<p>For a domestic flight, I often check in my flight 24 hours before departure at the aa.com site. Do I need to do the same for an international flight?</p>
<p>Somebody told me that I can do so 48 hours before departure for an international flight. But it is still said at aa.com that I can only check in 24 hours before departure. Should I call their 800 reservation to check in the flight if I want to confirm it 48 hours before departure?</p>
<p>I ask this for a relative. She has an e-ticket that was issued a long time ago (April, 2009). Her seat has already been assigned.</p>
<p>Also, is “check-in” the same as confirmation? Is there any need to confirm the flight? </p>
<p>Yes, absolutely confirm the flight. You will still need to check in particularly if you are checking baggage. BUT for a flight that has been booked a long time ago the times and/or connections could have changed. My sibling made the mistake of not doing this once and got to the airport late because the time of her flight had changed.</p>
<p>^ Thanks for the reply. Yes, her flight is changed also. We just visited aa.com and found this out.</p>
<p>A problem is, even within the 24-hours time window before the departure, aa.com still does not allow her to check in online. I wonder whether this is because she is not an AAvantage member.</p>
<p>This is what I saw at aa.com for her ticket:</p>
<p>“Note: This reservation can not be changed online because it includes travel outside the United States, Puerto Rico and/or US Virgin Islands. Please contact AA Reservations for assistance.”</p>
<p>I only want to confirm the flight. I do not have any need to change the flight.</p>
<p>In the past, whenever I called their reservation number for an existing ticket, they tend to charge us for some service fee. So I hesitate to call them.</p>
<p>You can’t check-in on-line for an international flight because the airline has to check passports before issuing boarding passes. And it’s always a good idea to either go on-line or call 72 hours before the international leg to check on schedule changes. I’ve signed up at AA to be notified by e-mail/cell phone about changes - you can determine how many hours prior to boarding you’d like - as well as about schedule changes by e-mail; it’s been a big help getting those e-mails.</p>
<p>I always used to always confirm International flights in the past as it was a requirement, but have not done so the past 2-3 years. I do always go online and check my seating assignments (and change them if one I like better - eg empty seat next to me - shows up) right up till the day before the flight. I have done this with AA and Northwestern the last few years and never confirmed. If it were an airline where I could not check my status and seats online then I would probably call. </p>
<p>Back in 2002 my husband did have a return flight from the UK where he was not on the roster when he confirmed. He wasted a day of our trip having to actually go into London to see the airline and get it all sorted out. I think I had bought that ticket through priceline. Mostly I book through the airline nowadays. The kids and I were on a different flight and airline as I had had to book his slightly later because of some family issues and we had no problems (well not with being confirmed on the flight anyway).</p>
<p>I just call AA’s reservation number. They told me the same thing. (that is, I can’t check-in on-line for an international flight). They also told me that since it is an e-ticket, the flight is automatically confirmed so there is no need to confirm it. So, I would think “confirmation” and “check-in” are different. (I really do not know what the confirmation is though. Maybe for air travel, there is no such a thing called confirmation.)</p>
<p>Another thing we found out is that for an international flight, unlike a domestic flight, you can check in two pieces of baggage without extra charge.</p>
<p>At least they do not charge me for this service.</p>
<p>swimcatsmom: Regarding “change them if one I like better - eg empty seat next to me - shows up,” these days, my impression is that there is hardly any empty seat. If there are more empty seats than what the airline company would like to have, they will likely cancel this flight and put you on another flight DS flied many many times between Dallas TX and Hartford CT; there was only one or two empty seat at most.</p>
<p>I don’t know about AA, but with Continental you are allowed to check in for international flight if you have passport number on file. The issue one may have sometimes is if your ticketed name is not exactly the same as your passport name. It could be as simple as your passport name has a middle initial and your ticketed name does not. For domestic flights they are not as stringent. We travel quite a bit internationally, and I haven’t done a 72 hours confirmation in a long time. I just flew UA, and 24 hours check in was sufficient.</p>
<p>oldfort: Thanks for sharing your experience.</p>
<p>I looked around at aa.com, and could not any place to enter her passport number on-line. But at some information page, AA suggests the passenger to enter government required information in advance (which includes the passport number, citizenship, country of residence, emergency contact name/phone and temporary US address for a visitor.)</p>
<p>It is quite ■■■■■■■■ for them to ask us to enter the passport number but at the same time, there is no way for us to enter this number anywhere. (I have entered all other information for her.)</p>
<p>Also, the person at AA reservation told me that for an international flight, I can not check in on-line. I guess they want to see you personally and check you against your government-issued photo ID before they issue you a boarding pass, for the security reason.</p>
<p>I guess UA and AA are different because UA allows you to have 24 hours check in. I flied UA just last year, but I can not remember for sure whether I checked in online beforehand at that time. (I vaguely remember that I did check in online though.)</p>
<p>This is the error message I see when I click the check-in button:</p>
<p>"Flight Check-In </p>
<p>Check below for errors:
We are unable to check you in at this time. Online check-in is only available for flights In the U.S., including Alaska and Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands. If your itinerary contains any international flights within 24 hours, you will not be able to use Flight-Check-In. Please check in at the airport with an agent."</p>
<p>So for an AA international flight, we really can not check in online.</p>
I quite often have empty seats next to me when I fly the International leg of my journey (to the UK) but rarely on any Domestic portions. When I fly to the UK I try and get an empty row to myself so I can lay down and go to sleep. I often succeed. Even flying there this summer I had a row to myself. </p>
<p>As far as registering passports - I mostly fly with AA (I have an AA credit card that does miles and have had a couple of free flights that way - no we aren’t crazy credit card users but my sister in law lets us charge my parent in laws nursing home to it now and then and gives us a check - doesn’t take long to get enough miles for s free ticket with the cost of nursing homes). I think I supply my passport info when I purchase the ticket.</p>
<p>swimcatsmom: I just checked her seat at aa.com. You are right. There are still plenty of empty seats, for the flights on both the domestic leg and the international leg (especially the international one.)</p>
<p>It is also somewhat strange that even though aa.com told us that:</p>
<p>“Note: This reservation can not be changed online because it includes travel outside the United States, Puerto Rico and/or US Virgin Islands. Please contact AA Reservations for assistance.”</p>
<p>I can still manage to change her seat online successfully. Go figure! If I really follow their instruction and call the AA Reservations to change the seat assignment, it is likely they will hit me with some service fee.</p>
<p>This begs another question: Why are there generally so few empty seats on DS’s flight from DFW to Hartford? I found that the flight in and out of Hartfort CT is not only more crowed but also more costly. It must be a very profitable route for AA. Of course, a major reason is that he often flies when there are many others fly also, like before the school starts, before Christmas, etc. Also, he rarely flies on Tuesday.</p>
<p>My S just flew on Swiss last week and was only able to confirm and change his seat on line. There were a couple of seats available if he wanted to change what he was assigned. He wasn’t able to do this until 24 hours before the flight.</p>
<p>He had to check in at the airport to get his boarding passes.</p>
Oh you can change the seat assignment as often as you like. I do. it is details of the flight - different day/time etc that cannot be changed online.</p>
DS flied many many times between Dallas TX and Hartford CT; there was only one or two empty seat at most.</p>