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I'm flying to Tokyo. The flight was sold through Finnair. The first leg is operated by American Airlines. The second and final legs are operated by Finnair.

When I checked in online, it said that some airports on my journey (didn't say which one) don't allow mobile boarding passes?? Meaning I will need a physical copy.

Unfortunately I don't have easy access to a printer. Will I still be able to print all my boarding passes at the airport even though I already checked in online?

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  • If you are kind and lucky, the staff at the information counter may let you log onto their email on their computer and print it out. This happened to me once... the charter tour required a paper ticket. I was so lucky it was quiet and the staff eventually helped me. Otherwise I would have missed the flight...otherwise the business class lounges, or a nearby hotel, might have a business area with a printer.
    – vikingsteve
    Jan 21, 2019 at 13:56
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    Yes. I have done it several times. Depending on the airport - you can use a self-service kiosk for this.
    – Grzegorz Oledzki
    Jan 21, 2019 at 14:46
  • @vikingsteve That's kinda terrifying from an IT security standpoint.
    – ceejayoz
    Jan 21, 2019 at 16:37
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    @Harper - It's more of an issue with an untrusted customer having access to a computer that's connected to the airline's internal network. If you click on a shady link in your email, the airline's system gets infected with malware and the whole reservation/ticketing system goes down.
    – bta
    Jan 21, 2019 at 18:18
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    @vikingsteve More likely is that the airline won't let you log on to your email or print something yourself, but they can print you a boarding pass from their own systems. Automated kiosks at the airport will usually print you one too, given sufficient identifiers (e.g. passport/identity document scan and reservation code). I've done this many times. Note that some low-fare airlines will charge for this service, but most major carriers, including American, don't.
    – WBT
    Jan 21, 2019 at 20:15

4 Answers 4

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At the airport you can approach the American Airlines check-in counter to ask for a printed boarding pass; they will be happy to oblige.

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    @RyanW or else? Lol. Anyway, you can read it in the terms that he's right. Moreover, everytime I got this, there was no actual issue with using the boarding pass from a phone, even if it's not a mobile pass, but just a pdf. Still, make sure you're early enough to also get a paper one from the airport, just în case your phone pass gets rejected.
    – Andrei
    Jan 21, 2019 at 12:00
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    @Andrei Some airlines ask for steep fees to print boarding passes. "Or else?" -- pay 70,- EUR to board the plane ;)
    – FooBar
    Jan 21, 2019 at 13:55
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    @FooBar You can buy your own printer for less than 70 EUR.
    – alephzero
    Jan 21, 2019 at 16:26
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    @alephzero Probably not at the airport, though.
    – ceejayoz
    Jan 21, 2019 at 16:38
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    I can confirm this is true for AA and the other major North American carriers that I've flown. You can get a printed boarding pass free at the same places where you check bags. I check in online but almost always get one printed out, typically due to pressing the wrong button on the self-serve kiosk...
    – bta
    Jan 21, 2019 at 18:28
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Yes. I've done it many times in US and UK as I like to keep paper copies in scrap books etc. Theres normally many self service desks that you can do it from (if you state which airport you can usually look this up online too), or you can go to the desk of the airline you are travelling with and they will print it for you. It doesn't matter if you already checked in or not, most of the time the person on the desk has never mentioned it, and others they say that I've checked in already & ask if I want a paper copy. I think the only time I've ever had to actually explain was in Manchester Airport in the UK a few years ago, which wasn't a problem and they printed it fine.

If you really don't want to risk it you could always go to a public library or ask friends or family to print it for you. But any person on the check in desks will be able to print the boarding pass for you even if you have already checked in, people lose them or like you don't have access to printers so its common.

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Yes, You can print your boarding pass at the airport.

From the Finnair FAQ:

You may not need to print a boarding pass. Depending on the requirements of airport authorities, you will need to present a mobile boarding pass, a paper boarding pass printed out by you or a paper boarding pass picked up from the check-in desk.

You're thus able to print your boarding pass at the check-in desk in the airport.

From the American Airlines FAQ:

you can print a boarding pass before you head to the airport or from any self-service kiosk once you're there.

Enjoy your flight !

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  • Hi Daniel and welcome to Travel SE. Your answer is not really helpful. It's much better to check yourself the conditions of both airlines and to link to them including a quote with the right information for the question.
    – Dirty-flow
    Jan 22, 2019 at 11:03
  • let me edit my answer then.
    – Daniel Vafidis
    Jan 22, 2019 at 11:05
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In the general case, especially for incumbents (i.e. not low-cost carriers), it's absolutely no problem at all.

In many cases, when you check-in your bags, they will print your boarding passes for you without you even asking. If they don't do it automatically, they will be able to do it for you on demand.

This is usually also the case when you (have to) use automated kiosks, or if you don't have any luggage to check-in.

Note however that some airlines (mostly low-cost carriers) will be a lot less flexible about that, and may even charge you to perform the operation in some extreme cases.

I don't foresee any problem at all in the case of AA.

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