Online Check-in. Whats the point?

[Leftofcentre2009]

I recently took a Vueling flight from LHR to PMI with my wife. I was able to check in for the flight upto a month before departure even though I was taking hold baggage.

I do wonder though, what is the point when I have to que at the airport for the bag drop and the attendant at the desk pretty much goes through the whole typical check in procedure again just like they used to in years gone by and before the invent of online check in??

On this particular flight I had already chosen and paid for my allocated seat and suitcase.

[GrahamO]

I am sure that unles you check in online in some manner, they can allocate a poor seat to you.

I agree however that in many cases it seems pointless if you pay to choose your seat.

I always check in online particularly if I only have hand luggae as I can skip that stage competely and 'avoid the scales' ;)

Whoever decided 7kg for hand luggage was the limit when I can have 50+kg in the hold ?

[Hotel Tango]

Like it or not, some of us have to take a suitcase. Now that the majority of pax check in online or the airport self check-in kiosk, what is becoming the norm with some of the airlines I use, is that the bag-drop queue is way longer than the full check-in queue. Since, as mentioned above, the bag-drop procedure can often take as long as the full check-in procedure, I'm not quite sure what gains are being achieved by the airline with all the automation. Sure, it is handy if travelling with hand luggage only, but that is about it. As for seat allocation, many of the better airlines already offer that option at the time of booking.

[RevMan2]

If you fly with an airline that has its processes sorted, you DO have advantages from online check-in.
Firstly, you've got a wider choice of seating
Secondly, having confirmed that your travel documents are valid, you front up at the baggage drop-off counter, the agent scans your boarding pass, prints the baggage tag and you're away.
And thirdly - if your airline's really clued up - you can check in your bag yourself. Put your bag on the belt, scan the boarding pass, confirm your flight, attach the baggage tag (self-adhesive, no backing to remove), confirm on the touch screen, get your baggage receipt and you're done.

[RevMan2]

Whoever decided 7kg for hand luggage was the limit when I can have 50+kg in the hold ?
The people who certify the aircraft bin capacity determine the maximum load per bin
Add all the limits, divide by the number of pax and it comes out at 7kg. Roughly.

[Shack37]

I do wonder though, what is the point when I have to que at the airport for
the bag drop and the attendant at the desk pretty much goes through the whole typical check in procedure again just like they used to in years gone by and before the invent of online check in??

On this particular flight I had
already chosen and paid for my allocated seat and suitcase.


It's normally cheaper to pay for your luggage online.


Whoever decided 7kg for hand luggage was the limit when I can have 50+kg in the hold ?


Travelling alone or accompanied ie 1 bag per person?

[PAXboy]

The point of on-line check in is for the carrier to save money and make more profit. Simples! :p

[Tarq57]

The people who certify the aircraft bin capacity determine the maximum load per bin
Add all the limits, divide by the number of pax and it comes out at 7kg. Roughly.
Ah. So that's why the overheads always seem to collapse in the event on an 'unmentionable'.....

[RevMan2]

@Paxboy

True, but it also has advantages for the traveller. A fair trade-off, IMHO

[RevMan2]

@ Tarq57

Ah. So that's why the overheads always seem to collapse in the event on an 'unmentionable'.....

No, that would be because the maximum bin load has probably been exceeded...

[Hotel Tango]

It's normally cheaper to pay for your luggage online.

Depending on the airline of course. Yes, I know that even some of the legacy carriers have now also adopted the seperate charge policy but there are still plenty that continue to include a free checked bag allowance including, strangely enough, the original lowcost airline, Southwest.

The point of on-line check in is for the carrier to save money and make more profit. Simples!

That's the idea, yes, but when I see the bag drop counters still needed plus all the staff milling around the self check-in kiosks to assist the still many unfamiliar pax, I'm not entirely convinced that their goal is being achieved as perhaps first envisaged. As for the self bag drop, not that many around yet. Again, where they do exist, staff have to be on hand to assist the inexperienced (i.e. most pax at this stage).

Personally I enjoy all these do-it-yourself check-in options, but I do remain unconvinced about cost savings.

[Tarq57]

No, that would be because the maximum bin load has probably been exceeded...
Exactly. I don't ever recall experiencing my cabin bag being weighed.

[RevMan2]

@Tarq57
I don't ever recall experiencing my cabin bag being weighed

Now, that DOES surprise me. Air NZ can be mighty finicky when it comes to baggage limits....

[Hipennine]

Regular check weight of all hand bags at DME, way over allowance, totally ignored !

[PAXboy]

Had my cabin bag weighed and tested for physical size many times - both legacy and loco.

