Fast bag drop name dropped!

[Sark]

Flew out of LGW this morning early and noticed that the BA signs for the title fast bag drop for check in on-line passengers have been changed to just bag drop. I now know why!
I joined the queue at 05.01 and got rid of my bag at 05.34.
People who had not been so wise as me and had not checked in on line or by machine just sailed through in minutes as there was no queue at all!
My tip is: do not join the new tech passengers like me and hundreds of others, you will get through quicker.
On another tack the shoe removal was compulsory. I find it all rather unhygienic, a breeding ground for verrucas. What is the point?

[MrSoft]

It was nice while it lasted! Ultimately, checking in baggage takes a given amount of time for a given amount of passengers, however you try and skew the process. It's a natural queue, that can't be relocated inifinitely.

Well, internet check-in is going to be the norm soon. Nothing to do with customer benefits. Already, you have little chance of securing a decent seat with BA unless you use online check-in. In a state of nervous tension, business pax lurk around the world, waiting to pounce on 62A :8

[Fargoo]

On another tack the shoe removal was compulsory. I find it all rather unhygienic, a breeding ground for verrucas. What is the point?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Colvin_Reid

You have this man to thank, he didn't manage to achieve his objective but has managed to cause a long term effect on aviation security :rolleyes:

[FlyerFoto]

MrSoft said:


Well, internet check-in is going to be the norm soon


Mmm - did that with KLM for a flight from NWI - neither the woman at security or the girls at the gate had ever seen an online boarding pass before!

[10secondsurvey]

The word 'fast' was irrelevant right from the beginning.

Just one thing really bugs me about flying, and it is this; many other service industries are extremey competitive, yet you can still pick and choose between different suppliers based upon level of service if you want. But why is it, that around Europe, even if you fly club/business (which to be honest is a friggin joke in Europe), the service is always the same old sh*te.

What is it about aviation as a service industry that prevents any attempts to capture market share around europe based on good standards of service?? Surely there is a reason, I can't be the only person prepared to pay more for good service...or am I?

[groundhand]

Surely the big question is when will the DfT permit automatic bag drops. If it can work in Germany why can't it work in the UK?

The security questions can be answered on a touch screen. You do this already if you only have cabin baggage.
Your boarding card can be read by a scanner.
The bag tag is printed at the drop point and is easliy attached,
The system won't release the bag into the system and return your boarding pass until the bag has been scanned to ensure that it is tagged correctly, is not over-weight/over-sized etc.

So why do the DfT insist that the airline has to have a human (mmm-debatable point at some desks!) asking the questions?
Or is it a question of IT development? (would have thought if the system is there in Germany then it could be used anywhere).

GH

[pacer142]

The trouble with answering security questions by touch-screen is that you can't look at body language.

[Haven't a clue]

But you can answer identical questions as regards your hand baggage by touch screen to collect a boarding pass...thus passing the buck to security.

I wasn't aware that check-in staff had been formally trained to interpret body language, and in any event 100% hold baggage screening is the norm.

[k3lvc]

Was pleasantly suprised this morning when heading through Gatwick North that the stupid (IMHO) shoe removal rule appeared to have stopped. How silly of me - once through security there is now a second level of security just for shoe screening and all have to participate :ugh::ugh:

Is this the shape of things to come in BAA or just a Gatwick North initiative ?

[PAXboy]

The last time I went through LGW in June, they said that One Third of pax must have shoes screened. As it was very difficult to get every third person in a queue to do that, they make it one whole queue out of three that removes shoes. That may, or may not, still apply.

[FWOF]

It's getting more peverse, the screening process ... remove your boots please madam, and your watch, and your belt... YES, it STILL beeps but I'm not taking my bra off.

Actually, I do wonder how the eystem works, as each week I go through it's more or the less the same shoes, jewellery and watch.

And I wonder, can I not request who I'd like to br frisked by?! ;)

[k3lvc]

I too had got used to the 1 in 3 rule (or 1 in 1 for staff :mad:) hence my surprise when no-one was removing shoes at the normal checks. When the funnel narrows to enter the departure lounge there is now a secondary check/scanners where all have to re-queue and remove their shoes.

[Curious Pax]

The trouble with answering security questions by touch-screen is that you can't look at body language.

