Quick United international check-in question
 

Hi FTers,

I'm flying BOS-LAX-HKG tomorrow. The domestic leg leaves early and I don't want to get to the airport too much earlier than necessary. United is still telling me I have to be there 2 hours before departure since its an "international flight". But everyone else gets to check in 45 minutes (or is it 30?) before departure.

I don't particularly mind the check in part because I can check in online. But they say my bags have to be on the plane 2 hours beforehand too. Does this make any sense? Will the system actually shut me out if I show up an hour before departure?

Thanks!

Don't worry about it, just recommendations. If you get your bags checked 45 minutes before departure you should be safe.

lucky is right, once you do online check-in, you can just drop your bags more than 45 minutes before departure. My experience is that attempting to have your bag tags printed 44 minutes or less before departure, neither you nor your bags are getting on that flight. :( So whatever you do, do not miss that cutoff.

For an international flight, I often have no checked bags and have done online checkin, so I just have to make sure I do not miss the plane, I don't have to stop anywhere before boarding.

Even when your first leg is domestic, you cannot print a boarding pass online. You cannot use the dedicated “united.com” ticket counter. You need to get in the regular line and have someone scan your passport. The 45 minute cut off time is the cut off time as previous two posters have mentioned. 45 minute cut off time meaning you need to be at the counter and CSR is ready to print your boarding pass and issue you a bag tag. If you get to the airport 60 minutes prior to departure and there is a long line. You cannot get to the ticket counter until 44 minutes prior to departure, then count your blessings.

I recently missed the 45 minute cutoff time by 3 minutes, despite checking in online the day before. I was not able to get on my original flight. I pleaded with the SD and still no luck. I had to be rerouted to the non-stop instead of my usual two extra legs and 1,000 more miles before heading over to Asia. Luckily I did not need those extra EQM to re-qualify for 1K or my 150,000 EQM for two extra SWUs. They also had seats in the upper deck, but only in row 18 on the non-stop flight.

for domestic flights, it is unlikely that your plane will even be there 2 hours before departure (for your bags to get on).

Tomorrow will likely be a heavy travel day out of Boston and sometimes even the 1K/first class line can be lengthy. Coupled with all of the cancellations over the last day or two, the time for checking in and surrendering luggage could be longer than usual. The only thing going in your favor is Boston has a reduced schedule on Saturdays but by the same token, there are fewer agents to help with checked baggage. You should leave some extra time

I have had multi-segment trips starting with a domestic segment connecting to International, and I have successfully used online check in before. Not sure why you think you can't? :confused: Easy CheckIn Online asks for your passport details, no need to have it scanned.

Yes, I input all that information also when asked. When you print out the document, it prints out only your flight information without any seat assignment. It is not the same as the ones you get for a pure domestic itinerary. It does not have seat assignment, bar code, etc. Someone at UA has to physically scan your passport. That has been my experience for international travel.

Actually it is hit and miss. Most of my flights also only print a check-in form that must be presented to an agent. I've also had that happen at a Mr. Chicken machine. But my last SNA-SFO-FRA flight printed all boarding passes during online check-in. Don't know what the criteria is for getting it to print.

Hmm, this hasn't been my experience.

On a recent SFO-NRT flight (early December, paid C upgraded to NF with SWU), I checked in via .bomb and printed a boarding pass complete with seat assignments. I just showed up at the airport with my carry-on, presented my passport to the TSA folks, and my boarding pass at the gate. Strolled right on board with no problems.

Perhaps the "docs required" online boarding passes print out for destinations where UA has to make sure you have a valid visa (US citizens going to Vietnam, for example) for the itinerary?

I have always had a full BP print out. Maybe someone at UA does not like you :eek:

Thanks guy! My boarding passes printed without hassle (with seat assignments and such), so I'm pretty sure I'm checked in. They also clearly say on them that the bags must be checked 45 minutes before departure, so I think I'm all set if I get there an hour before.

That explanation makes a lot of sense. In my experience, I have always got all boarding passes on an online check-in including an international leg (once even with an unexpected op-up!), but in all those cases, I did not need a visa for the destination country.

Yes, docs required is generally for a country that requires a visa for entry. You can't use OLCI if you have a one-way international ticket or your ticket terminates in a country that you don't have citizenship for (you don't even get the docs required - you get an error message to print out [so you won't get hassled about not using mr. chicken]).

Nope. The country I visited did not require a visa if staying less than 30 days with a U.S. Passport.