Adding APIS data for travel to the USA
 Questions and Answers Is the new requirement just for the US? Yes. Rules for other countries that require API details remain unchanged at present. For further information about the API requirements for other countries click here Can a passenger enter their Advanced Passenger Information themselves? Yes, passengers can enter their details at Manage my Booking Does an address need to be provided for every passenger? An address must be provided for all non-US citizens. US Citizens, Legal Permanent Residents (LPR’s), and Transit Passengers, are exempt from the address requirement. However, if a passenger has been granted US residency (Legal Permanent Resident), their Alien Resident Number (Green Card) must be collected instead. What implication does the recent EU ruling have on the collection of API data? This ruling has no impact on the information that British Airways is currently providing the US through API (passport information, destination address and country of residence). It is more important than ever that every effort is made to collect this information before passengers arrive at the airport, as the summer peak approaches. How do I enter API for Infants? British Airways is currently unable to process API for infants, collected through standard GDS processes. If a booking contains an infant, efforts should be made to collect API from the adults on the booking. This will limit the amount of time the passengers need to spend giving this information at the airport. British Airways is working on a process to allow pre-collection of API for infants, and this page will be updated with information as soon as possible. What is the definition of a transit passenger? A passenger transiting through the US must show that they possess confirmed onward reservations out of the United States, and that they will continue the journey within 8 hours of arrival, without leaving the airport. What is the definition of a destination address? A destination address is the address where a passenger will spend their first night in the US. In the case of those travelling to the US and returning within the same day, the destination address should be where they are visiting in the day. For example, a business address if visiting for meetings. What needs to be included in the address details? A passenger must provide either: Hotel name and street name, city, state and zip code eg. Hilton Time Square, New York, NY, NY123 or Street number and name, city, state and zip code eg. 23 Washington Avenue, New York, NY, NY123 What if a passenger is flying to the US and back (for a business trip for example) in one day? Do they still need to provide an address? Yes, all non-US citizens who are entering the US are required to provide address details. In the scenario of a one-day business trip, passengers should give the business address that they are visiting. What if a passenger does not know their destination address, for example if they are on a fly-drive package? It is assumed that most passengers will have a general itinerary of their travel plans and destinations. If the address of the first night stay is not known, then they should provide a general itinerary. For example: Street address: Touring the Grand Canyon City: Grand Canyon State: AZ Zip Code: 99999 For those passengers who are destined to a hotel and do not know the street address for the hotel, they should provide the hotel name, and city. For example: Street Address: Downtown Hotel Hilton – (be as specific as possible) City: Houston State: TX Zip Code: 99999 What address should a passenger give if they are joining a cruise ship? The US regulations will accept “transit to” followed by the Vessel/Cruise Name and the U.S. City of cruise embarkation, as a destination address in this scenario. For example: Street Address: Transit to MV Princess of the Seas City: Miami State: FL Zip Code: 99999 What if the address that the passenger is staying at changes? Every effort should be made to ensure that the information is correct, and also matches the details on the passenger immigration card (completed on the aircraft). This can be updated either by re-entering the relevant keyword, or by directing the passenger to Manage My Booking. What if the passport information has been entered in the booking changes? Any changes to the passport information once entered, will only be possible at the moment through Manage My Booking. What happens to the information that is collected? It is passed to the US Authorities. It is not used for marketing purposes by British Airways. If the information is collected once, will it automatically feed into PNRs in the future? No. This additional information needs to be added for each future booking. Executive Club members can enter their passport information and country of residence into their profile, which will automatically carry across. However, destination address details cannot be saved, as these are likely to change on every trip. What are repercussions for British Airways and other airlines if API is not completed, or is incorrect? Failure to provide API information for all passengers onboard a flight to the US could impact punctuality and also result in delays disembarking in the US. Heavy fines can also be levied. When using the BA keyword entries what happens if there is more than one person on a PNR? Does the information have to be entered more than once? For normal GDS made bookings the following applies: The passport details of each passenger need to be entered. For the destination address, it is assumed that this will be the same for all passengers in the PNR. Therefore this entry cannot be passenger related. If passengers are not staying at the same address, PNR’s will need to be separated in order to enter the data through the BA keyword process. For instructions on the Industry standard solutions, please contact your supplier. For bookings made through the groups process: Passport details for each passenger must be entered. We are working on a technical solution from bookings made through the Groups process where passengers are staying at different addresses. What will happen if a passenger arrives at the airport without having their API completed? To avoid delays at check-in, we are urging all passengers to provide their information before they get to the airport. British Airways will send you reminder notifications for bookings held for travel to the US, through the GDS. If a booking is ticketed and the required API information is still not present, we will send reminder emails to the customer, if they have provided an email address. What are the timescales for the industry standard solutions? The Industry Standard Solutions are now complete, and British Airways is able to accept passenger's information in this format. |
