check-in chaos for Scoot/Tiger @SIN
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check-in chaos for Scoot/Tiger @SIN
I had the misfortune to experience first-hand the new combined Scoot/Tiger check-in procedure at Singapore Changi Airport recently. To say that it was chaotic would be an understatement.
On arrival at the airport, as per normal procedure, I checked the board which said that I was supposed to check in at row 12. So I went to row 12 and found
After a few minutes, a roaming staff member asked me what my destination was. I told him, and he directed me to Row 11. I told him that the board said Row 12, and he said that the check-in row has been changed but the change has not yet been reflected in the board. So I went to Row 11 - and was completely stumped.
Firstly, there was no destination posted on Row 11, just FAST Bag Drop and FAST Assistance. And in front of that row was around 8 self-service kiosks.
Now, I am not a novice when it comes to travelling by plane. I make at least one return international trip a year, and actually made the same trip three months ago and had no problems at all with the normal check-in. I have also done Web Check-in on a previous trip (V Aust) and printed out my boarding passes at home. But I was completely at a loss on what to do next. I saw no signs or notices advising travellers to use the kiosks. With nothing to lose, I decided to try a kiosk.
On the plus side, the kiosk was quite easy to use. (I just did a search and found instructions on Checking In). They also had a few roaming staff helping passengers use the kiosks. Basically, you scan your passport, enter the booking reference and the number of bags you have, and it prints out your boarding pass and your baggage tag. You then attach the baggage tag on your bag and bring it to the FAST Bag Drop counter.
I did that and joined the FAST Bag Drop queue. Except it was anything but FAST. The reason for the exceptional speed? Of the ~10 counters available, only three were staffed, and two of them were marked FAST Assistance (which was again, anything but). After a long wait, which was slightly shorten by a staff directly our queue into one of the FAST Assistance counter - sorry to those in that queue), I was finally able to drop my bag off.
Obviously this is a cost saving exercise. Scoot is trying to cut staff costs by having us enter our details, print out our boarding passes and label our own checked-in baggage. I just have a few questions.
On arrival at the airport, as per normal procedure, I checked the board which said that I was supposed to check in at row 12. So I went to row 12 and found
- The screens on that row specified a different flight number and destination.
- The queue of people queuing was extremely long, extending beyond the normal queuing area (which I have not normally seen at Changi).
After a few minutes, a roaming staff member asked me what my destination was. I told him, and he directed me to Row 11. I told him that the board said Row 12, and he said that the check-in row has been changed but the change has not yet been reflected in the board. So I went to Row 11 - and was completely stumped.
Firstly, there was no destination posted on Row 11, just FAST Bag Drop and FAST Assistance. And in front of that row was around 8 self-service kiosks.
Now, I am not a novice when it comes to travelling by plane. I make at least one return international trip a year, and actually made the same trip three months ago and had no problems at all with the normal check-in. I have also done Web Check-in on a previous trip (V Aust) and printed out my boarding passes at home. But I was completely at a loss on what to do next. I saw no signs or notices advising travellers to use the kiosks. With nothing to lose, I decided to try a kiosk.
On the plus side, the kiosk was quite easy to use. (I just did a search and found instructions on Checking In). They also had a few roaming staff helping passengers use the kiosks. Basically, you scan your passport, enter the booking reference and the number of bags you have, and it prints out your boarding pass and your baggage tag. You then attach the baggage tag on your bag and bring it to the FAST Bag Drop counter.
I did that and joined the FAST Bag Drop queue. Except it was anything but FAST. The reason for the exceptional speed? Of the ~10 counters available, only three were staffed, and two of them were marked FAST Assistance (which was again, anything but). After a long wait, which was slightly shorten by a staff directly our queue into one of the FAST Assistance counter - sorry to those in that queue), I was finally able to drop my bag off.
Obviously this is a cost saving exercise. Scoot is trying to cut staff costs by having us enter our details, print out our boarding passes and label our own checked-in baggage. I just have a few questions.
- Why oh why did Scoot not inform their customers of the changes in the email that they send to their customers?
- Why add to traveller confusion by having mismatched information between the main board and the screens at the counters?
- Why don't they have large signs at the check-in rows advising travellers to use the kiosks?
- I believe that airlines get fined if they carry passengers to a country which refuses them entry. I have been held at the check-in counter while staff calls the destination country to check whether my visa was valid. Wouldn't this self-service not increase the risk of rejected passengers?
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Had to do the same at ADL on Qantas last month but there you just shove it on the belt - no actual baggage drop
First saw this system a few years back in Dublin - straight cost saving exercise as you say
First saw this system a few years back in Dublin - straight cost saving exercise as you say
Paxing All Over The World
cee cee
My cynical guess: It is all to do with the mania for breaking companies and process' into little bits. If you give a little bit to one manager and then the next bit of the process to another - they'll both do their best to show that they are winners.
Won't they?
