OLCI - is it really 24 hours before flight?

[BlueAU]

I'm on a 7pm flight tomorrow and OLCI is still greyed out. It is now 7:45pm and I thought 24 hours would mean I could OLCI ...

I never usually OLCI to the minute, but tonight I just tried and no luck. Anyone else have this problem?

 

[BlueAU]

Oops, my computer was still in NSW time, so I guess it did work 24 hours to the minute.

I did it 1 minute after I could and I am seq number 53 :shock: but Row 5. Row 4 looks blocked for WP/CL/SG

DOH

 

[markis10]

OLCI is 24 hours before your FIRST flight, if you have a number of connections that day you can check in for flights that are well beyond the 24 hour limit, which is why you will often get a high sequence number despite checking in the first moment you can.

 

[Joshua]

As you discovered it is exactly on the second, 24 hours prior. That said you can check-in again anytime until an hour before departure and change your seating. (I believe this is somewhat new as I remember not being able to do so some time ago.) Not sure what status you are, guessing PS/QC. Row 4 on the 738/4 DOM flights sometimes becomes unblocked closer to departure - it's blocked to often be assigned at check-in for passengers needing assistance.

Otherwise you can play musical chairs by changing your seat selection, ideally if there's other seats near the front. Sometimes with some Altea magic it reshuffles and unblocks seats further up. I usually check-in on the phone on the way to the airport, so I always have a legit excuse for getting cardboard BP's

 

[Saab34]

In the past I have been able to check in 35hrs before departure when JQ sent out the pre flight email. You can only do it this way by clicking the link in the email, not on the homepage.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Flew on QF 93 on Oct 31...and the OCLI never worked..
Rang Qantas and that jut stated that it should work and to try again later...but it never worked.

 

[Joshua]

Flew on QF 93 on Oct 31...and the OCLI never worked..
Rang Qantas and that jut stated that it should work and to try again later...but it never worked.

Did you have any trouble at the airport? I had similar problems on 2 consecutive flights a couple months ago. One was because another passenger had the same initial and surname so the OCLI and QuickCheck wanted to verify who I was (you'd think the QFF# would solve this). The other time somehow my booking didn't link so QuickCheck said no bookings found and OLCI just didn't work. It was multi-segment itinerary which I'd had no previous issues with so rather weird.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Did you have any trouble at the airport? I had similar problems on 2 consecutive flights a couple months ago. One was because another passenger had the same initial and surname so the OCLI and QuickCheck wanted to verify who I was (you'd think the QFF# would solve this). The other time somehow my booking didn't link so QuickCheck said no bookings found and OLCI just didn't work. It was multi-segment itinerary which I'd had no previous issues with so rather weird.

No no problem at the airport.

 

[NM]

I have been unable to use OLCI for a flight departing tomorrow. I can select the flight but when I get to selecting the seat I get a message:

"We are unable to process your check-in request to your connecting airline. Proceed to an Online Check-in counter at the airport where a customer service agent will assist you.[BR044]"

I have seen this probably more than 50% of the time when trying to check-in on-line for an international flight.

 

[JohnK]

From experience OLCI has always been 24 hours before the flight.

I did it 1 minute after I could and I am seq number 53 :shock: but Row 5. Row 4 looks blocked for WP/CL/SG

I have used OLCI at close to T-24 hours and have had a high sequence number. This could be due to passengers arriving on an international flight and connecting on to the domestic flight.

 

[albatross710]

As you discovered it is exactly on the second, 24 hours prior. That said you can check-in again anytime until an hour before departure and change your seating. (I believe this is somewhat new as I remember not being able to do so some time ago.)

I assume that you could end up with multiple boarding passes after checking in and changing seats a few times. I assume that the barcode on the boarding passes has the technology to disallow boarding on the earlier BP and only allow boarding on the last print.

can anyone confirm?

 

[oz_mark]

I assume that you could end up with multiple boarding passes after checking in and changing seats a few times. I assume that the barcode on the boarding passes has the technology to disallow boarding on the earlier BP and only allow boarding on the last print.

can anyone confirm?

The computer at check-in knows where you are supposed to be seated and goes beep if you hand over a boarding pass for a seat it thinks someone else is at. So, it is more the check-in computer than knows, rather tan the BP.

I think it does a check of your name against the seat.

 

[BlueAU]

I assume that you could end up with multiple boarding passes after checking in and changing seats a few times. I assume that the barcode on the boarding passes has the technology to disallow boarding on the earlier BP and only allow boarding on the last print.

can anyone confirm?

Each barcode is different I thought .... will have to compare it next time I do OLCI I noticed my INT'L BP (cardboard) also has barcode too now. The domestic one didn't.

 

[albatross710]

Each barcode is different I thought .... will have to compare it next time I do OLCI I noticed my INT'L BP (cardboard) also has barcode too now. The domestic one didn't.

I was thinking that each barcode would be a unique identifier to the particular checkin transaction. When we pass through to board, the scanner would look up the identifier which then checks that it is a valid passage for that flight. To gain better speed, perhaps the local checkin unit would cache the expected valid BP for that flight.

A re-check-in would post an invalid flag to the previous board pass identifier.

 

[Joshua]

Each barcode is different I thought .... will have to compare it next time I do OLCI I noticed my INT'L BP (cardboard) also has barcode too now. The domestic one didn't.

Different stock at different airports. At ADL it's all barcodes & newer BP's with bigger OW logo; BNE it's older BP with magnetic strip. Obviously the readers are universal and worst case they can always manually cross check the manifest list at the gate.

Yes, I changed my seats after dropping my luggage off a couple weeks ago. Re-checked in on the iPhone moved from 4E to 4D I think. Then simply went to the desk and asked for a new BP. They didn't ask for the old one that time but usually would take it if you had it. That happened once where the check-in agent got the equipment mixed up and placed me right behind an exit row....

I was thinking a while back how this system could be used. You could print out a BP for your 'friend' eg. boss or wife with 4A/C/D/F. Then at the gate they get beeped, thinking J upgrade, only to be re-issued with 29B/E

 

[oz_mark]

Each barcode is different I thought .... will have to compare it next time I do OLCI I noticed my INT'L BP (cardboard) also has barcode too now. The domestic one didn't.

IATA has mandated the use of barcodes from sometime next year, so they are spreading.

(The barcode itself has your name, flightnumber, pnr, seat allocation, cabin info and so on)

 

[Tooner]

I found out the hard way on QF once you OLCI for international and print the boarding pass, you can't change seats again online, whereas as you've noted, on domestic you can.

Then again I noticed on SQ they have specific buttons on the site for printing boarding pass now / printing boarding pass later with a warning so you can go back in and check for better seats. SQ also have the easiest SMS check-in too: reply to the SMS with a code only and you are checked in

 

[Flashback]

I found out the hard way on QF once you OLCI for international and print the boarding pass, you can't change seats, whereas as you've noted, on domestic you can.

Then again I noticed on SQ they have specific buttons on the site for printing boarding pass now / printing boarding pass later with a warning so you can go back in and check for better seats. SQ also have the easiest SMS check-in too: reply to the SMS with a code only and you are checked in

Surely you can change again in the lounge?

In regards to what time you can check in, the e-mail I have from Qantas for my flight on Thursday says:

Check-in Online ‒ between 24 hours and 2 hours before your flight departure.

 

[Tooner]

Surely you can change again in the lounge

Correction: you can't change your seat online. You can of course change at check-in or lounge etc.

Edited the post to be clear

 

[bambbbam2]

Is it back to 23 hours for WA time again?