silly airline question

[moesyk4]

Alright, I only fly about once a year and I always get confused and end up standing in a bunch of lines I don't need to. What is the point of checking in online? If you check in online, don't you still have to wait in those big long lines to get your luggage checked?

[Hoyaheel]

Alright, I only fly about once a year and I always get confused and end up standing in a bunch of lines I don't need to. What is the point of checking in online? If you check in online, don't you still have to wait in those big long lines to get your luggage checked?

 

Depends on your airline. If you fly Southwest, checking in on-line 24 hours in advance gets you a coveted A boarding pass:D

[lvtotrvl1]

You will still have to check your luggage. You can do that curbside and save alot of time.

[EricaLynn]

It depends on the airline you fly. I'm a United 1K, so I can really only speak to what they do.

 

If you are checking baggage, and you check in online, you either a) have to wait in the long queue to check the bag or b) check bags using curbside porters at certain locations.

 

If you are not checking baggage, you may go straight to security without queueing for a boarding pass.

 

For the most part, if you're flying with bags, online check in is fairly useless. UNLESS (and here's the big unless) the flight is oversold, in which case the ranking for bumping comes in to play and the last person to check in is the first person bumped.

[jerseygirl3]

Alright, I only fly about once a year and I always get confused and end up standing in a bunch of lines I don't need to. What is the point of checking in online? If you check in online, don't you still have to wait in those big long lines to get your luggage checked?

 

You're absolutely right. I've never seen the advantage to checking in online. I still have to wait in a line at the airport to check my luggage. And there's also a line to do curbside check-in because most of those people are checking in as well as checking their luggage. The only time I could see it being an advantage is for those who have no checked luggage.

[Bonnielass]

I work for the airlines, on line check in is the airlines way of saving on check in staff!!! It also saves on the cost of boarding passes. At least you get to choose your own seat and when you do deposit your luggage your time with the check in agent is quite limited.

[kitty9]

The only time checking in online is an advantage is if you're flying without checked luggage. If you only have a carry on, you go right to the boarding gate after going through security.

[Dawn125408]

I don't know about selecting your own seat. Every time I try to select seats for my flight - it says they will be assigned at the airport. That really ticked me off:mad: Flying Delta. I see where a lot of seats are already taken - probably by "frequent flyers"? I don't get it.....

[jerseygirl3]

On Spirit Airlines (which we frequently fly), you can select your seats starting 90 days prior to boarding. You don't have to wait until you do an online check-in. Besides, online check-ins are difficult to do for your returning flight if you are on a cruise since they can be done only 24 hours in advance (unless you want to use the ship's internet cafe).

[RHefley228]

Flying Delta. I see where a lot of seats are already taken - probably by "frequent flyers"?

 

Possibly. If you're not a SkyMiles member, join; it doesn't cost anything, and there are all sorts of ways to earn enough miles for a free ticket besides flying.

[Globaliser]

I see where a lot of seats are already taken - probably by "frequent flyers"?

Many airlines reserve certain seats for allocation to their frequent flyers and other premium customers, and don't release them for general allocation until much closer to the time of the flight (although exact practice depends on the airline). For these purposes, simply joining the frequent flyer scheme isn't enough. You usually have to have flown enough to be in one of the higher tiers of the scheme.

On Spirit Airlines (which we frequently fly), you can select your seats starting 90 days prior to boarding.

On most airlines that allow pre-allocation of seats, a point will eventually still be reached when no more pre-allocation is possible, and further seat allocation will only be done at check-in.

[moesyk4]

Thanks for your answers, now I don't feel like quite such an idiot :)

 

In response to the question above, we are flying with Delta also and have been able to pick our seats from the very beginning. Sometimes when the flight time changes (as is often) our seat assignments will disappear in which case I've called the airlines and they have emailed me a copy. And this is our first time flying with Delta so we're not frequent flyers or anything. So you might try calling them.

