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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsWhy did this happen? (air travel question - not rhetorical).
Note: If youd like to share similar frustrations and questions, would you post them in the Air Travel Inconsistencies and Absurdities thread ( https://www.democraticunderground.com/10181199617 )? Im really looking for answers in this thread.
We had reservations on an Iberia flight (flown by Level airlines). I went to the Iberia site, entered info like passport numbers and birth dates and printed out our boarding passes. When we got to the airport (Logan in Boston), at the entrance to security the agent ran our pass through his machine and a light green light went on. He told us we needed to go back to the ticket counter because the light was jello. I honestly didnt understand what he was talking about and kept asking him to repeat. At that point the woman at the next location came over and said shed go ask the supervisor. She came back and said the supervisor said if the light wasnt dark green we had to get new boarding passes at the ticket counter. She walked us all the way back, asked where Iberia was and took us to a ticket counter labeled Level, (more about that in Air Travel Inconsistencies and Absurdities). She took us to the head of the line, but the ticket agent said we had to go to the back of a VERY LONG line because lots of other people have the same problem.
When we finally got to the ticket counter we asked the agent why this had all happened. She said that for flights leaving the country the passport has to be checked three times, once at the ticket counter, once at security, and once at the gate. Here are my questions.
The main one: Why did this happen?
Then, if the explanation of the ticket agent is correct (3 checks needed when leaving the country) then
.
- Why did Iberia issue me a boarding pass in the first place?
- Why was the security scanner set up to scan some boarding passes dark green and some jello (light green)? We were in an international only terminal.
- Why did the one security agent treat us like an exception if lots of other people had the same problem.
BlueSpot
(856 posts)Native Spanish speakers sometimes struggle with the "y" sound in English.
LAS14
(13,783 posts)sinkingfeeling
(51,478 posts)Several times I've had new boarding passes issued especially if you are changing from a domestic airline to another carrier for the overseas portion. I don't know why this is, but I just do it.
DFW
(54,447 posts)One when you check in (to make sure it's you checking the baggage).
One when you go through security (TSA check to make sure the original boarding pass hasn't been handed off to a third party prior to security) and again at the gate (to make sure the boarding pass hasn't been switched after security with someone taking another flight).
The Lockerbie incident, where someone checked in a piece of baggage given to him from a third party that happened to contain a bomb that crashed the plane and killed everyone aboard, did freak out people somewhat.
As for codeshare flights, USUALLY the boarding pass should say "flight conducted by....." and then give the name of the airline actually making the flight. I fly Air France a lot, and while it may have been booked as an Air France flight, the plane may often be a KLM plane or a Delta plane. I often take the Delta flight between Düsseldorf and Atlanta, but it always has an Air France flight number. Sometimes Delta will give me a boarding pass of their own, but it will always have the Air France flight number in small print somewhere on the BP.