British Airways Online CheckIn

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If you are new to online check-in then you may want to read some of my notes, first!

Above all, never, ever, ever check in anywhere, anyhow other than for the flight you are about to take. No matter what - UNLESS you are 150% certain that nothing will possibly ever change. You would not believe how complicated life can become if you check in for the return flight (thinking you are saving time) and then find you need to change it. Trust me.

Transfer passengers holding separate tickets:
British Airways will not effect any through check-in for passengers holding separate tickets for onward travel from the transfer point, unless the fights are BA to BA, or BA to oneWorld partner (ie Iberia, American Airlines etc) Passengers who have separate tickets will have to collect their baggage at the transfer point & possibly clear customs and then check in again for their onward flight. Extra time for the transfer will therefore have to be allowed as minimum connecting times will not apply. Look, if you do not understand this aspect you MUST speak to your travel agent or the airline.

How to print a boarding pass
1. British Airways offers you the opportunity to print your own boarding pass before going to the airport, when travelling from selected airports. Where this service is available, a 'Print boarding pass' button will appear on the Online Check-in confirmation page. Make sure that your printer is online and that you have paper in it - in some cases the system will only allow you ONE shot at printing your boarding pass, so best check first, eh... !

2. Very often e tickets that have been changed, exchanged upgraded or otherwise "mucked about with" MAY not allow online checkin - or, indeed, check in at the airport terminal kiosks. Do not be alarmed - you will just need to check in at the airport the old-fashioned way by going to the desk.

All of these customers will have access to the full seat map at time of booking:

Seats: Generally, if you have a cheap ticket, you take pot luck. Get to the airport early. Or be philosophical - What does it matter? It's only a few hours out of your life - and have a good laugh at the egits all fighting to get seat 14A or something....

Customers holding fully flexible tickets booked in J/C/W/Y booking classes (ie expensive)

Premier and Gold cardholders, and FIRST passengers, will have exclusive access to 1A 1K in FIRST cabin until check in opens as part of preferential seating. The seat allocation process is semi-automated.

Those travelling with infants will choose their seat at time of booking, giving them more assurance.

Customers with additional needs with specific seating requirements will still need to contact BA as they will be identified by a keyword - they will only be able to change their seat to another suitable for their needs. "Being Tall" for example, is not a special need. This means a medically certifiable need backed by an appropriate medical information form (a "MEDIF") which may also mean "fit to fly" letters. If you want a posh seat, you have to pay for it. So, settle down at the back, there!

For those who will be allocated a seat by BA before check-in opens

- Families travelling with young children (2-11 years) - the CHD or "Child" designator must be entered into the PNR (Passenger Name Record, aka "booking") of a child under 12 on all occasions otherwise BA will not be able to identify them at the pre-allocation seating run. Please remember that seat allocation is predominantly automated so entering the correct and relevant keywords into the PNR at the time of booking is key to the passengers being together. This is partly travel agent speak; just make sure you get the child information in your booking!.

- An automated system will identify PNR's with CHD descriptor and will also check these PNR's for TCP ("To Complete Party" i.e. where a child may be on a seperate booking from the parents or adults travelling with the Child) to identify those scenarios where parents may be on separate itineraries. BA will always sit a child with at least one adult.

- UMs (Unaccompanied Minors) will be seated and adjacent seats blocked by the airport.

- Groups If requested, we will attempt to assign seats together in a block. If we are unable to block seats due to the seat map being closed, and for individual seat requests, seat assignments may only be made at check-in.

For those who can choose their seat at check-in
- The earliest that anyone can check in is 24hrs before departure. All eligible passengers should be encouraged to check in as early as possible either via online check-in on ba.com or at the airport as they will have choice of all available seats - no seats will be held back by the airports. All suitable available seats will be shown. Choices are window, aisle or fat person with terminal halitosis.

TRANSFERS - BOARDING PASSES - SEATING

My Ease of Use Rating: 8/10 - Features 6/10

What to do:

1) Retrieve your booking through Manage My Booking.
2) Click on the 'Check-in now' button to check in the first passenger. If there is more than one passenger on the booking, each passenger must be checked in individually.
3) Confirm the flight details which will be pre-filled, and complete the check-in process. If you are travelling from an airport enabled for online boarding pass printing, you will be provided with a link to do so.
4) At the end of the check-in process there will be a link at the bottom of the page allowing you to return to Manage My Booking, for the next passenger to be checked in
5) Click on the red "print boarding pass' button
6) Your boarding pass will appear on your screen
7) Print
8) Click 'Exit'

When using this service, if you have hand baggage only, you can proceed directly to the security checkpoint at the airport. If you have baggage, they will need to take it to the so-called Fast Bag Drop - and join the queue there.....

If the Online boarding pass button is not available, you may still be able to use the check-in kiosk but, frankly, chances are that won't work either - so go to a desk.