[FlyerTalker]

A number of airlines have dedicated positions solely for checking luggage for those passengers who have done OLCI. I know that NW, DL and AS all have those arrangements at many stations. For example, here at SEA, you can go to a dedicated, almost empty area for bag drop at AS, or you can stand in a LONG line for those who still have to check-in. DL has the same, as does NW. For example, on AS and NW, you just scan the barcode on your OLCI boarding pass and you'll quickly get the screen to check bags.

 

There are LOTS of people who are already checked-in who still stand in the check-in line because they don't know any different.

 

No need to be in the outside line either, as it is often as bad as the ones inside. Just do the OLCI, then look for the sign that either says "online bag-check" or "web check-in" or something similar.

 

Or, you can say it's not worth it and wait in the regular check-in line. Makes for less congestion at the OLCI bag-drop for those of us who do OLCI.

[henepup]

A number of airlines have dedicated positions solely for checking luggage for those passengers who have done OLCI. I know that NW, DL and AS all have those arrangements at many stations. For example, here at SEA, you can go to a dedicated, almost empty area for bag drop at AS, or you can stand in a LONG line for those who still have to check-in. DL has the same, as does NW. For example, on AS and NW, you just scan the barcode on your OLCI boarding pass and you'll quickly get the screen to check bags.

 

There are LOTS of people who are already checked-in who still stand in the check-in line because they don't know any different.

 

No need to be in the outside line either, as it is often as bad as the ones inside. Just do the OLCI, then look for the sign that either says "online bag-check" or "web check-in" or something similar.

 

Or, you can say it's not worth it and wait in the regular check-in line. Makes for less congestion at the OLCI bag-drop for those of us who do OLCI.

FlyerTalker, I have a few ?'s about NW. They do charge for curbside check in IND? If I check in online, I can go to the kiosk, scan my barcode and it will prompt "check bags"? Where do I go from there and will it print out luggage tags for our destination?

Thanks!!

[FlyerTalker]

FlyerTalker, I have a few ?'s about NW. They do charge for curbside check in IND? If I check in online, I can go to the kiosk, scan my barcode and it will prompt "check bags"? Where do I go from there and will it print out luggage tags for our destination?

Thanks!!

You can get the full info on NW luggage check-in options at THIS LINK. Most all airlines have something similar in terms of luggage info.

 

Regarding curbside check-in, they say:

A nominal fee of $2 per bag is charged for curbside luggage check with a SkyCap at the following airports: Denver, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Madison, Milwaukee, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego, Seattle and Tampa.

Note that the fee goes completely to NW, and NOT to the skycap personally. In general, gratuity beyond the $2 fee is typical.

 

The nwa.com luggage kiosks are at 37 different airports, including IND. Details are at the link above.

[henepup]

Thanks FlyerTalker

[Shorex]

You're absolutely right. I've never seen the advantage to checking in online. I still have to wait in a line at the airport to check my luggage. And there's also a line to do curbside check-in because most of those people are checking in as well as checking their luggage. The only time I could see it being an advantage is for those who have no checked luggage.

 

If at all possible, I will ALWAYS check in online (OLCI). Just as Flyertalker mentions, I bypass the long lines that you are standing in and proceed directly to the kiosks that are dedicated to those already checked in. I scan the boarding pass, the computer spits out the bag tags, I glance at the bag tags to be sure they are correct, and I'm heading for security in just a minute or two because so few people use the dedicated kiosks.

 

I even use OLCI when a printer is not available. I save the BP to a file rather than use the print command. At the airport when I'm in the very SHORT line at the dedicated kiosk, I tell the screen to "reprint" the BP's.

 

More and more hotels have a computer/printer in the lobby for the sole purpose of offering OLCI to guests. I've used the hotel computer for OLCI at the Marriott in Crystal City just outside D.C., the Hyatt in Pittsburgh, the Renaissance in St. Louis, and others. Hotels are providing this service because savvy guests want it. Business travelers and frequent flyers understand the advantage it gives them at the airport.

 

Also, frequent flyers use OLCI to verify and/or improve seat selection and to get in the queue for upgrades.