Boarding cards

[Shadowpurser]

Just a quickie!!

When we are checking boarding cards, we are looking at the date and the flight number.

WE HAVE NO INTEREST IN THE SEAT NUMBER!

So...no need to tell us what it is!!!! But thanks for trying to be helpful anyway!!!:D :D :D :D :D

[Rollingthunder]

Why not?

On twin aisle aircraft it's good to direct the pax down the correct aisle. Speeds boarding. You can also tell J class to take a left, and again down the correct aisle. You might even be able to greet the J class pax by name. Wow, Customer Service.

[pilotwolf]

Guess you must work for one of those 'cheap' airlines! :D

Everytime I ve flown I ve always been told where my seat was...

[Carry0nLuggage]

I think it is because so many pax can't count it seems.

If my row is in the 'teens I can't get there because of the hordes of slack-jaws trying to find their rows at the back. :mad:

(Thinks calming thoughts)

[Cart_tart]

I'm on your side Shadowpurser!
How B*oo*dy annoying is it when you're trying to check boarding passes and there are the few smarty pants' that hide their boarding passes from you, and say "five FOXTROT" like they own the aeroplane and THEN get shirty with you when you tell them that we HAVE to see their boarding pass?! :mad: It is THE LAW that we have to check EVERY boarding pass for EVERY person on that aircraft. Yes even if it has been checked 10 times already we need to see it that one last time as you get on board....... :rolleyes:

[Skyflier]

So is it the law that boarding cards have to be checked as you actually board the aircraft or is it really a company policy or is it a policy of particularly officious cabin crew?

If it is the law, I could name a long list of airlines who are breaking it by checking boarding cards on entry to the lounge and never again after that.

[Hand Solo]

The CAA has stipulated that boarding cards must be checked when boarding the aircraft. This is a perfectly sensible suggestion and if carried out properly would prevent the embarassing situation where an aircraft has to turn back because it is carrying scores of the wrong passengers. Happened very recently to a competitor and I heard the DETR are having a very close look!:eek:

[SLF]

Interesting - I'd reckon my boarding pass is possibly re-checked about one in 3 times - and always after I've made a mental note of the seat number and put it away in order to manage mybags/jacket etc.

I always thought (in common with a lot of other SLF I guess) that you wanted to know so that you could (helpfully) tell me my seat was the window one 5 rows down. We (helpfully) tell the CC our seat number, to indicate that we know already!

[Gaza]

BA seem to check every time. bmi are very hit and miss. A couple of weeks ago on LHR-EDI (bmi) we even managed to end up with two pax who were supposed to be going to MAN!!:eek: :eek: :eek:

I think the CAA should introduce a licensing system for passengers. If you cannot pass a simple test such as finding the correct gate and knowing the Row 20 is after Row 19 and before Row 21 then you should not be allowed anywhere near an airport!:p :p :p

[PAXboy]

I agree with SLF and have already noted the details, henceforth I shall try to keep it available when boarding.

However, if it has been checked on leaving the lounge - and the ticket and stub separated - then checking whilst boarding seems over the top. The more so if the lounge has one of the electronic machines to read and separate the ticket's magnetic stripe.

[DistantRumble]

There's no seat number on Ryanair anyway.

At a minimum usually mine gets checked twice

once to get thru security - sometimes you can jump this one if you have the correct itinerary paperwork stuff

and once just before heading down the jetway or onto the tarmac for the walk out to the plane. This is normally where the pass and the stub part company. You can't jump this one normally.

Some airlines check again on entering the plane.

It's not a great system but it does work most of the time since any alternative costs so much it would be unworkable.

[mainfrog2]

This checking of boarding cards is something cabin crew at BA have been told to do, as Shadow Purser says.

One crew member was suspended because a CAA inspector boarded and they hadn't checked their boarding card so for some posts to suggest that they could give a long list of airlines that don't do it is interesting. Also surely even airlines that don't have seat allocation give you a boarding card prior to boarding which has the flight number and date on it?
If not why is BA being told to do it if no one else is doing it?

Or is it just a rule that is open to interpretation.

[cabinkitten]

Quick Quiz:

What do you think are the main reasons we like to check your
boarding passes, is it....
a) we enjoy abuse
b) we have the collective I.Q. of a small broad bean...we don't know why we need to check them either
or is it
c) to make sure that the guy with the tablecloth on his head and fuse wire trailing behind his hush puppies has accessed the aircaft through the approved channels....

tricky...... :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[Skyflier]

Maybe there is a question of interpretation here. I have flown out of LHR at least 20 times this year and obviously back again from a wide range of places. On all occasions I've had my boarding card checked at either the point of entry to the lounge or on exiting the lounge to the jetty, depending on where the machine for processing them is. On none of the occasions have I been asked by cabin crew if they could see it as I boarded the plane. Flights so far this year have been with eight different airlines and in the next month I'll add another two.

The reason why I asked whether it was company policy was because it's obvious that a lot of the crew posts are from BA staff and I never fly BA.

[Land After]

My experience of LHR: BA check 95% of the time on boarding a/c, bmi hardly ever, like most other carriers they check only at the top of the airbridge.

