How do airline agents check passports at check in?

How do airline agents check passports at check in? - 1

They typically do not check them until the boarding process. They physically verify that the name matches the boarding pass, and that the picture could possibly belong to the person presenting the passport.

If an airline carries a passenger who does not have a passport, the governments of some countries will fine them. To avoid that, the airline agent check of the passport is conducted simply to confirm that each person has a passport - not that it is actually THEIR passport, or that it has a visa in it, or that it is current.

The last few times that I flew internationally, I swiped the passport at the kiosk at check-in. The gate agents also checked at boarding. One of those flights required a visa, and the agent at the ticket counter had to look at my visa (the kiosk flagged me and would let me complete check in until the agent looked at my passport and entered an override code).

It depends on the airline. Sometimes they have you scan your passport at the ramp sometimes they just make sure you have a passport in hand. Really its a buddy system with the airport security. All in all they are looking to make sure you have one on you, however, its not the airlines fault if you fly abroad with an expired passport and they do not catch it, thats on you

Its not the airline you should be bothered about…
It is Immigration / Border control.

Airline only cares that this is YOU, and that you are using YOUR Ticket.
It is a commercial thing… That you are not committing fraud/using someone else's ticket
most check in these days is done by yourself using a machine - self check in

Border control is checking if your Travel ID is correct and you have a visa etc if needed.

Add Comment