80
votes
Accepted
I was denied boarding due to outdated information on passport validity? What to do?
Check-in staff go by Timatic, which is based on information provided to IATA by local immigration authorities. They won't change their mind even if you call an embassy in front of them.
Unfortunately ...
- 79.4k
79
votes
Can I refuse to choose seats with additional cost at check-in time?
I got their reply on twitter:
You will be able to check in at the airport. My colleagues will assign you a seat for free
As to whether or not a check in fee will be added the answer is no: with ...
- 854
60
votes
Accepted
Why does Turkish Airlines want me to cancel my flight when I check-in?
I don't think they actually want you to cancel. It's probably a website error.
Normally you'd expect "cancel flight" to be displayed as one option in addition to "check in", "change flight", etc, ...
- 37.7k
47
votes
Accepted
Can I refuse to choose seats with additional cost at check-in time?
To answer more generally:
If the flight is covered by the EU Flight Compensation Regulation (all Eurowings flights are so), the airline is not allowed to charge the passenger for an upgrade in this ...
- 58.2k
46
votes
Why does one often have to check in extra early, i.e. 3-4 hours early, before the flight departure for (covid-19) repatriation flights?
The additional check in time is needed for all the extra paperwork. Repatriation flights are organized and approved by governments to help return citizens to their country of origin. They can't let ...
- 2,475
42
votes
Accepted
Is there any advantage to checking in for a flight before going to the airport?
Well, it'll depend, but yes, there are certainly advantages.
Often airlines have bag drop only, if you've checked in online. They'll still check your ID, but it saves you lining up with all the ...
- 160k
36
votes
Are travel agents required to pass on any phone calls they receive from the airline?
Travel agents are normally required to inform you of changes to material circumstances. Those would be things like: change of flight time, change of seats, change of airports, change of layovers, ...
- 82.6k
36
votes
Accepted
Can I accompany my mother-in-law until getting boarding passes at Heathrow?
Yes, you absolutely can. At Heathrow they do not check if you are traveler or not until the time you reach the secured departures area through the security gates. That obviously is after the check-in ...
- 32.9k
36
votes
Accepted
Dealing with unknowledgeable check-in staff
Stay polite and friendly and from a position of "you don't want to deal with not being able to check me in any more than I don't want to go away unchecked-in." I had a gate agent in Toronto ...
- 81.2k
35
votes
Accepted
Do I really have to pay for seat selection in online check-in of Pegasus Airlines?
Yes, you do, and sitting next to your friends and family is explicitly listed as a reason to do it.
For what it's worth, this is fairly common for low-cost carriers.
- 99.4k
32
votes
Accepted
What is the "Applicable country" field on the Icelandair check-in form?
After chatting with Icelandair representative, applicable country in this field means that to which country you have the visa to, in this case is USA, therefore I should put USA.
- 629
31
votes
Accepted
What's the point of checking in several days before a flight?
One big one: Many airlines use time of check in as a tie-breaker when it comes to issuing upgrades or clearing stand by lists.
Source: worked at an airline, and quora.
- 160k
28
votes
Flying Ryanair from Germany, how do I check in for a flight if my passport was stolen?
I can't find anything about emergency travel documents in their Ts&Cs, but I've found this relevant exchange from Ryanair's official twitter account:
Ann @ann_nguyen1 16 Jul 2015
@Ryanair ...
- 6,548
27
votes
What's the point of checking in several days before a flight?
Perhaps not really of benefit to the smartphone generation, but being able to check in 10 days in advance may allow many customers to check in for both outward and return flights at the same time. One ...
- 421
25
votes
Accepted
Why didn't the check-in agent recognize my long term visa?
Humans are fallible. Even the ones that are meant to be well trained.
I spent years in America on a visa that nobody recognised because there are so few in circulation (E3). I almost got arrested at ...
- 2,692
24
votes
Why does one often have to check in extra early, i.e. 3-4 hours early, before the flight departure for (covid-19) repatriation flights?
In addition to jcklopp's excellent answer, the other reason they want you there early is that they absolutely do not want you to miss this flight. Repatriation flights are "last chance" flights, and ...
- 68k
24
votes
Why are there separate check-ins for flights to Israel?
Security.
There have been multiple incidents of flights to Israel bring targeted by terrorists, e.g
hijacking, a missile attack and more. Attacks on Israeli or Jewish targets worldwide have occurred ...
- 4,202
23
votes
Accepted
Does Lufthansa allow you to choose seats for free during checking-in online?
Seat selection information is available on Lufthansa's site here.
Free seat selection during check-in
You may, of course, choose any of
the remaining seats free of charge as soon as check-in ...
- 29k
23
votes
Accepted
Do I need to fly with passport when API is required?
Wherever it asks for your "passport number", just put in your ID card number instead.
"Passport number" is a generic term, which really means "travel document number". So don't take it too literally.
...
- 79.4k
22
votes
Accepted
Why can't I check-in online for international flights?
I don't think there is single set of coherent rules that governs this. In my experience online check-in for international flight is hit or miss for no obvious reasons and I've certainly seen ...
- 108k
21
votes
Accepted
What checkin and checkout date to pick when arriving/leaving after midnight?
If you want to get into a hotel room before 12:30pm on the 13th, you will have to request 12th Feb and tell the hotel it's a late check-in. Because they say that check-in only goes until 22:30 (10:...
- 8,922
21
votes
After checking in online, how do I know whether I need to go show my passport at airport check-in?
If you have a boarding pass (whether that was obtained via online check-in or via a kiosk at the airport), then you can skip the check-in counter completely and head straight to security/immigration.
...
- 123k
21
votes
Can I add a 7 month old infant to our booked flight at check in?
That will depend a lot on the airline and the type of ticket.
You will have to contact the airlines upfront. Some airlines do allow it (Southwest for example) but other will view it as a name change (...
- 108k
21
votes
Who's responsible and how to apply for a refund when the travel agent and airline give conflicting information/blame?
Unfortunately this is a textbook example of why you should book always directly with the airline and not with a 3rd party agent. The agent's terms and conditions (T&C) will often put all ...
- 108k
20
votes
Accepted
For UK/USA bound flights, are details entered during online check-in, such as date of birth or passport number ever checked by airlines/immigration?
Is passenger information (as entered during online check-in) other than name and visa ever validated by airlines?
For US/UK flights the information you entered during online check-in seem to be ...
- 22k
20
votes
Accepted
Will a self service check-in machine know that I have connecting flights and transfer my luggage?
If it's a single booking, your bags will automatically checked through to your final destination. You should be getting the boarding passes of both flights in Hamburg from the Kiosk and the baggage ...
- 108k
20
votes
Clearing TSA at JFK for international flight
If the airline will provide you with a boarding pass that you can print on your home printer, you can use it to pass through security. You can also generally display such a pass on a phone or other ...
- 137k
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