MBE Gotic enjoys a privileged location in the centre of Barcelona that allows us to offer a lot of different services to tourists coming from everywhere.
Besides shipping services to Spain and overseas, our printing, photocopying and scanning services are very demanded as well. Thus, many visitors come to our store in order to print their boarding passes with us.
Is mandatory to print the airline ticket?
It is curious that in the electronic age when every formality can be made by internet and our phone can be used as a ticket to entry in lots of events, we still have to show our printed boarding pass at the airport.
What is the electronic ticket?
The electronic ticket is the document that demonstrates the flight purchase made by the passenger to the airline. This document is required with an identification document (DNI, in Spain, or a similar national identity card) or passport, in order to do the check-in and get the boarding pass.
Travel agencies usually recommend to print the electronic ticket, what can be pretty useful in case traveller have to justify any movement at the customs or other authorities. The traveller must take into account that there are time limitations on the period that tourists can live in another country. The electronic ticket is usually enough to demonstrate the departure date from a country.
Once the airline company sales the airline ticket and received the charge, it sends the itinerary receipt to the email specified during the purchase process.
Invitation letters
An invitation letter is required by customs authorities. This means that the travellers must carry with themselves a document that demonstrates they have a place to rest during their travel. The invitation letter is mandatory, although authorities do not always ask for it. Nonetheless, every traveller whose purpose is to spend several weeks in another country should really ask about the invitation letter and carry with him or her the hotel (hostel, or hospitality) reservations. Not to carry the invitation letter can involve important outcomes such as being forced to come back to the departure country even before leaving the airport.
In Spain there are some documents required to issue a letter of invitation:
- Record note of the residence (photocopy and original)
- Rent contract (photocopy and original)
- Photocopy and original identification card of the person who asks for the letter.
- Photocopy of the passport (biography data page) of the people who will travel to the country.
- Proof of domicile (empadronamiento conjunto) issued within the last three months.
The cost of this document is around €70 to €80, and for more than one person there are special fares. The process to issue an invitation letter last from 20 days to several months, and once the person that asks for them has the letter has to send them to the person who is to come to Spain.
These documents may vary according to the police station and the country.
What is the flight itinerary?
The flight itinerary is the confirmation received in our email. It can be used as a purchase receipt. In the flight itinerary appears the reservation number. It is capital to check that the flight itinerary has been received, otherwise, it is possible that any error had occurred during the payment. This errors may occur because of our bank or the airline company.
What is the Check-in?
The online check-in is a formality that allows us to receive the boarding pass to our email. Sometimes some data that were not required while doing the reservation are now asked. Usually, is the moment to reserve the seat. When the passenger is going to travel with just a handbag, he can go straightly to the boarding door, and there is no need to go to the check-in desks. Printing your boarding pass is the fastest way to board the plane. Nonetheless, everyone must pass through the baggage screening monitoring and metal detectors.
Most of the times, the check-in online cannot be made until a week before the flight, or even 24 hours before. This depends on the airline company and the kind of flight. Sometimes the check-in can be made 30 days before, regarding some requirements. In rare occasions, it can be made two hours before the departure.
What is the boarding pass?
The boarding pass is the document that allows us to enter the departure gate. You will need it at the moment to board the plane, as well. Airline staff will ask for it at the airline desks. In this stage, the staff will check again that the data in the boarding pass is the same that the travellers’ passport or personal ids. The data that appears in the boarding pass is flight number, personal data (name, surname, id number), departure gate, and departure time.
Printed boarding passes
The system that consists on carrying the printed boarding pass is usually faster and slightly cheaper since otherwise, airline companies will charge us some processing charges.
Nowadays almost all the airline companies let us carry our boarding pass, printed at our home or at any printing shop.
In Mail Boxes Etc. you can print your boarding pass and your airline tickets.
Thus, carrying printed boarding passes can cause savings in time and money for the airlines, and speeds the procedures. Sometimes this savings are important in order for them to offer more competitive prices to the consumers.
Nonetheless, not all the travellers like to print their boarding pass at home, as many advertisements are printed at the same time with the boarding pass. This involves extra printer ink wasted. On the other hand, these adverts are considered intrusive as use cookies and data analysis to identify us as a target and be aimed at us.
In Mail Boxes Etc you can print your boarding pass or your tickets
If you are in Barcelona, you can print your boarding pass in the Gothic Quarter. Since we are in a very touristic spot, you can print your tickets while sightseeing in Barcelona. You can send your extra luggage, send artworks and much more.
