"This is not a Boarding Pass" - What is required for international online checkin?
Aug 14, 2013, 10:05 am
#226
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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.
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.
with SHARES (and it's ancillary systems) that requires your passport to be verified every 6 months* (regardless if your passport number stored in your profile)*as opposed to PMUA where as long as your passport was valid and stored in your profile, you were good to go
Aug 14, 2013, 10:10 am
#227
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Although it's always anxiety-inducing to not be able to OLCI at T-24, I've never yet had a problem at the airport with the document check.
For United, I previously was unable to OLCI to a country that required an entry visa. Presumably they wanted to actually look at the visa before I checked in. The system had all of my passport info but obviously no information about the specific visa.
For United, I previously was unable to OLCI to a country that required an entry visa. Presumably they wanted to actually look at the visa before I checked in. The system had all of my passport info but obviously no information about the specific visa.
Aug 14, 2013, 11:03 am
#229
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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. 
Aug 14, 2013, 11:18 am
#230
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For any further discussion, please follow this thread as it moves to join a thread already active in the United Airlines forum on the same subject. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz and United forums.
Oct 18, 2013, 7:34 am
#232
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Annoying, have this problem today in NRT for flight tomorrow. The two funny things are 1) I just flew outbound to NRT 5 days ago so they have my doc. 2). 1K desk can't tell me why I can't get a BP. You'd think if they needed docs the 1K desk could see that and say "they need to see your docs"
Oct 18, 2013, 9:10 am
#233
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 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.
Bolding mine: Has it been longer than 6 months since you traveled internationally on UA with this passport? If yes, there is an enhancement with SHARES (and it's ancillary systems) that requires your passport to be verified every 6 months* (regardless if your passport number stored in your profile)
*as opposed to PMUA where as long as your passport was valid and stored in your profile, you were good to go
Originally Posted by 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.
Bolding mine: Has it been longer than 6 months since you traveled internationally on UA with this passport? If yes, there is an enhancement with SHARES (and it's ancillary systems) that requires your passport to be verified every 6 months* (regardless if your passport number stored in your profile)
*as opposed to PMUA where as long as your passport was valid and stored in your profile, you were good to go
This time I have the return flights starting on Lufthansa, and when I looked at my reservation through them, it clearly shows passenger name as my first and middle initial. I just know this will cause problems. How can I be proactive about this? It doesn't help much that my first flight leaves out of Flint, which has it's only UA flights to Cleveland staffed by an American eagle employee
Oct 18, 2013, 7:45 pm
#234
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Booked my second international trip since last year. Last year I ran into a problem since when I put my middle name in Uniteds booking agent, it adds my middle initial to the end of my first name. Well that was an issue because it didn't match with my passport, obviously, as my first name doesn't have an extra letter at the end.
This time I have the return flights starting on Lufthansa, and when I looked at my reservation through them, it clearly shows passenger name as my first and middle initial. I just know this will cause problems. How can I be proactive about this? It doesn't help much that my first flight leaves out of Flint, which has it's only UA flights to Cleveland staffed by an American eagle employee
This time I have the return flights starting on Lufthansa, and when I looked at my reservation through them, it clearly shows passenger name as my first and middle initial. I just know this will cause problems. How can I be proactive about this? It doesn't help much that my first flight leaves out of Flint, which has it's only UA flights to Cleveland staffed by an American eagle employee
Is your middle initial added to your last name on your UA boarding pass? For me, my name always appears on my UA boarding pass as MrgoalieMI aven tho my name in my Mileage Plus profile is goalie, middle name, last name and afaik, this is normal and should not be a problem.
The other issue is how your name is actually stored in your Mileage Plus profile and does it match the passport you have stored in your MP profile? My passport uses my full middle name so my name in my MP profile is goalie, middle name, last name and fwiw (and no offense meant
) have you double checked that to make sure everything is entered correctly? I recently discovered that when I went to store goalie-mom as a saved traveler under my profile, I was unable to do so because her first and maiden name were combined into one first name but her stored passport uses first name, maiden name & last name and I kept getting a name & MP# mismatch (and believe it or not, I called MP to see if they could simply move her maiden name to the correct field vs sending in documentation and the agent did it in about 30 seconds)
Oct 18, 2013, 10:40 pm
#235
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Bolding mine: Has it been longer than 6 months since you traveled internationally on UA with this passport? If yes, there is an enhancement with SHARES (and it's ancillary systems) that requires your passport to be verified every 6 months* (regardless if your passport number stored in your profile)
*as opposed to PMUA where as long as your passport was valid and stored in your profile, you were good to go
with SHARES (and it's ancillary systems) that requires your passport to be verified every 6 months* (regardless if your passport number stored in your profile)*as opposed to PMUA where as long as your passport was valid and stored in your profile, you were good to go
Oct 19, 2013, 5:40 am
#236
Join Date: Apr 2010
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There's two issues in play here and if I may ask-
Is your middle initial added to your last name on your UA boarding pass? For me, my name always appears on my UA boarding pass as MrgoalieMI aven tho my name in my Mileage Plus profile is goalie, middle name, last name and afaik, this is normal and should not be a problem.