If both of the managers are now in separate organisations? They may not know that they have to communicate with others - or how. If they each think the electronic board displays are someone else responsibility?
Very quickly, you could have the sequence you describe. Also, make sure that you don't have enough staff on hand for the first weeks and months of the changeover.
- Why oh why did Scoot not inform their customers of the changes in the email that they send to their customers?
- Why add to traveller confusion by having mismatched information between the main board and the screens at the counters?
- Why don't they have large signs at the check-in rows advising travellers to use the kiosks?
Won't they?
If both of the managers are now in separate organisations? They may not know that they have to communicate with others - or how. If they each think the electronic board displays are someone else responsibility?
Very quickly, you could have the sequence you describe. Also, make sure that you don't have enough staff on hand for the first weeks and months of the changeover.
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Thanks for both replies. HH partially answered a question I meant to ask in the original post but forgot. Are there any airport/airlines combo where the majority of the passengers checking in at the airport is done in a self-service manner? How is customer acceptance and competence in this process?
I guess I can see this being successful in short-haul flights aimed at the business community. If there are no hold luggage involved, off-site or kiosk self-service check-in actually makes sense as it reduces queuing. As I said before, I have done that myself on a previous flight when I only had hand luggage.
But can this process actually work efficiently on long-haul flights with passengers that do not travel frequently? Or is cost savings the airline's only concern, regardless of whether these kiosks actually reduce queuing times (like supermarket self-service checkouts where the queuing time is just as long as before)?
Also, HH, in the example you gave where the bags are just shoved onto the belt with no staff checking, how does the airline prevent (or more accurately, charge for) overweight bags?
I guess I can see this being successful in short-haul flights aimed at the business community. If there are no hold luggage involved, off-site or kiosk self-service check-in actually makes sense as it reduces queuing. As I said before, I have done that myself on a previous flight when I only had hand luggage.
But can this process actually work efficiently on long-haul flights with passengers that do not travel frequently? Or is cost savings the airline's only concern, regardless of whether these kiosks actually reduce queuing times (like supermarket self-service checkouts where the queuing time is just as long as before)?
Also, HH, in the example you gave where the bags are just shoved onto the belt with no staff checking, how does the airline prevent (or more accurately, charge for) overweight bags?
Paxing All Over The World
The system weighs your bag and if over the allowance, will not accept it and automatically calls a human. There are humans circulating to help folks but, if it's peak time, there may not be enough humans to go round.
It's the kind of problem that will soon be fixed, once most of the pax using the self-check and bag machines are of the generation that grew up with computers and self service. So, only about 25 years to wait ...
It's the kind of problem that will soon be fixed, once most of the pax using the self-check and bag machines are of the generation that grew up with computers and self service. So, only about 25 years to wait ...
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At ADL and Dublin the system certainly weighed them as it was printed out - as PAXBOY said I assumed it would set off a large red light and a siren if it was overweight..............
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So if I understand you both correctly, in those two places the self-check-in kiosk is integrated to the bag drop off belt, and as you check-in, you put the bags on the weighing belt and it weighs it and prints out the baggage tags. At least that means you only have to queue up once for check-in rather than twice in my case. I assume that there will also be some standalone check-in kiosks for people with no hold luggage?
I don't think the problem will be fixed by a new generation of passengers if my assumption that a significant number of long haul overseas travellers fly infrequently is true. I do think that within the next 20 years, robotics and A.I. will probably solve this with kerbside valet. Before that, we may have within the next 5 to 10 years, an airline virtual valet augmented reality app that tracks our location and directs us to the services points with explicit step-by-step instructions. Still beats the confused state I was in last trip.
I don't think the problem will be fixed by a new generation of passengers if my assumption that a significant number of long haul overseas travellers fly infrequently is true. I do think that within the next 20 years, robotics and A.I. will probably solve this with kerbside valet. Before that, we may have within the next 5 to 10 years, an airline virtual valet augmented reality app that tracks our location and directs us to the services points with explicit step-by-step instructions. Still beats the confused state I was in last trip.
Paxing All Over The World
For the ones I have seen = Nope - Twice!!
You go to the console that scans your passport/ID etc, and you fill in the details. It then prints your boarding card and bag tag, which you strip and stick on the handle of the case. (It will have asked if you have a bag to check)
Shift the case onto the next machine, with the label visible and it then scans for the barcode (or e-tag if used in the country) and, if all is well, the case goes off in the usual way. If it cannot see the barcode it will tell you to rearrange the tag and then press the button again.
You go to the console that scans your passport/ID etc, and you fill in the details. It then prints your boarding card and bag tag, which you strip and stick on the handle of the case. (It will have asked if you have a bag to check)
Shift the case onto the next machine, with the label visible and it then scans for the barcode (or e-tag if used in the country) and, if all is well, the case goes off in the usual way. If it cannot see the barcode it will tell you to rearrange the tag and then press the button again.
Last edited by PAXboy; 31st Jan 2017 at 21:06.
