Airline online check in on board?

[rainbowslady]

Searched but couldn't find... Does HAL allow pax use of a computer with internet to do online check in? Other lines have this free of charge, even allow printing of the boarding passes.

 

Just wondering if anyone knew about this...Thanks!

 

Valerie

[dakrewser]

Sorry, no.

 

What lines do you know permit this as I haven't come across any?

[gizmo]

Searched but couldn't find... Does HAL allow pax use of a computer with internet to do online check in? Other lines have this free of charge, even allow printing of the boarding passes.

 

Just wondering if anyone knew about this...Thanks!

 

Valerie

 

You can do it on Hal, but you must pay the standard internet usage fee.

 

I haven't hear of any line doing this for free. Maybe a high end cruise line like Crystal ? I am curious as to which cruise lines you are referring to.

[rainbowslady]

We heard about it on the Carnival Elation last summer. We didn't have to use it because we didn't fly. But it was to be open a certain amount of time...first come basis.

 

Maybe we can find a pub our last night onshore that will give us some 'time'!

 

Thanks y'all....

[rainbowslady]

You can do it on Hal, but you must pay the standard internet usage fee.

 

I haven't hear of any line doing this for free. Maybe a high end cruise line like Crystal ? I am curious as to which cruise lines you are referring to.

 

Maybe I found a one time deal! Oh well. Thanks for the info!

[Copper10-8]

Certain airlines, i.e. Continental, will send the online check in option to your home e-mail address the day or night before your flight's departure. You can access your home e-mail from the ship (but it's not free) so you should be able to respond to that e-mail and check in online. Just not sure if you can print out your boarding passes in HAL's internet center since I've never tried it.

[dakrewser]

Certain airlines, i.e. Continental, will send the online check in option to your home e-mail address the day or night before your flight's departure. You can access your home e-mail from the ship (but it's not free) so you should be able to respond to that e-mail and check in online. Just not sure if you can print out your boarding passes in HAL's internet center since I've never tried it.

 

You can print them out, that's no problem. But I've never heard of free access to do so - there's really no way to check (without someone hanging over your shoulder) that all you're doing is checking in and printing out the boarding pass!

 

Now I have heard of ships which have experienced delays in getting to the debarkation point allowing pax some free time to re-arrange their flight bookings, but only when there's more than a couple of hours delay...

[rainbowslady]

Hope that doesnt happen....jinx...jinx...:p

We leave for Seattle tomorrow! Cruising Westerdam on Sunday!

[dougnewmanatsea]

You should be able to do it - all you need is an internet connection and a printer - but it isn't free.

 

Then again, it should only take a few minutes, so it should cost very little anyway. To me, it is worth a few dollars to have the convenience of not having to queue up at the airport check-in.

 

Now if only they could find a way to do the security checks online, too ;) !

 

Just make sure the airline lets you check-in online for your flight. Recently I was very surprised to find out that a certain AAirline only allows online check-in for domestic flights! So I had to check-in with a real human for my JFK-LHR flight. (It didn't matter anyway; flight was 2 1/2 hours late because the dolts forgot to put water in the plane :rolleyes: ...)

[jhannah]

So far as I know you cannot check in online for any international flight. I couldn't do it on Delta because I had to present myself in person to get boarding passes for our recent international flight. And I've not been able to do it on that certain AAirline nor NWA.

[dakrewser]

And unless you manage to cruise with just a carry-on, you still need to queue up somewhere to check luggage - just as easy to get a boarding pass at the same time, I'd think.

[arzz]

We have found that if we check in on line then we can check our bags at curbside and go straight to the security lines.

 

The check in lines inside always seems to snake back and forth like the lines at Disney World and they seem to move incredibly slow.

[dakrewser]

We have found that if we check in on line then we can check our bags at curbside and go straight to the security lines.

 

But you can get your boarding pass curbside also, right? So what time are you really saving?

[Tinknock50]

So far as I know you cannot check in online for any international flight. I couldn't do it on Delta because I had to present myself in person to get boarding passes for our recent international flight. And I've not been able to do it on that certain AAirline nor NWA.

 

Nor America West......

[dougnewmanatsea]

I am surprised to hear that you can't check in online for an international flight on NWA.

 

Last year I had no problem checking in online for my JFK-AMS NWA (operated by KLM) flight using NWA.com.

 

And I had no problem checking in online for my CPH-AMS-JFK flights in my hotel in Copenhagen, either, using KLM.com.

 

Flights leaving the US or Asia, you check-in at NWA.com (whether operated by NWA or KLM) and flights leaving Europe you check in at KLM.com (again, regardless of who operates it).

 

At least, this is how it worked last year... And it worked flawlessly.

 

Perhaps something has changed since then - but I hope not!

[jhannah]

And it could be that I was thinking NWA when it was really America West. (It's been a while since we flew NWA/KLM to Amsterdam. I thought we couldn't check in online, but I could be mistaken.) On our coastal trip 2 months ago we flew America West to San Diego then home from Vancouver. We couldn't check in online for the domestic flight from LAS to SAN simply because we had an international segment in our PNR. I still think that's silly.

[hgatsawgrs]

On a Royal Carrib cruise last year in Alaska (Vancouver)we were able to check in and get boarding passes on Continental(a few other airlines also-which I forget who) and check bags on the ship. It was certainly time saving and nice to do. Vancouver(and Canada ) is American friendly as we know and this procedure was certainly new- but things are a changin- even during the high security times.

[Copper10-8]

Nor America West......

