silent129

If one is taking a domestic flight first in order to connect to an international leg, does the 1 hour cutoff apply for the check in at the first airport? Or does the domestic cut off apply (e.g., 30 minutes in Boston)? Helps to know, especially a 5:45 AM takeoff... Thanks

EmailKid

I've successfully checked in about 45 minutes prior to 1st leg of Int'l itin, but that was at DAL, which only handles RJs to IAH.

But I DO NOT KNOW the official polilcy, and also not sure how closely they follow it at DAL, since (as I understand it) the whole operation is outsourced to AA (you can see the AA badges under the UA badges).

EmailKid

hiyo

I have been hit again by this ridiculous issue.

Last time, the check in agent at the airport assured me that my information was now correctly entered in the system and it would not occur again.

Nothing can go wrong...go wrong...go wrong...go wrong...go wrong...

hydrogen

What's the point of OLCI for int'l flights if you can't print a BP? Might as well do it at the airport, right? I'm going to have to go to a kiosk/agent anyways.

EmailKid

Um, the email invites you to check in, but if you get the "This is not a Boarding Pass" message, you are NOT CHECKED IN

EmailKid, about to find out how my luck holds on Wednesday for my flight Thursday morning

GregMM

That's all very strange. I was able to check in online in both February YYZ-IAD-BOS (after a weather waiver change) and this month (BOS-IAD-FRA). My passport had never before been scanned by United, but had been scanned by AC for the outbound BOS-YYZ (also a weather waiver change), and twice by LH on LH tickets (BOS-FRA). My passport information (and GE TT# for this month) were already in my profile when the tickets were booked. Maybe that helps.

Rebelyell

This just happened to my daughter and me on a EWR-GVA-DUS flight. We checked in at EWR with the kiosk and we were given a boarding pass for the first leg and one of these "This is Not A Boarding Pass" thingys. I didn't study it too much and thought it meant that I would have to exchange the second pass for a seat assignment at the gate in Geneva.

WRONG! This was a United flight connecting to a Lufthansa flight. Some United agents saw the faux boarding document when we checked our bad and didn't say anything. We made it to Geneva just fine, but they wouldn't let us through security to get to our gate. We had to exit the secured area, find a window agent willing to print us a ticket, then go back through security. Needless to say we missed our flight and had to sit around for four hours.

The fine print told us to see a ticket agent for our boarding pass, but it would be nice if it had said "SEE TICKET AGENT IMMEDIATELY." Not a good way to treat customers.

tdelib

My home airport is YYZ and I am a Canadian that flies to the US often. I am also a Nexus holder enrolled in United / TSA-Pre. I am a multi-year CO / UA Gold customer with several successful 'international' (Canada / US) trips earlier this year - meaning OLCI worked.

Recently, I have been very frustrated with OLCI - my last 3 flights have all yielded "This is not a boarding pass". I booked recently YYZ-LAS through the UA web-site with my passport on my profile, yet OLCI asks for my passport information to be re-entered on booking with the message:

"Attention
You will not be able to obtain a boarding pass online until you check-in at an airport kiosk and have your documents verified."

In retracing my steps to when these failures began, it appears to have started after enrolling in TSA-Pre. I looked into my name on my UA profile and it is <FirstName> <MiddleInit> <LastName>. Nexus is <Firstname> <MiddleName> <LastName>. Unfortunately for me, my passport (which is registered with my Nexus card) is <FirstName> <LastName>.

So, now I am left wondering which my profile needs to 'change' to for my OLCI to begin working again? Or if that is the answer at all or I am just in a sucker's bucket?

aacharya

Change the UA one. Surprised UA didn't force you to do it to align with a travel document (in my case, my Driver's License) - many of us had to a few months back. Could be because you're Canadian.

AbbyWalsh

Just tried to do online check-in for an international flight on United (EWR-NRT). It's 23.5 hours in advance. We're not frequent travelers, but have always been able to check in at home 24 hours in advance and print a boarding pass. This time we got a message that the passport needs to be verified at the airport before they will issue a boarding pass. (This is not the first international trip with this passport).

So, the questions are:

1) Is it necessary to get to the airport super-duper early to check in? I always thought that once you had a boarding pass in hand, as long as you are at the gate on time, you are guaranteed your seat (in case the flight is overbooked). Looking at the seat map, there aren't a whole lot of empty seats left, so I'm a little concerned. It's a pain in the neck, but would there be any benefit to going to the airport this afternoon to obtain the boarding pass? (And if so, can you get the boarding pass now and check luggage later?)

2) Is this a one-time thing or will this happen on each leg of the trip?

3) Of less importance, but still would like to know what is prompting this. Info anyone?

Thank you.

Doc Savage

They probably just want to verify your passport at the airport. It is not uncommon, especially if you have not flown the carrier international before.

Do you have seat assignments? If so, you are reasonably likely to keep them. If you don't, try to get assignments online, and if you can't make assignments, you may want to get to the airport a little extra early (3hours) to make sure you don't get the worst seats on the plane.

If is is not a huge problem to go to the airport today, you could do that just to save stress tomorrow.

AbbyWalsh

Yes, seat assignment is in place, so that's not a worry.

If we go today to get the boarding pass, can we check bags tomorrow or must they be checked today? It would be much easier on us to just go earlier tomorrow. Just don't want to have some snag.

travelmad478

Absolutely no need for this. If you have a seat assignment you are fine. It is a frequent occurrence that boarding passes will not be issued until your passport is verified, to ensure that you have the proper documents to enter the country you're going to.

It may happen on the return as well, but it won't be an issue then either.

emma69

Just an FYI - you are never guarenteed your seat - the airline reserves the right to move you (e.g. if you are in a disabled-accessible seat that they need to use for someone who needs it, change of aircraft, seat families with young children together etc.) You can also be involuntarily denied boarding if they oversell the flight, each airline have different criteria (e.g. they won't bump frequent fliers, those with onward connections, or other such rationale). But those things are rare, normally if you have a seat assignment, those are the seats you will get on check in at the airport.

Doc Savage

If you have seat assignments, you should be fine. Just show up tomorrow with a normal amount of time for an international flight. (I wasn't sure if you had seat assignments.) I am always more stress free if I spend an hour sitting in the lounge having a nice drink rather than wondering if I am going to make it through security in time.