I agree that we still see many check-in desk staff and so I also wonder if the savings are as big as they hoped. But certainly agree that time will take care of it - certainly over the next 10-15 years.

[peakcrew]

I always find it quite odd that the rucksack I tend to use (not sure of the volume, but it's about the size of a "standard" suitcase) is effectively invisible at airports. I've been in airports where all the drag-alongs etc have been weighed and checked for size, yet my rucksack has not been mentioned!

[edi_local]

I think the general idea is that a rucksack is pretty soft around the edges and can usually be squashed a bit to fit in to an awkward space (such as a full overhead bin or under a seat) whereas most trolley bags cannot. Hence why a blind eye can occasionally be turned to rucksacks. I, personally have seen plenty of them being checked in though, so really it boils down to the airline/airport/agent.

[peakcrew]

Interesting you should say that - I've only flown a couple of times since we moved to where Edinburgh is our local big airport, but my rucksack has been already been checked once. I'll see what happens in the next couple of months when I fly twice more.

[Shack37]

Quote:
It's normally cheaper to pay for your luggage online. Depending on the airline of course. Yes, I know that even some of the legacy carriers have now also adopted the seperate charge policy but there are still plenty that continue to include a free checked bag allowance including, strangely enough, the original lowcost airline, Southwest.

Perhaps I wasn't clear. I was referring to airlines who DO charge for checked baggage who will charge more at the airport than prepaid online.

[GrahamO]

Travelling alone or accompanied ie 1 bag per person?

Traelling alone - Emirates Gold on a 380.

46kg in the hold and 7kg on board kind of thing. never even got close before and have always taken two bags maximum.

Interesting about the 7kg overhead locker limit - I rarely see anything as light as that going up, in this part of the world (Middle East)

[ExXB]

Depending on the airline they likely can shave 1-2 minutes off the process. Doesn't sound like a lot but when you are talking large numbers of passengers the time saving can be significant.

And this means you spend less time in the queue.

As technology improves we'll have baggage tags printed at home meaning you won't even need a human to take your bag. And this will mean even more flexibility on where you drop your bag. Why schlep it from the train station to the terminal, when you can leave it at the station, or even the station you left from?

[swordfish41]

Well, I remember you didn't need new technology to be able to check your bag at Paddington for several carriers across the Atlantic, and you could also do this at Victoria. Now its not possible, I suspect because of costs. The more that carriers can make passengers do for themselves what used to be done for them the more money they generate. So self printed tickets, seat selection, carry ons mean less staff and less paper, and more revenue per passenger. Simples.

[deep_south]

>>>>As technology improves we'll have baggage tags printed at home

And just how will we print the special, long, thin, self adhesive strips?

Boarding cards are easy - they are just "paper" or an "image". But when you need to securely attach the tag to the baggage, that's a slightly different issue!

Maybe when we use RFID tags "everywhere" so they are fitted by the manufacturer, as they cna be easily read, but we are a long way from that!

[NRU74]

I flew with Monarch last month.You have to pay,in effect, to check in on line.This is because to check in on line you have to choose a seat.If you choose a seat you have to pay for it.If you check in at the airport it's free and you are allocated a seat.This seems to be exactly the opposite to how the other Lo Cos do it.

[Phileas Fogg]

Not with Loco's but with mainstream operators one advantage of checking-in online could be that one could select one's seat, in the case of a F70/F100's somewhere near to the front 'cos there ain't no emergency exits down the back and/or in the case of an A330/A340's a two abreast bulkhead seat and so on.

What defeats this object though is when certain airlines pre-allocate all seats and expect, upon online check-in, the punters to play musical chairs with each other and often, by the time online check-in opens, the flight is nigh-on full then there ain't no empty seats to change one's pre-allocated cr@ppy seat to.

So what is the point?

[Hartington]

The industry has been looking at RFID tags for some time. I can remember being shown (10 years ago?) a conventional looking bag tag with bar codes etc but embedded in it there was also an RFID tag. And therein lies the rub. There's a lot of money tied up in barcode systems and you're not going to get an overnight conversion.

I suspect that the solution to tagging bags won't be printing them at home or even from self service machines at the airport. I suspect we'll see some form of RFID or NFC chip built into suitcases. If you have an existing case you buy a new address label with the required chip in it and attach that to the bag. Then you'll checkin on your mobile device that has NFC and included in the data sent to your mobile device will be baggage data. Hold the mobile device against the suitcase and away you go. It definitely isn't that simple, what I've described has a number of security loopholes, but that's what I think is being looked at (and even trialled BA trials 'time-saving' electronic bag tag - Business Traveller (http://www.businesstraveller.com/news/ba-trials-time-saving-electronic-bag-tag)).

