Valid ESTA for US, but not allowed to check-in Online
- By
- Aparna Patel
- |
- 10 Aug, 2023
- |
I don’t think I ever have been able to check-in online when going to USA. To be able to check-in I needed to provide an address for where I was staying the first night, I think that is a US requirement before check-in, and the online check-in didn’t have support for that. The check-in automates at the airport have support for adding address, and the check-in at the counter have support for that to.
Online check-in systems often simply don’t work as well as they are supposed to. I fly very often from Europe to the US, and my success rate on checking-in online is maybe about 60 %. It highly depends on what airline you are flying as well. I even called an airline at some point, and they confirmed that I cannot check-in online, but couldn’t tell me why. It is not necessarily related to a second screening, though there is a non-vanishing probability that you cannot check-in because the system volunteered you to be screened.
Usually, once you are at the airport, all these problems go away. It’s still a nuisance for you, since you have to go to the airport earlier if you cannot check-in online. And nowadays there are only very few check-in desks open, since everybody can check-in online… well, in principle at least.
I once even made it to the US border without a valid ESTA. They allowed me to apply for an ESTA while at immigration. I do not suggest to try this, though!
I couldn’t check in online a couple weeks ago because I was selected for extra screening (Secondary Security Screening Selection ). I think that’s what’s probably also happening to you. You can simply check in at the airport.
From what I can tell, a few people on each flight to the US are selected this way. I asked the gate agent and the selection is supposedly random, which might not be completely true from what I read online e.g. your name matches with someone on a no-fly list, you have a one-way ticket or similar things can supposedly trigger it. The screening itself is actually pretty benign. They swiped my carry on and shoes for explosives. It was probably about 3 mins overall. (I flew out of FRA).
- Which two countries are the most distant from each other in terms of number of flight segments?
- Can I side-step discrimination against foreigners in Japan?
I had the same problem last year. When we got to the check in desk they first assumed we didn’t have our ESTA. After we convinced them our ESTA was in order we spent over 30 minutes waiting while the attendant made calls. In the end everything worked out but I would recommend reserving a bit more to check in.
- Is it possible to travel on cargo airplanes?
- Is it possible to downgrade a business/first class flight to economy without the ticket purchaser knowing?
It’s totally, 100%, normal that airline web systems say “You cannot check in online”.
Quite simply, you just check in “at the desk” at the airport, like in the old days.
There is absolutely nothing to worry about.
It literally means:
the check-in agents need to eyeball your documents before they can stamp you DOCS-OK.
That’s all it means, nothing else.
Credit:stackoverflow.com‘
Search Posts
Latest posts
-
4 Mar, 2024
Can I accidentally miss the in-flight food?
Popular posts
-
4 Mar, 2024
How can I do a "broad" search for flights?