Seems like overkill to me as the chances to slip up the stairs on the airbridge unnoticed are limited, and without a boarding card, there would be a little trouble locating a seat on board.

If you manage to get airside, surely it's better to slip something in the cargo hold or on the undercarriage, rather than draw attention to yourself by boarding the a/c without a boarding card? Then again, if you did manage to have a forged boarding card with a correct seat number...... you'd come on via the main door!!

(typo)

[cabinkitten]

It is both company policy and CAA regulation that we check boarding cards. From what has been posted here it doesn't seem to be a policy that has been universally taken up, which is a concern in itself.

However unlikely it is a possibility that someone could gain unauthorised access to the aircraft by way of the engineering steps.

A decompression is unlikely. September 11th was 'unlikely'. I don't consider it 'overkill' to try and close one of the many, many loopholes in airport security.

[BOAC]

Yes it is BA policy. Yes it is important. I do not know if it is a government requirement.

If you remember that a catering driver with FULL airside access was arrested at Gatwick late last year and ( I think) charged with being an Al-Queda sympathiser, perhaps you can see why we feel it important to know EXACTLY WHO gets onto our aircraft.

[AtlPax]

I always keep my boarding pass handy just in case you get two pax assigned the same sat on a full flight.

"Uhh, 20A? That's my seat."

(produce my boarding pass)

"Well, I'm 20A, too."

HELLLP!

I hate when that happens. :(

[PaperTiger]

Hardly a security measure. If an 'extra' non-BP holder gets on, the headcount will be wrong. Or don't you do those either ?
If the interloper is a terrorist, then checking the BP at entry won't help. He/she is already on the plane.

It is useful only to ensure the pax is on the right flight. Of most use when boarding is done from a ramp full of airplanes.

Wouldn't surprise me if it is a government reg. in places. Just the sort of feel-good, easily implemented but largely ineffective procedure they seem to concentrate on.

[BOAC]

No head count. 'Interloper' cannot be 'on the plane' as the a/c is checked before boarding. Boarding staff issue b/cards. Only pax with b/cards board a/c. Works pretty well.

[DX Wombat]

Cabinkitten, you left out "d": bekos the persin chekin yor pas is lernin to reed :rolleyes: :eek: :D Seriously, I have never boarded an aircraft yet without my boarding pass being checked at the aircraft door, but there again the vast majority of my flights have been with BA of QF. I have no problem with ANY security checks which I may have to go through, I want to arrive at my planned destination in one piece.:D

[PaperTiger]

No head count. Now that is surprising :eek:. May I suggest you start at once.

'Interloper' cannot be 'on the plane' as the a/c is checked before boarding. Well yes, this was a follow-up to someone surmising about unauthorised bods roaming the ramp. Joining the pax queue or breaching the jetway (as the case may be).

Boarding staff issue b/cards. Only pax with b/cards board a/c. Only pax with BPs are allowed to exit the gate. The second part does not necessarily follow (see above).

Works pretty well. That do then ?

[cabinkitten]

...it does if the cabin crew check the cards at the door!.....(assuming they can read them that is....)
:D :D ;)

[Skyflier]

Whatever needs to be done in the way of security is fine with me. From a passengers' point of view what really gets irritating is inconsistancy when you are told that one company does one thing and it is a CAA regulation when another company who must be bound by the same regulations clearly does something completely different.

Setting aside all the sarcasm about why crew might check passes, look at it from the point of view of someone who flies out of LHR at least once every week with a range of carriers including bmi but not BA.

I've never had my boarding pass checked on boarding the plane and at that point have usually put it in my wallet in case my FF miles do not get credited. On a given day, I fly BA and am asked for the pass, I'm surprised and ask why and am told its a CAA regulation, I ask if it's new and am told no. On the basis of my experience, am I likely to believe the CC member who is only doing their job? Almost certainly not as why would so many other companies, including bmi be flouting it. The result it an irritated passenger who thinks the CC are a pain on this flight and a CC member who thinks the same of the passenger. Doesn't antagonism rise easily!

[BOAC]

Paper Tiger - I'm not going to drag this out. Please air your obvious concerns with the DTR who have approved the process, or the CAA who have approved the AOC.

[DistantRumble]

please note I also fly out of LHR (a lot) and
there are other airlines that do check. I will not state which,
since it is in fact a security hole to post it here which they are, as it is valuable information to those who would abuse it.

I would ask people to refrain from posting airline names that comply with this. Sorry if it looks like overkill.

[World Traveller]

How does this work with easyJet's reusable boarding cards then?

BA is the only airline that routinely checks my boarding card on board too. Thanks for the explanation as to why this is.

WT

[OzPax1]

With easy you'll find that the ground crew have a print out of the pax onboard the flight. Against your name is the corresponding number of your boarding card. On international flights they also check your passport against the name as well! :D

[Rollingthunder]

Well so much for the welcome onboard you wonderful customer. Your seat is that way. I hope you enjoy your flight with us, be totally satisfied of your expectations and your baggage hasn't gone to Bombay when you arrive. type stuff.

