Why did my FRA-ORD boarding pass need to be reissued on UA ticket stock?
Mar 18, 2003, 12:12 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: ---
Posts: 1,667
Why did my FRA-ORD boarding pass need to be reissued on UA ticket stock?
Flew UA 941 FRA-ORD on Monday. I was flying it as an Lufthansa codeshare on part of an itinerary I bought through LH. At checkin earlier that day in MAD I received my boarding pass for this flight on standard grey-and-white LH ticket stock, with the flight number shown as UA 941 and not the LH codeshare version (LH 9150).
When I got to the FRA RCC, after being asked the security questions at the door, I was told my boarding pass would have to be reissued on gold UA stock. It seemed everyone who had non-UA-stock had to get this done, because every few minutes an agent would walk around the RCC calling out names and handing BPs to people.
Why is this done? There was nothing unusual I saw about the original LH boarding pass and my original seat assignment did not change. And what would have happened if I had never gone to the RCC and just waited at the gate with all the teeming masses? Is some sort of announcement made that BPs have to be reissued?
BTW, this flight was PACKED, with C full and maybe 5 open seats in all of Y.
When I got to the FRA RCC, after being asked the security questions at the door, I was told my boarding pass would have to be reissued on gold UA stock. It seemed everyone who had non-UA-stock had to get this done, because every few minutes an agent would walk around the RCC calling out names and handing BPs to people.
Why is this done? There was nothing unusual I saw about the original LH boarding pass and my original seat assignment did not change. And what would have happened if I had never gone to the RCC and just waited at the gate with all the teeming masses? Is some sort of announcement made that BPs have to be reissued?
BTW, this flight was PACKED, with C full and maybe 5 open seats in all of Y.
Mar 18, 2003, 1:02 am
#2
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Reno NV/San Francisco, CA, USA
Posts: 1,168
Hello there!
Just making a guess here from my own experience as a UA gate agent at SFOCS a couple years back.
At the time, whenever we got a passenger with a Star Alliance Partner BP, we would almost always reissue it with our own UA BP stock.
The reason for this was that it makes it easier for us to board the flight since we just run the UA BP through the gate reader machine.
(Besides, we always thought that UA's BP looks better anyways!
)
This might be or might not be the reason in your situation, but this is the reason we did it at the SF station.
Hope this helps!
P.S. Forgot to add, if we had someone that just showed up at the gate with their LH BP, it would've been fine, the only difference is that we would've had to key in your seat manually to show that you boarded.
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SFnFlaGuy
[This message has been edited by SFnFlaGuy (edited 03-18-2003).]
Just making a guess here from my own experience as a UA gate agent at SFOCS a couple years back.
At the time, whenever we got a passenger with a Star Alliance Partner BP, we would almost always reissue it with our own UA BP stock.
The reason for this was that it makes it easier for us to board the flight since we just run the UA BP through the gate reader machine.
(Besides, we always thought that UA's BP looks better anyways!
)This might be or might not be the reason in your situation, but this is the reason we did it at the SF station.
Hope this helps!
P.S. Forgot to add, if we had someone that just showed up at the gate with their LH BP, it would've been fine, the only difference is that we would've had to key in your seat manually to show that you boarded.
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SFnFlaGuy
[This message has been edited by SFnFlaGuy (edited 03-18-2003).]
Mar 18, 2003, 1:35 am
#3
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA - UA/1K
Posts: 459
Last month when my flight from AMS to IAD had to be rerouted due to weather, the United ticket counter issued me a new ticket (via ORD) and two boarding passes (one for AMS-ORD and one for ORD-SFO). I got on the plane at AMS with no problem. But when I tried to get through security at the UA domestic terminal (after getting through customs), the security guy told me that my boarding pass was not a boarding pass (even though it said "Boarding Pass") and had me go to a very long line to get the BP reissued. He insisted "I know what I'm talking about." Later someone told me the reason was that UA/AMS had issued the boarding pass on ticket stock, so the security guy got confused. So I guess maybe it's a security thing--maybe it's harder to counterfeit a UA boarding pass or maybe it's just easier/faster for security to verify just UA boarding passes.
Mar 18, 2003, 1:37 am
#4
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA/BD Gold/IC A/*Wood Gold - Certified BodyCombat and BodyPump Instructor
Posts: 6,070
I think all airlines prefer thier own stock to others. I flew BD to CDG and then on to Pau on AF. Even though BD were able to issue a boarding pass for AF, AF reissued it at the gate on their stock.
Mar 18, 2003, 4:53 am
#5
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: LH SEN, SPG Gold(SCI Gold), Hyatt Diamond, Hilton Gold
Posts: 5,451
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by LHR Tim:
I think all airlines prefer thier own stock to others. I flew BD to CDG and then on to Pau on AF. Even though BD were able to issue a boarding pass for AF, AF reissued it at the gate on their stock.</font>
I think all airlines prefer thier own stock to others. I flew BD to CDG and then on to Pau on AF. Even though BD were able to issue a boarding pass for AF, AF reissued it at the gate on their stock.</font>
Mar 18, 2003, 7:29 am
#6
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: IND- Views expressed by me in this forum are solely my opinion and do not reflect the opinion or policies of UA.
