residence. |
Originally Posted by emma69
(Post 18444474)
Check in agents are typically only familiar with their own country's passport / visa requirements for the destination (ie an agent in the US knows the rules for US passport holders etc) so you do get instances where they fly people without visas especially if the 'home' country doesn't require them. I've had the opposite, where I have been traveling on an 'other' passport and had to point out I had no need for the visa their 'home' passport holders needed.
Some countries have slightly complicated visa regimens/visa exemptions that are not based entirely on citizenship of the traveller alone. The wording of British immigration stamps, visas and certificates has been known to cause particular confusion – the wording is often complicated, owing partly to the complicated nature of British nationality and immigration legislation – and though the wording has been simplified in many cases, confusion can still arise, especially with airline staff whose English is not good (e.g. "leave to enter" is a particularly difficult one, since to a person with limited English, the word "leave" is likely to mean the opposite of "enter"...). It is to be hoped that such problems are becoming less common, though it is always worth the passenger knowing what the requirements actually are. |
Originally Posted by DCBob
(Post 18452123)
The moderator MOVED this thread from the United Forum to TravelBuzz! Hence, there is some confusion here. I was responding to UNITED flights from the USA to international destinations. So my post had nothing to do with BA flights ex London.
Stories of check-in agents making errors or not being congisant of entry requirements are legion. Often they are ignorant or make assumptions by extrapolating from one set of circumstances that they know and assuming that similar circumstances apply in all cases. (For example, it is – or was – not uncommon for passengers with an EU passport to be denied boarding, or to have to go well up the "food chain" of the airline staff to achieve boarding – if their trip apparently ended in another EU country not their own. Citizens of EU countries are permitted entry to other EU countries with no need for an onward or return ticket, so there is no problem if, for example, the trip of a British citizen passport holder ends in France.) Some countries have slightly complicated visa regimens/visa exemptions that are not based entirely on citizenship of the traveller alone. The wording of British immigration stamps, visas and certificates has been known to cause particular confusion – the wording is often complicated, owing partly to the complicated nature of British nationality and immigration legislation – and though the wording has been simplified in many cases, confusion can still arise, especially with airline staff whose English is not good (e.g. "leave to enter" is a particularly difficult one, since to a person with limited English, the word "leave" is likely to mean the opposite of "enter"...). It is to be hoped that such problems are becoming less common, though it is always worth the passenger knowing what the requirements actually are. While I was a student in the early 70s I worked part time as a check-in agent. Before I was even permitted to look at a single passenger I underwent two solid weeks of training including a basic knowledge of passports and visas. In those far-off says, the TIM [Travel Information Manual]was next to the Holy Bible in importance. Is it not reasonable to expect (or even to suspect) that similar information is readily available on check-in agents' desk terminals? |
Originally Posted by 45128
(Post 18457750)
Don't airlines offer their check-in staff the most elementary of training any more?
While I was a student in the early 70s I worked part time as a check-in agent. Before I was even permitted to look at a single passenger I underwent two solid weeks of training including a basic knowledge of passports and visas. In those far-off says, the TIM [Travel Information Manual]was next to the Holy Bible in importance. Is it not reasonable to expect (or even to suspect) that similar information is readily available on check-in agents' desk terminals? |
Originally Posted by 45128
(Post 18457750)
Neither UA nor the USA are the navel of the planet. There is an entire world out there many Americans never consider.
;):D
Originally Posted by 45128
(Post 18457750)
In those far-off says, the TIM [Travel Information Manual]was next to the Holy Bible in importance. Is it not reasonable to expect (or even to suspect) that similar information is readily available on check-in agents' desk terminals?
- Some TAs are subcontracted and training on this particular issue doesn't seem to be a priority. (I've encountered all sorts of stupid questions/remarks regarding visas.) - Some TAs know little to no geography. I think the worst is in the US, where they some may have heard of Canada or France, but ask them to name a country beyond that and they are clueless. Airlines want cheap resources... and they get what they pay for. |
I can totally see the check-in being pointless nowadays in most scenarios. When flying domestic, or within Schengen or whatnot, since there is really no border crossing, you can select your seat in advance and if you have no bags... what is the point, really?
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How does that all work when you fly through an intermediate country that you can get in to, but you're flying one way so there's no return trip that you paid for that they'll use as your flight back. Let's say I fly JFK-FRA-BOM on Lufthansa with a US passport on a one way ticket. India won't let me in because I don't have valid documentation and the checkin agent at JFK didn't bother to verify it. But as a US citizen, I can get into Germany with no problem. Is it LH's responsibility to get be back to JFK or can they only send me back to FRA and tell me I'm on my own?
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