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Speedbird61
13th Feb 2009, 11:14
I recently had to line up at the Qantas check-in, unfamiliar with its new bag drop and self check-in procedure, after spending 10 minutes in the line, a Qantas employee asked if I had checked in, I said no, so she made me get out of the line, and check-in at the self check-in machine, I then lost about 10 positions in the line, and had to line up again, now how stupid is this ? does it really save time ??? I would have been better off to stay in the line, and check-in like the good ole days.

strake
13th Feb 2009, 12:44
Bad news. The good ole days are gone.:ooh:

If this was a one-off flight well, perhaps best to put it down to experience. However, if you are flying with them again soon, you have two options:

1. Check-in online, select your seat, print your boarding pass, drop your bags at the drop desk, show 'em your passport and then go straight to security.

OR

2. On arrival at the airport, go straight to the check-in kiosk, touch the screen to get the process going, which will involve swiping your passport and/or One World Alliance membership card and/or entering your confirmation number, selecting your seat, confirming your bags and getting a boarding pass. Then drop your bags at the drop desk and off you jolly well go.

frnikolai
13th Feb 2009, 16:43
I would still of imagined that even buying the kiosks costs more than just having the desk open anyway? As you still have to queue at a desk, with an employee and drop the bags off? Only difference, you waste time with the machine?

I could understand if you could leave you're bag with the machine - but you can't!

Does anyone else think that?

Nikolai.

strake
13th Feb 2009, 20:34
Old system: say 10 check in agents @ £20K plus costs, circa £250k per annum Cost £2.5million + over 10 years per airport.

New system: 10 kiosks at £5k-£7k each with 10 year life + 1 drop bag agent. Cost £50k -£70k approx per airport with lifespan of about 10 years.

Savings = at least £2m per major airport (say 20 around the globe for airline such as BA) over 10 years after capital and installation costs.

Other benefits include reduced queueing time for passengers, self selection of seating and speedier movement through landside. Bag drop takes seconds.

BOFH
13th Feb 2009, 21:27
strake

The good ole days are gone.

Not quite - you will always end up behind the most boneheaded cretin fumbling around, no matter which queue you take :ugh: . One of life's little mysteries.

The new(ish) system works rather well when travelling Y on an airline where you don't get preferential treatment because of miles or status. Similarly, the days of waiting in queues for a teller at a bank are now, thankfully, long behind us.

As strake points out, it's just one of those learning experiences from which you can benefit in the future.

BOFH

A Comfy Chair
13th Feb 2009, 23:42
I'm still not sure it saves much time... you get your boarding pass, but once you get to the bag drop desk you have to give them your boarding pass, and they enter it all the info into the computer... can't take much longer to then just print a boarding pass!

Only advantage is if you have no bags, or if you want to choose your seat (out of the limited available options)

Bealzebub
14th Feb 2009, 01:21
My current work schedule has me doing an unusually large amount of passengering on other airlines around Europe and North America at the moment. It is certainly a cathartic experience if nothing else.

Normally I will check in on-line and usually print my boarding pass at one of the airport machines. No problem so far. Next it is off to the "Fast bag drop." It is here that the system usually falls over. It certainly is the queue to drop off your bags, but I am not sure where the term "fast" comes from. Certainly the queue isn't usually fast. I fully appreciate that the introduction of new technology is supposed to result in cost savings by streamlining the check-in process (less staff), but when you do eventually reach the head of the queue, it still seems as if the check-in agent has to type the first 3 pages of her autobiography into the computer terminal before the connected printer finally spits out the terminally adhesive luggage label that enables the loaders (after their tailored game of rugby) to prove just how wrong Samsonites proud luggage claims actually are! Now I understand that the check-in agent is responsible for checking your documents, to ensure the airline isn't charged a ransom for importing you as an undesirable into some foreign port. I also understand that there are security checks that they are also tasked with undertaking. But why do they use the term "Fast" when it takes so long!

In the last few weeks I had one check in at LHR T2 where I arrived as number 3 in the fast bag drop (great!) only to have the single check-in agent on duty (for one flight to Paris and a partner airlines flight to Moscow) then decide to take his "croissant break". 15 minutes it then took for somebody else to arrive and complete the 3 minute nuclear snapcount procedure that is seemingly required to log on to the system. By this time the Queue of 3 had grown to one resembling the opening day of a new thrill ride in Disneyland!

Then there was the fast bag drop at a large North American airlines counter at some airport in the new world recently. That airline had 6 flights out that whole day and I arrived at STD-2 hours. It seemed the airline had a technical problem with an earlier flight and all the passengers from that flight had to be reprotected on other flights. These things happen of course, but all these passengers had to queue up at the fast bag drop to check in again for their new re-routed service. The queue couldn't have been any longer if they had been giving out hundred dollar bills gratis! After some 45 minutes of moving three feet in an elasticated snake that seemed to encompass the population of 4 small nations, it was obvious that I would miss the flight unless I resorted to drastic measures. Armed with a determined glare and my airline ID card in hand I extricated myself from the early constrictions of the elastic boa and headed for the relative order and tranquility of the airlines First class check-in line. That worked.

Terminal 5 last week, and burned with the North American experience of the week before, I arrived at STD- 2.5 hours. Checked-in online. Picked up boarding pass from shiny machine. Short queue at fast bag drop. Nobody took a break for croissants or anything else. Neatly presented passport and ticket at the desk, and......................."too early. You can only drop off your bags 2 hours before the flight!" Why? It seems this 21st century terminal cloggs up if it dares to swallow and masticate your bag before this time. Apparantly this was the cause of so many peoples luggage ending up in oblivion (OBL) when T5 opened to such an unfortunate fanfare last year. So off to the coffee shop for 30 minutes in order to spend the remnants of my childrens inhertitance on something called a latte grande accompanied by a small square of carrot cake, wrapped up in 32 layers of that plastic stuff they use to mummify suitcases at the better third world airports! When I returned to the queue 30 minutes later, they had managed to recruit enough people to fill 3 auditions for the X-Factor. It took all of 30 minutes for them to be able to tell me with thinly disguised glee "your flight is cancelled, the next one is 19:10!" However they did check my bag in.

Is it always like this! :ouch:

Apologies to QANTAS as no Koalas were involved or harmed in the production of any of these debacles!

WHBM
16th Feb 2009, 17:27
Next it is off to the "Fast bag drop."I notice that most carriers who styled their desks "Fast Bag Drop" are now renaming them as "Bag Drop", presumably after all the stick they got.

it still seems as if the check-in agent has to type the first 3 pages of her autobiography into the computer terminalIndeed. As a computer person this is a complete mystery to me as well, the design of the software must be a nonsense. Scan in your BP bar code, key in the number of bags (the only keying needed), print, stick, next please. goodness knows what else is required.

I understand that the check-in agent is responsible for checking your documents, to ensure the airline isn't charged a ransom for importing you as an undesirable into some foreign port.Not so. Because if you are Hand Baggage Only you miss this step completely, so this cannot be part of the immigration documents check. That needs to be done for everyone, and thus elsewhere.

too early. You can only drop off your bags 2 hours before the flight!"You should try the delights of Ryanair, where they do not open their check-in desk for a given flight until 2 hours beforehand, they close it rigorously 40 minutes before departure (notwithstanding that you may be Hand Baggage Only and the inbound aircraft is just at Top-of-Descent), and the one recent recruit is there to process 189 passengers.

FormerFlyer
17th Feb 2009, 09:21
Nominated for best post of the year bealzebub

You have, unwittingly, cheered my day up no end :ugh:

cheers ;)
FF