[rsoman]

Well I should say checking the seat no has its uses.
Last week I was taking a A320 on Indian Airlines from
Trivandrum. Was bussed to the aircraft. Although most of the pax
were boarding through the front steps, there was one groundstaff at the rear steps and I boarded through it.
Right decision, since my seat was at the very last row!
Now if only those guys manning the front could have checked
the SEAT NO as well and directed these people in the rear of the cabin to the other entrance, the boarding could have been faster!

RSO

[Tyke returned]

Well I just hope I never get on a plane with Shadowpurser or Cart-tart if those are your attitudes.

Skyflier - I'm with you - couldn't have summed this up better myself.

[MarkD]

I have flown four sectors recently with BA on 747-400 and 777, each time my card was checked *and* I was given directions to my seat [as I prefer window I had a K seat each time and thus was invited to cross to the far aisle]

It was handy the first time so I say don't knock it!

On single aisle aircraft with Aer Lingus, they rarely glance at it beyond a cursory check you have one, once in a while they will indicate what side of the aircraft.

[ILS27LEFT]

I think this is a BA procedure only. Unless all other carriers are just breaking the law but I doubt.
I anyway believe it is important to check boarding passes just before boarding the A/C.
This specific part is the one that is open to different interpretations: BA has adopted the strictest view.
:D

To check b/passes just before the Loading bridge or immediately before stepping on the aircraft it is a choice of each carrier, this is open to all interpretations but BA is free to recheck again and again if needed.
This does not mean that checking only in the lounge just before boarding is not as secure as the BA procedure. It is only that the BA interpretation of this CAA rule is that the b/passes must be checked again on the A/C door.

Please advise if this is wrong.

[BRUpax]

It doesn't bother me if crew want to see my BP on entering the a/c. However, I fly with many different airlines and certainly on EUROPEAN sectors only BA adopt this procedure. Whether it is an effective last chance security measure is doubtful. The 11/9 terrorists were after all full fare paying pax.

[christep]

BA staff seem to claim that lots of things are the law when in fact it is only them that do it. I don't understand why BA staff think they know better than FF pax what other airlines do.

Qantas staff have very similar attitudes. I had a ludicrous situation at check-in in Sydney the other day where the woman insisted that I extract may laptop from my roll-on bag, and then shuffle items backwards and forwards between the laptop bag and the rollon until the rollon was less than 7kg. It didn't seem to matter what weight the laptop bag was. Of course, as soon as I walked away from checkin I just put the laptop back in the rollon and everything was fine.

When I pointed out to the woman that enlightened airlines like CX don't mess customers around like this she tried to insist that this made CX an unsafe airline. Of course, in the real world what it does is make CX a very profitable airline and Qantas a bit of a joke, protected only by monopoly and government regulations.

This was all at a First Class checkin desk as well, where it took the first couple of minutes to get her to recognise a OneWorld Emerald card.

To be fair to Qantas, the man looking after the First Class Qantas Club had the decency to allow me to bring in three guests since the lounge wasn't busy and two of them were about to suffer their third consecutive overnight flight in coach. This was much appreciated.

[mainfrog2]

Christep

At the moment BA sends out many missives on a variety of subjects. This particular one did inform us that it was a CAA requirement and that we must do it. Since I can't be @rsed to double check with the CAA on everything BA tells me I take that as fact. Just because you travel on other airlines doesn't make you more or less knowledgeable than the next person but rest assured while they ask me to do it and pay my wages I'll continue to check boarding cards at the door to ensure they keep paying my wages.

[bealine]

BA has a company policy (on the insistence of CAA and DETR) to check boarding cards (and passports or National ID cards on International Flights) on entry or exit to the Gate Lounge. The purpose of this is to verify the right of the passenger to travel and ensure the passenger's identity matches that of the passport/ID card (photo and name).

The Boarding Pass or stub must be retained by the Gate Staff if a passenger leaves the Gate Lounge prior to boarding.

The Boarding Pass or stub must then be checked again by the cabin crew at the aircraft entrance to ensure the passenger is on the right flight on the right date. In the event the passenger loses the Boarding Pass stub, the Gate Team must provide a computer printout of the Passenger's Checked In Record or must accompany the passenger to the aircraft to verify his/her entitlement to travel.

Since the tragedy of 09/11, I can assure you that this has been painstaikingly carried out at LGW - after all, our Cabin Crew have a vested interest in your, and their, personal safety!!!

Unlike Buses or Trains, any airline is responsible for ensuring it keeps a full record of all the passengers and crew who travelled on a particular flight. This is the main reason behind the final check and, incidentally, the main reason why, when your flight is delayed by 2 hours and another one is leaving for the same destination imminently, we can't let you cross the aircraft threshold.

Incidentally, no onme has yet mentioned "Jar-Ops" (Joint Aviation Review Operations Procedures) under which ALL airlines are supposed to be adopting similar operational procedures. I would suggest, therefore, that if other airlines are NOT adopting these procedures, they are able to offer cheaper fares and are, therefore, in unfairly trading in breach of competition regulations!

Something else for Rod E. to address perhaps!

:)