Binter Online Check-in: Boarding Pass and Timings

Binter's online check-in opens 7 days before departure and lets you get your boarding pass without going through the counters if you're travelling without hold luggage.

Closing time, however, isn't the same for everyone. Binter publishes boarding times, which set the pace of the day:

Online check-in and airport counters close ahead of these times. Treat the deadline shown on your booking as your reference point and build in a comfortable margin: a passenger who arrives after the counter has closed is no longer accepted, even with a boarding pass already issued.

Not every Binter flight offers online check-in. According to information published by the airline, online check-in is available:

• for inter-island flights within the Canary Islands;
• for domestic flights, except those originating in San Sebastián, Murcia, Zaragoza, Valladolid, Córdoba, Badajoz, Vitoria or Logroño;
• for international flights to or from Portugal.

For other routes, particularly to West Africa, plan on going through the airport counter and arriving well ahead of time, as document checks take longer there.

Online check-in is accessed from the Online Check-in section of the airline's website, logging in with a BinterMás account. Binter's customer service can be reached Monday to Sunday from 5am to 11pm.

Once check-in is confirmed, the boarding pass can be printed. Without any luggage to check in, it lets you head straight to the boarding gate without going through the check-in counters.

Two things to keep an eye on:

• the gate number: Binter recommends checking your flight's boarding gate number on the airport information screens;
• documents: at boarding time, your identity (the identity of the person named on the ticket) will be verified using your personal documents; the resident and/or large family certificate or the special fare will also be checked.

In other words, a boarding pass doesn't exempt you from any checks. If you're travelling with a resident discount or a large-family fare, keep the relevant certificate to hand, unless the electronic verification of your resident status has already been carried out.

On flights arriving from countries outside the European Union, Binter flags the rollout of the Entry/Exit System (EES) at the external borders of the Schengen area, with biometric registration in addition to passport checks, and advises arriving at the airport earlier than usual.

Online check-in doesn't replace dropping off your luggage. As soon as you have a suitcase for the hold, you need to go through a Binter counter or a baggage drop point, within the check-in deadlines set by the airport concerned. Allowances depend on the fare purchased and the route; extra checked baggage is booked directly with the airline, through the dedicated section of its website.

For cabin luggage, stick to the dimensions and weight allowed by Binter for your fare, detailed in the airline's Hand Luggage section.

A special case is the waiting list: if you ask to change your time slot without an assigned seat, you may be placed on a waiting list, which is possible up to 24 hours before the scheduled departure if the ticket's fare conditions allow it. You then need to confirm your presence within the airport's check-in and boarding deadlines, and being accepted on the new flight means giving up your seat on the original one. FlexiMás passengers and BinterMás customers get priority here.

The website won't let me check in. First check the date: check-in opens 7 days before departure. Then check the flight's origin, since several Spanish airports and routes outside Spain and Portugal aren't covered by online check-in.

Booking not found. The booking reference and name must match exactly what's on your ticket; a ticket bought through a travel agency or tour operator can carry a different reference from the one shown in your confirmation.

Misspelled name, expired passport, changed document. These situations need to be sorted out with the airline before departure, not at the boarding gate: the identity of the person named on the ticket is checked at boarding.

Boarding pass not received or lost. Log back in to the online check-in area to reissue it, or go to the counter, keeping its closing time in mind.

Delayed or cancelled flight, missed connection. Contact the airline's customer service, open Monday to Sunday from 5am to 11pm, or speak to staff at the airport.

Check-in rules vary from one airline to another: see, for example, Air Europa's check-in procedure or Air Nostrum's check-in process. For a Binter flight, you can also hand the task over to iBoardingPass, which carries out online check-in on your behalf as soon as it opens and sends you the boarding pass by email.