Posts: 697
It's simply a BP compatability issue with the UA gate reader.
We have similar issues at IND with US Airways BP's. The TSA won't allow psgrs with US bp's thru to the UA gates- a situation hopefully fixed by now.
On full flights, it's a real time saver for the GA's to be able to use the gate reader for all customers and avoid the extra steps of boarding manually, in addition to avoiding seat dupe errors.
We have similar issues at IND with US Airways BP's. The TSA won't allow psgrs with US bp's thru to the UA gates- a situation hopefully fixed by now.
On full flights, it's a real time saver for the GA's to be able to use the gate reader for all customers and avoid the extra steps of boarding manually, in addition to avoiding seat dupe errors.
Mar 18, 2003, 7:31 am
#7
Join Date: Jan 1999
Location: Too many
Programs: Lots
Posts: 5,761
I had my UA-issued boarding pass replaced at FRA for a LH flight. Interestingly, the flight didn't show up as the UA codeshare flight number, but the normal LH flight number on my statement.
Mar 18, 2003, 7:34 am
#8
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: ORD
Programs: AA EXP, HH Diamond
Posts: 376
When flying from STR to FRA on LH to connect to UA, the LH agent said she could issue a boarding pass for the UA flight but it would be a waste of time as UA would want to issue their own. She said "they are funny that way." She left it up to me to decide.
Mar 18, 2003, 8:01 am
#9
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 35
Be careful with a UA codeshare flight posting as an LH flight number - if you're talking about a non-transaltantic flight that probably means you lost your elite bonus (if any). A quick call to Mileage Plus should be able to fix that.
I'd also add that there is value in getting the non-UA boarding pass at your departure point - security, passport control, lounges and so on all accept it as a boarding pass and that can be helpful if you don't want to get the UA boarding pass right away.
I'd also add that there is value in getting the non-UA boarding pass at your departure point - security, passport control, lounges and so on all accept it as a boarding pass and that can be helpful if you don't want to get the UA boarding pass right away.
Mar 18, 2003, 10:43 am
#10
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Novato, CA
Programs: SAS EuroBonus, LH M&M, Finnair Plus, SPG Preferred Plus
Posts: 785
I will usually only collect and reissue boarding passes issued by AC or NZ (if they come up to the podium) prior to boarding, because these boarding passes do not have the magnetic stripe on the back.
However, UA's gate reader does accept LH, BD, EW (Eurowings), SQ, SK, and even BA boarding passes issued for our flights. It's just looking for a mag stripe with a seat number and a name
Kai
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My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of my employer, SkyWest Airlines, or those of our major partners, United Airlines & Delta Air Lines, respectively.
However, UA's gate reader does accept LH, BD, EW (Eurowings), SQ, SK, and even BA boarding passes issued for our flights. It's just looking for a mag stripe with a seat number and a name
Kai
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My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of my employer, SkyWest Airlines, or those of our major partners, United Airlines & Delta Air Lines, respectively.
Mar 24, 2003, 7:44 pm
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: ---
Posts: 1,667
Following up on this one...
The miles for the flight posted as a UA flight with the 1P double bonus. (Of course LH transatlantic flights on LH metal also get this bonus.)
More importantly, because it was now considered a UA flight on UA metal (remember, for my original itin the same flight had an LH flight number), I crossed the 10,000-mile hurdle for receiving 500-mile upgrades. Just this last weekend I got 4 500-milers added, which would not have otherwise been there were it not for this flight. Had I been a 1K at the time, I doubtlessly would have gotten HK-49s as well.
So perhaps UA is just doing us UA FFs a favor by reissuing the boarding passes.
The miles for the flight posted as a UA flight with the 1P double bonus. (Of course LH transatlantic flights on LH metal also get this bonus.)
More importantly, because it was now considered a UA flight on UA metal (remember, for my original itin the same flight had an LH flight number), I crossed the 10,000-mile hurdle for receiving 500-mile upgrades. Just this last weekend I got 4 500-milers added, which would not have otherwise been there were it not for this flight. Had I been a 1K at the time, I doubtlessly would have gotten HK-49s as well.
So perhaps UA is just doing us UA FFs a favor by reissuing the boarding passes.
Mar 24, 2003, 9:50 pm
#12
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Corvallis, OR, USA
Programs: UA GS; Hilton LT Diamond, Marriott, Hyatt; Hertz
Posts: 321
One reason might be upgrades. In my experience, when I check in with LH or SAS on a flight to FRA and continue from FRA to the US, the LH or SAS agents do not collect upgrades. But they doissue Boarding Passes in the upgraded class of service for the United portions of the flight. United asks for the upgrades at the point where they exchange the Boarding Pass for one on United stock in FRA.