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I’m flying with my family LHR-TLV tonight with BA. During OLCI last night I encountered some issues in that I was unable to complete the check-in process for everyone, as my daughter’s passport has under 6 months to expiry (it expires end Sept).
At OLCI a message now pops up saying “the travel document details you have entered are not valid for this flight”. That said, my daughter still has a reserved seat, and I have managed to generate a boarding pass for each of us.
Historically I believe one had to have 6 months left on your passport to enter Israel, and this is still the case if you need an entry visa. However from 1 Jan 2025 entry requirements changed in that visa-exempt passengers (inc UK passport holders) now need to get an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) before arrival, alongside a passport valid for 90 days. Having successfully applied for an ETA for each of us, my daughter therefore meets these updated requirements.
I am hoping that at the airport I can simply show proof of the ETA, and proof of return travel (which is with a different airline) and this will be sufficient to prove we have all met the entry requirements. However I am concerned that my daughter will be denied boarding, given the stark message on the BA website.
Do I have cause for concern here, and is there anything I should be doing in advance to ensure we can all get on the plane?
BA do have a tendency to show mistaken messages about invalid documents – sent me into an unnecessary ESTA panic the day before a recent trip to the USA for example.
Happily Timatic, which airlines use to decide on travel document validity, agrees with your understanding of the rules (90 day validity needed if you have an ETA) so there shouldn’t be a problem.
https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/ to check.I don’t think there’s anything you need to (or can) do at this point. I wouldn’t be turning up at the last moment to the airport though, just in case there’s some confusion to sort out.
Thanks Matt, that’s reassuring. Yes I had checked the IATA travel centre link (along with Sherpa which BA also seem to link to), both of which are consistent with my understanding.
Is there any merit in calling up BA beforehand?
Either way will just make sure we get to the airport early!
Last summer at least, OLCI for China was still saying “Make sure
you have health certificates”, etc. – hopefully it’s just BA not bothering to update the website!Is there any merit in calling up BA beforehand?
Either way will just make sure we get to the airport early!
No. Phone agents can’t verify passport details etc.
No need to go excessively early. If you were planning on getting there 2 hours before departure then I’d stick to that. Just not a good idea to rock up at 5 mins before check in closes. Just have any documents like the ETAs handy – downloaded on your phone / iPad would be fine but these things are supposed to be electronic …
Thanks Matt, that’s reassuring. Yes I had checked the IATA travel centre link (along with Sherpa which BA also seem to link to), both of which are consistent with my understanding.
Is there any merit in calling up BA beforehand?
Either way will just make sure we get to the airport early!
I wouldn’t waste your time phoning up – you won’t get a useful answer.
I’d aim to get to LHR 2-3 hours pre-flight – no need to be any earlier than that.
I had a similar situation with a US trip. Triple-checked all submitted information, triple-checked ESTA validity, all was good. I asked the check-in guy at Heathrow and he said you can expect more of these errors in the future due to just general blah blah systems, rules, processes etc. Which doesn’t help: ignoring warnings is a bad habit in case any of them ever turn out to be real.
What was the issue in your case, @Wanderlost? The more data points the better.
What was the issue in your case, @Wanderlost? The more data points the better.
Ah, good question! The symptom was a statement that the API I had provided was not in order and that I would need to validate things at the airport. In fact, the information I had provided in advance was perfectly in order and the issue was simply one of an incorrect error message. The check-in guy said that I could expect more of this in future due to changing processes (iirc related to immigration rules, but to be honest I wasn’t listening well at that point because I was basking in a warm glow of relief and looking forward to a nice snack and glass of fizz in the lounge).
Update – wasn’t a problem. Just took 5 mins, a helpful agent and a phone call. Thanks all.
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