 

Just a tidbit; America West Airlines doesn't exist anymore:( ! Merged into /taken over by US Airways

[TrojanCruiser]

On our Ryndam Alaska cruise last month, we took advantage of a service that allowed you to get your boarding pass on the ship the morning of disembarkation and have your checked bags delivered directly to the Vancouver International Airport. There was a form we filled out mid-cruise where we provided our flight information. The day before disembarkation, we received our disembarkation packet that included the checked luggage tags. You place the tags on your luggage you intend to check in and leave them out in the hallway as usual that night. The next time you see your luggage is at your destination airport. This program was good only for flights leaving that same day and you had a maximum of 2 checked-in bags per person. You had to provide a credit card # in case any of your bags were over the 50lb airline weight limit. The cost per passenger was $20 but I felt the service was great. We were visiting relatives in Vancouver that day and didn't want to have to carry all of our luggage around until our flight later that evening. I don't know if this service offered only at Vancouver or for other ports.:)

[Tinknock50]

Just a tidbit; America West Airlines doesn't exist anymore:( ! Merged into /taken over by US Airways

 

Well not exactly true....when you book through the US Airways website, you will still get flights "operated by America West Airline". And certain flight schedules list all the planes as "America West" with no mention of US Airways. Maybe over time they will all be US airways planes....probably still transitioning to that.

 

The main point is: International flights do not allow online check-in.

[MeOhMy]

You could probably print your boarding pass on the Crystal ships but you would have to pay the internet usage fees, which are very much not cheap. If that is all you want to use the internet for, curbside checking, etc., would be much more practical. I love Crystal, but they can be expensive in strange ways.

[dougnewmanatsea]

Just a tidbit; America West Airlines doesn't exist anymore:( ! Merged into /taken over by US Airways

Technically it was a merger but really it was America West doing the taking over - never mind the name.

 

The "new" US Airways moved into the old America West headquarters in Arizona and is basically run by the old America West management team along the America West (low-fare), not US (full-service) business model.

 

Anyhow, that's neither here nor there, but mostly it's the name they've kept from US, and everything else from America West.

 

Incidentally, right now you will still see "Operated by America West" on former America West flights with US flight numbers, because they are still separate companies from the FAA's point of view. It takes a long time for airlines to merge operationally, because of the regulatory situation. So this little disclaimer will probably stick around long after the America West brand has disappeared.

 

I love Crystal, but they can be expensive in strange ways.

That is, as well as the obvious way of having expensive fares ;) ? (Not to say that they aren't justified of course; having never tried them I'm hardly in the positition to judge that.)

[MeOhMy]

That is, as well as the obvious way of having expensive fares ;) ? (Not to say that they aren't justified of course; having never tried them I'm hardly in the positition to judge that.)

 

 

Actually, I have cruised cheaper on Crystal Harmony than fares listed as reduced on some lower rated ships for what was basically the same cruise. There were times when I could not believe how close the price was. A couple of the comparable cruises listed as 4 1/2 stars (using the 6 star basis). It is only in the last year that the $$ distance has really started to stretch. Or, probably, stretch back. I cruised them the first time July 2002 when prices were really down.

 

The prices are high, but the service is outstanding and you are not nickled and dimed to death. But I am looking for a new cruise line and that is why we are trying HAL. My TA recommended it as traditional cruising which we enjoy, but, frankly, reading these boards is making me very nervous. There are a remarkable number of complaints, especially, it seems, about the unresponsiveness of HAL to problems.

 

The thread that talked about the toilets being shut down during the night scared me the most. You have *got* to be kidding.

 

And two of the people coming with me have never cruised before - on the ocean. One is a river boat nut. I was hoping to convert them.

 

 

 

.

[dougnewmanatsea]

Actually, I have cruised cheaper on Crystal Harmony than fares listed as reduced on some lower rated ships for what was basically the same cruise.

This is true. In the last few years, they were selling HARMONY at cut fares... Almost HAL levels. I'd have loved to have tried her at those low fares, but she never was going where I wanted. Which of course is probably why the fares were cut! SYMPHONY and SERENITY did, and do often go where I want, but not at the cut fares of course.

 

Three ships was really too much for Crystal. They are planning another newbuild but my guess is that that is at least five years away, maybe more, and at that point SYMPHONY will be retired. For most of Crystal's existence they have had two ships and that has suited them just fine.

 

Or, probably, stretch back.

Exactly! I remember when Crystal's fares were much higher than they are even now... Perhaps at the levels were Seabourn or Silversea are today. Well, maybe not that high, but close anyway. (And yes, I know those lines run the occasional "special bargain"... But most of the time, they are very expensive. Much more than Crystal or HAL or any other larger-ship line.)

 

I don't know if they'll ever reach those levels again, but they do seem to be climbing back, especially since HARMONY has left the fleet and those Alaska cruises - which they never seemed to be able to sell without deep discounting - are gone.

 

frankly, reading these boards is making me very nervous. There are a remarkable number of complaints, especially, it seems, about the unresponsiveness of HAL to problems.

Well... I can't compare HAL to Crystal, but I would think Crystal should be better. They charge more, so they ought to be!

 

But I think HAL have a very good product. Keep in mind that this board is much busier than the Crystal board... Naturally, with so many more posts, there are bound to be more negative ones (as well as positive ones). The same thing would be true, I'm sure, if you compared Carnival or Royal Caribbean to us.

 

Anyhow, don't worry... Trying a new cruise line is not worth getting nervous about :) . Just go, enjoy your cruise, and in the absolute worst case scenario, you'll know you don't like HAL and you can go back to Crystal knowing that, at least to you, the price difference is worth it!