The other issue is how your name is actually stored in your Mileage Plus profile and does it match the passport you have stored in your MP profile? My passport uses my full middle name so my name in my MP profile is goalie, middle name, last name and fwiw (and no offense meant) have you double checked that to make sure everything is entered correctly? I recently discovered that when I went to store goalie-mom as a saved traveler under my profile, I was unable to do so because her first and maiden name were combined into one first name but her stored passport uses first name, maiden name & last name and I kept getting a name & MP# mismatch (and believe it or not, I called MP to see if they could simply move her maiden name to the correct field vs sending in documentation and the agent did it in about 30 seconds)
Is your middle initial added to your last name on your UA boarding pass? For me, my name always appears on my UA boarding pass as MrgoalieMI aven tho my name in my Mileage Plus profile is goalie, middle name, last name and afaik, this is normal and should not be a problem.
The other issue is how your name is actually stored in your Mileage Plus profile and does it match the passport you have stored in your MP profile? My passport uses my full middle name so my name in my MP profile is goalie, middle name, last name and fwiw (and no offense meant
) have you double checked that to make sure everything is entered correctly? I recently discovered that when I went to store goalie-mom as a saved traveler under my profile, I was unable to do so because her first and maiden name were combined into one first name but her stored passport uses first name, maiden name & last name and I kept getting a name & MP# mismatch (and believe it or not, I called MP to see if they could simply move her maiden name to the correct field vs sending in documentation and the agent did it in about 30 seconds)When it was first announced about names having to match travel documents (around 2007 ??) I had all my profiles changed to match my passport. I made sure my DL matched my passport. I joined GE with the same name.
I still get this craziness ... go figure.
Oct 20, 2013, 6:50 pm
#237
Join Date: Apr 2012
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There's two issues in play here and if I may ask-
Is your middle initial added to your last name on your UA boarding pass? For me, my name always appears on my UA boarding pass as MrgoalieMI aven tho my name in my Mileage Plus profile is goalie, middle name, last name and afaik, this is normal and should not be a problem.
The other issue is how your name is actually stored in your Mileage Plus profile and does it match the passport you have stored in your MP profile? My passport uses my full middle name so my name in my MP profile is goalie, middle name, last name and fwiw (and no offense meant) have you double checked that to make sure everything is entered correctly? I recently discovered that when I went to store goalie-mom as a saved traveler under my profile, I was unable to do so because her first and maiden name were combined into one first name but her stored passport uses first name, maiden name & last name and I kept getting a name & MP# mismatch (and believe it or not, I called MP to see if they could simply move her maiden name to the correct field vs sending in documentation and the agent did it in about 30 seconds)
Is your middle initial added to your last name on your UA boarding pass? For me, my name always appears on my UA boarding pass as MrgoalieMI aven tho my name in my Mileage Plus profile is goalie, middle name, last name and afaik, this is normal and should not be a problem.
The other issue is how your name is actually stored in your Mileage Plus profile and does it match the passport you have stored in your MP profile? My passport uses my full middle name so my name in my MP profile is goalie, middle name, last name and fwiw (and no offense meant
) have you double checked that to make sure everything is entered correctly? I recently discovered that when I went to store goalie-mom as a saved traveler under my profile, I was unable to do so because her first and maiden name were combined into one first name but her stored passport uses first name, maiden name & last name and I kept getting a name & MP# mismatch (and believe it or not, I called MP to see if they could simply move her maiden name to the correct field vs sending in documentation and the agent did it in about 30 seconds)The exact problem I had was that that is not the name on my passport, as my passport is First Middle Last, not First(Middle Initial) Last. The American Eagle employee had FNT had finally figured out that that was the problem, since it had to do with having the passport information in the system. Based on what I've read in this thread, about having to re-do it every 6 months, I just fear this is going to create problems again. I've flown domestically like this 10 or so times with 0 problems, not even anything close to a misunderstanding. It's just when it comes time to enter the passport information again, I fear it's going to have a problem since my first names aren't the same. But if the agent was able to do it last time, hopefully not a big deal this time.
Oct 20, 2013, 7:03 pm
#238
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Just printed out my BP for ORD-CDG, no problem.......even had my passport number, actually, as easy as domestic. Once you get all your information in system, should be fine.
BTW: here is UA tech support number . 800-589 5582
BTW: here is UA tech support number . 800-589 5582
Oct 21, 2013, 1:11 am
#239
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Just wanted to add a data point to this thread:
I've gotten this a couple times in the last year and everytime that it wasn't a document check, it was the dreaded SSSS. Yes, even in YYZ, you can get SSSS.
I've gotten this a couple times in the last year and everytime that it wasn't a document check, it was the dreaded SSSS. Yes, even in YYZ, you can get SSSS.
Oct 22, 2013, 4:10 pm
#240
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