Clarification
I know that I do shoulder some of the blame, if I had printed off my boarding pass on the internet I would have been home free. Part of any frustrated passenger's emotional response is that they feel stupid for not getting there earlier. The agent didn't tell me to 'bugger off' but he did say 'just go away, there is nothing you can do' with a dismissive shooing motion. Absolutely unacceptable. I wonder if Air Canada has its own staff at Heathrow or has sub-contracted them. The check-in counter is a tiny temporary looking affair, three or four stations tucked at the back of section D of Terminal 3.
The kiosk was completely unresponsive. It said that the hours of operation were 05:30-18:00. It was probably in the range of 6:02-6:04 when I tried to use the kiosk. By the time I had got the agent's attention it was definitely past 6:05. Do the agents have the ability to check you in after the 60 min window, or do their terminals shut down as well?
I know that these rules exist for very good reasons, but I have had a friend who was flying on Iceland Air and she got on the plane (without her checked bag mind you) 25 min before the flight. Is it an Air Canada thing, or a Heathrow thing?
Thanks for your responses.
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