Airline boarding passes can be a mystery of acronyms, but one code could mean the difference between getting on a flight or being left behind.
That unlucky code is “GTE,” “gate,” or “see agent,” which indicates the lack of a seat assignment. In some circumstances, it could mean the aircraft is actually oversold and travelers risk being bumped from the flight, according to travel blogger Dan Miller, who experienced the dreaded “see agent” on his own boarding pass earlier this year, detailing the experience on his blog Points with a Crew. But it could also mean the airline simply needs to verify your passport or visa if you’re flying internationally.
Fortunately for Miller, his seat was assigned before even reaching the airport, but he nonetheless recommends travelers “leave extra time to head to the airport and talk with the gate agent before your flight.”
Some passengers haven’t been as lucky.
In 2019, Air Canada gate agents admitted to CBC News they had knowingly checked in passengers with luggage even on oversold flights.
“I say to the new hired agents, ‘You can’t put up with confrontation all day long. If someone has ‘GTE’ [for “gate”] on their boarding pass, it means they don’t have a seat,” one longtime Air Canada ticket agent said at the time. “But if you explain that to them, they’ll get upset. So just send them to the gate’… I train people to dupe passengers.”
Air Canada confirmed the meaning of GTE in a post on X in 2019, adding “in the rare event where a flight is overbooked, we will ask for volunteers first.”
Travelers should also carefully review check-in times since they can actually vary from airport to airport. American Airlines, for example, requires passengers to check in at least 75 minutes before their departure for flights leaving from Amsterdam, Aruba, Athens, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, and beyond, but requires travelers departing from several Caribbean islands like St. Croix, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and St. Kitts and Nevis to check in at least 90 minutes before their flight, according to the carrier. Within the United States, American said 45 minutes will do the trick.
Beyond seat assignment, travelers should review the other information on their boarding pass for irregularities. The dreaded SSSS code, for example, could indicate a passenger is subject to additional security screening. And SEQ (or sequence number) indicates the order in which passengers can check in for a flight, which in some rare cases could result in them not being able to board.
For added security, travelers should also remember to never post a photo of their boarding pass on social media to avoid scammers and thieves being able to extract significant personal information from them.
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