In my experience 80% of check in staff are busy with labels/thumping away at their computer when asking the question, which also makes assessing body language a little difficult. Not a slight on them by the way, just a reflection of how much they have to do in a very short time.

[10secondsurvey]

yes, LGW and the x-raying of shoes twice.

Go through security, they ask to x-ray your shoes, and once you get through and think that it's all over, and put your shoes back on, guess what? they ask to x-ray them again - at a DEDICATED shoe x-ray point further up. Genius.

[VS-LHRCSA]

On-line check-in and "fast" bag drop are concepts that were designed before the "one carry-on per passenger" rule. I believe one of the contributing factors too the seemingly lengthier queues at bag drop is because more people are having to check in bags - people who would ordinarily just check in at home and go straight to security.

Another factor is the amount of passengers who simply will not conform to the luggage allowances specified in their booking and will insist on arguing their case at the bag drop desk. This ties up check-in desks and is frustrating for the agent and the passengers waiting behind in the queue.

Management of these two factors would certainly make a big difference in waiting times.

[10secondsurvey]

If more pax are checking in more bags, there is a simple solution- get more staff.

As to pax not 'complying' with baggage requirements, well, its hardly the pax fault that firstly, they are not airline baggage experts, and secondly the airline baggage requirements keep changing.

It was abundantly clear when all this self check in nonsense started, that ultimately, staff would be cut, and at the end ,there would be no improvement in check in times with baggage.

[VS-LHRCSA]

Airlines are finding it very difficult to retain check-in staff. It doesn't pay very much and is quite stressful. By the way you've ripped into me for trying to explain where improvements need to be made, you've provided a very good example of why people don't stay in the job. Would you stay in job where you are being abused and spat at (literally) for £980 a month?

Baggage allowances should be printed on your ticket or e-ticket. Airlines will have these rules on their website. I can understand turning up with a case that weighs 26kgs when the limit is 23kgs. An agent can work around that. It is the people that turn up with 3 bags at 40kgs and create a scene when they are challenged. My initial point is that these are the people that hold up the lines.

As I said, it is the "management" of these issues that will make the difference. Personally, I would like airlines to be more pro-active in ensuring passengers are advised of the baggage allowances during the booking process however from my experience it is the passengers that are fully aware of their allowances but will approach the check-in desk in defiance that are the cause of some of the congestion.

[SXB]

Would you stay in job where you are being abused and spat at (literally) for £980 a month?


Certainly not. But are you saying £980 per month is not the market rate for such a role ? From what I gather staff retention is a problem in most of the UK's customer service industries. Some companies deal with it better than others.

As I said, it is the "management" of these issues that will make the difference. Personally, I would like airlines to be more pro-active in ensuring passengers are advised of the baggage allowances during the booking process however from my experience it is the passengers that are fully aware of their allowances but will approach the check-in desk in defiance that are the cause of some of the congestion.

I'm more concerned about the airlines standard of service when processing passengers with baggage which exceeds their standard allowance. I often travel with large amounts of luggage and the system for payment and process seems to differ in every airport. Sometimes you can pay at checkin, sometimes you have to go to a different part of the airport etc, etc. Only yesterday I was 13kgs over the limit at PRN and at checkin I was told I had to go to the other side of the airport, have my luggage weighed and then pay the appropriate fee. I informed the checkin agent that she could take care of this for me and I would wait in the coffee bar for her to bring the bill. She was happy to get someone to do this, try doing that at LHR or LGW and see how far you get.

[10secondsurvey]

VS-LHRCSA,

I'm pretty surprised that people actually spit at check in agents (can't people like that be permanently banned?), but then cheaper air travel has opened up flying to the kind of undesirables who in the past would rarely if ever go near an airport.

I agree, the problem is a management issue, but having said that, in any customer service industry, aggressive or abusive people will be met from time to time. Just take a look at a cross section of the UK population, some people are really nice, and others are thugs. In a cutomer facing role, all of these types can be met. It sounds elitist (but isn't), that in the past most of such undesirable people couldn't afford to fly anywhere.

As for baggage, maybe pax should know more, but not everybody is a frequent flyer.

From the check in staff point of view, surely they need to just accept the fact that;

1. Some people will always 'try it on'.

2. Some people just don't know/care.

3. Some people on this planet are not very nice.

The very worst that can happen is for air crew to start assuming all pax are like the above, as it just isn't so.