Advance Passenger information (API)

[Enjay]

* Just to satisfy my curiosity .... We are flying from Cardiff to Palma on 27th May with Thos Cook and we have discovered that we don't have to submit API. We'll be coming out again on 29th July, again from Cardiff but with Thomson. This booking HAS required API. Does anyone know why this is? Could Thomson be slow on the uptake or their systems update?

[MPH133]

You will need to enter API before checking in

[Enjay]

Thanks MPH133. However, even today, I again visited the Thos Cook website and it does not include Spain (or Ballearics) as an API destination. I also logged on with my flight reference and the system opened with our correct flight details and names. When I persisted with an attempt to enter API, it did not open an API "pro forma" and again repeated that I would not need API. Confusing!

[Disorderly]

Thomas Cook don't take API until check-in, whether online or at the airport. We checked in online with Thomas Cook to Gran Canaria in February and gave the API then, before printing off boarding passes. If you don't check in online they will enter it themselves at the airport.

[Luckyone]

Originally Posted by Disorderly

Thomas Cook don't take API until check-in, whether online or at the airport. We checked in online with Thomas Cook to Gran Canaria in February and gave the API then, before printing off boarding passes. If you don't check in online they will enter it themselves at the airport.

Agree above and can only check-in 24 hours in advance.

[martinchip10]

Originally Posted by Disorderly

Thomas Cook don't take API until check-in, whether online or at the airport. We checked in online with Thomas Cook to Gran Canaria in February and gave the API then, before printing off boarding passes. If you don't check in online they will enter it themselves at the airport.

We travelled to GC too in February and did not need to provide it prior to getting to the airport.

[Enjay]

Thanks for the replies. I have received "clarification" from the holiday operator. Although Thos Cook states API is NOT REQUIRED, it IS required and completed at the check-in desk, IF you haven't done it at online check-in through that 24-hour window before you depart. So, two mystifying points remain. Why can other airlines permit this action at your leisure well in advance but Thos Cook only at last day? Second, why the heck do the airlines ask US to do this if it is merely a process of scanning our passports at the desk?