On the other hand there's probably someone looking at being able to identify your case using visual techniques (photo analysis) and attaching that to your record so the bag never needs any form of tag. And if not that some equally implausible science fiction type solution which will arise just as RFID/NFC comes to fruition and throws us all into chaos again.

Me? I like to see a barcode attached with the correct city code and then it disappears into the bowels of the termnal. I understand that!

[ExXB]

And just how will we print the special, long, thin, self adhesive strips?

Not as complicated as you think, and doesn't involve RFID (which is still too expensive for tags and readers).

The airline gives you a bag-tag holder, which has a clear plastic window on both sides. You print your bag-tag on normal paper, fold appropriately and put it into the holder.

Looks just like a special, long, thin, self adhesive strip - text and barcodes the same.

Not perfect, but what is?

[Hotel Tango]

Jeez, why not just beam the bag to its destination ;)

[NorthernChappie]

For me, a distinct advantage of on-line check in is to avoid that BA strapline "Sorry Sir, our Club World cabin is overbooked this morning. As you were last to check in this morning, you've been downgraded. Have a nice day - all 13 hours of it stuck up the back."

Haven't used them since - till this coming November for unavoidable reasons. We'll be checking in on-line.

[localflighteast]

if you want pointless line ups try flying to the US from Toronto Pearson airport with Air Canada.

process is pretty much as follows:

1) attempt to check in on line the day before as AC claim you can, discover that it isn't possible when the web site returns a vague "this flight is not eligible for on line check in"
2) arrive at airport, get directed to the line up for the "self service check in kiosks" - said line is about 20 people deep at each kiosk, with no discernible system. When AC staff allow people to randomly shove in, have your protests met with a filthy look and a shrug of the shoulders.
3) check in using the kiosk, answer the usual inane questions, get boarding card printed
4) join the line up for the baggage drop off desks, this line up is 100+ people long and is for ALL AC flights. at some point the line up is arbitrarily split into two. there are seven desks available. the people marshalling the line ups allow the other half of the line up to use 5 of the desks. your half is relegated to the two remaining desks
5) answer the same inane questions you did using the kiosk, the person behind the desk then spends twice the amount of time entering stuff into their computer than you did using the crappy touch pad on the kiosk
6) get printed baggage tag wrapped around your case handle
7) discover that you don't actually drop off your bags here but have to schlep them around to US customs anyway

I have never been able to get a satisfactory answer as to what the freakin point of the self service kiosks are

they just provide somewhere else you have to line up.

[RevMan2]

If you fly with an airline that has its processes sorted, you DO have advantages from online check-in.

Nothing to add to my original statement....

[Mark in CA]

Online check-in was a distinct advantage for my friend flying to Istanbul recently. When we got to the airport, the regular check-in lines were huge, but she was second in line for the baggage drop-off line, obviously avoiding a much longer wait.

I would imagine this advantage varies widely, depending on the departure airport. I'd suspect most people from the Silicon Valley area check in online, whereas those traveling from/to less technically oriented points probably don't. My friend's flight obviously was the latter case.

As others have said, online check-in also allows you to pick your own seat, and specify any special meal requirements/desires. I usually choose the Asian vegetarian option, which is like Indian food, as I usually feel better after eating it compared to the usual cabin fare, and special meals like that always get served first!

[Heathrow Harry]

On line is good if you don't have luggage to check - otherwise its pretty useless TBH

[Ancient Observer]

Generally, on-line check-in is simply the airline trying, (and often failing) to get you to do their job.

The only benefit I can see is that on some flights, on some days, I get to choose my seat.

Otherwise the queues at "bag drop" at T 5, (for instance) are just as bad as they used to be with "full service" check in.

[Dairyground]

For me, a distinct advantage of on-line check in is to avoid that BA
strapline "Sorry Sir, our Club World cabin is overbooked this morning. As you
were last to check in this morning, you've been downgraded. Have a nice day -
all 13 hours of it stuck up the back."

Haven't used them since - till this coming November for unavoidable reasons. We'll be checking in on-line.


It can work the other way. I recently received unsolicited upgrades from WT+ to Club World on both outward and inward legs of the same trip!

[Hotel Tango]

NorthernChappie, I can only guess that you didn't put up much of a fight and accepted the situation. As long as you checked-in within the mimimum specified time there was no reason to punish you for their own incompetence. Out of interest, did they not offer you a Business seat on the next flight, or with another carrier? Of course I realise that time may have been a factor for you but I'm just curious to know what they offered in terms of alternatives and compensation.