My last travel to Australia Perth, they have ABF officers stationed at KLIA boarding gate to check your credentials and ETA.
I remember one family was denied boarding.

funny thing, if u flying SQ they dont allow you to online check in, but Scoot on the other hand, ok though

I just came back from perth, my passport can't do the e-gate thing, dunno why, went to the normal counters, officers says its common, but the rest of my family members went thru the e-gate smoothly

Glitch on n the matrix haha. Hope you enjoyed your trip with your family! Did you fly SQ via Changi? And if so, did you make a detour to Les Amis hahaha?

While 3/4 of ETA applications get pulled for further processing, the vast majority of applications get approved, the rejection rate is less than 5%.

Adelaide is the best performing MH destination becausf there is few competition.

Gotta be a headache for sure if it's removed. Malaysians why... Why....

Last I went in September last year, no ABF spotted in KLIA. Now don't know.

The ETA is linked to the airlines reservation APIS system (hence pre Covid, travel agencies easily get the ETA for you as part of their services).

When you attempt to perform an online check-in, the airline reservation system automatically verify with Australian DIBP if a valid visa it attached to that passport. If yes, you proceed to check in. If no, your check-in fails and you will need to go to the counter to see a human before the flight.

I fail because of the problem with the Malaysian naming system in the passport. There is no given name in the Malaysian passport! Your whole name is your surname. So my flight booking name (based on surname and given name) is different from the passport and visa name, no valid visa turns up on the check-in. The human at the desk will need to change your booking name to your passport name, and then your visa appears.

In addition, an officer will often be at the departure gate. They are trained to pick up suspicious behaviour (drug mules, plane jumpers etc) and are empowered to deny boarding to anyone if they are suspicious.

Because the wages and currency difference is big enough to warrant the risk and trouble, and a reflection of how far Malaysia has lagged behind. The ETA is a loophole.

Of course many other countries are even further behind economically and would also love to also jump plane.

But they need the 600 visa pay $190, etc so that filtered most of them out.

I’ve never observed officers at the departures from Changi. Is this only for KLIA?

They are there at the boarding gates in Changi. Of course you will not see them, as you go through from the KF first class lounge straight to your seat in the aircraft.

OIC. Thanks for clarifying

He is actually awfully fit! Plays 3 rounds of golf per week still.

Note that they are often not caucasian....

Ah! Maybe that’s why they can blend in!

I would think the visa should be pegged to your passport number, so as soon as you punch in the number into the check-in system, it should pick up your visa details.

That would have been my first thought too…

The difference isn't between your ticket and ETA. It's between your ticketed name and your passport details.

All details must tally (number, dob, name, expiry date, place of issue) between the booking, presented passport and visa. Any information not tally, the system automatically rejects and a human must oversee and override.

I give you my experience last year. Because of my KF name being different from my passport and visa name, I have to check in at the airport. They changed my surname to reflect my passport, but failed to delete my given name. I got my boarding pass with name "Tan Ah kow, Ah Kow".

At boarding, the system flagged again, because my boarding pass name is different from my visa name. (They knew before hand as they saw our boarding passes and asked us to stand aside and wait). The boarding agent then referred to an "officer", whom I realised is a DIBP person. She looked at our passports, made a call, and then approved my boarding. We were the last to board.

Btw, she looks like from the subcontinent.

This post has been edited by limeuu: Apr 25 2024, 01:07 PM

Our Malaysia passport is the culprit for many airline check in problems all over the world

I can’t believe SQ would cock up something as simple as our names.

And yes, I also notice that there’s plenty of these heroes from the subcontinent working in the airport at Kingsford Smith… esp in security roles.

It's not SQ's fault.

They use the standard "given name": "middle name": "surname" format in all their interfaces.

So most people follow that with Ah Kow:blank: Tan in their KF registration or bookings, which I also did.

Then when I realised the problem with the Malaysia passport name system, I cannot change because then I cannot link my bookings with my KF account. In the past, boarding passes with a name like "Tan Ah Kow Ah Kow" will pass through all the hoops.

That stopped after reopening after Covid, and I started getting griefs. I presume DIBP decided to tighten up border control with Malaysians.

So the solution was to physically go to a KF counter, make an official change in KF membership name from Ah Kow: blank: Tan to GNU (given name unknown) Tan Ah Kow, . Then make sure my bookings are Tan Ah Kow, no given name.

Then everything is hunky dory.

Until someone decides to look at my IC, I suppose?

This post has been edited by limeuu: Apr 25 2024, 05:08 PM