Because they oversubscribe seats for sale. The check-in helps them see when that's a problem. Similarly, if it prompts a bunch of people to change flights, and the flight is very undersold, they might meld two flights together as a single one.
What is the purpose of check-in before flying? (2014)
31–40 of 81 posts
Re: What is the purpose of check-in before flying? (2014)
#32> Some airlines (particularly non-U.S. ones) will completely void your ticket (meaning that it loses all value) if you miss a flight after checking in. (Most U.S. airlines do not do this.) Does this mean that in the US, if I miss my flight, my ticket is still somehow valid? I have never heard of this.
This is really interesting. As a non-U.S. based and infrequent traveller, I had always just assumed that you lost the value of the ticket if you missed the trip. I never really understood sitcoms where no one seems to care if they missed their flights or not, but this would make a lot of sense.
I've missed maybe five or so domestic flights on "legacy" US airlines (American/Delta/United). If I recall correctly, on all but one of those I was rebooked. On the remaining one I was not rebooked; the airline tried to accommodate me but they couldn't get me where I was going in time for the thing I was going to.
That being said, I do care if I miss my flight, because it's obviously a pain even if you do get rebooked!
Re: What is the purpose of check-in before flying? (2014)
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I thought everyone who flew domestically more than twice a year did that. Not at all, I've never seen a flight cheaper direct with the airline than going through an agent.
So, the answer is: "it's complicated" You can get a cheaper ticket with an agent than with an airline but this would be a ticket attached to certain conditions (for example, it can only be sold together with a hotel room) Another possibility is that you do a search and find it per X and then go to an agent and they find it cheaper but because they know how to look around your dates and possibilities you might not kno…
> You can get a cheaper ticket with an agent than with an airline but this would be a ticket attached to certain conditions (for example, it can only be sold together with a hotel room)
Ticket pricing is unpredictable and really depends on your location and route.
A few times I used Expedia instead of the airline, and it was both cheaper and allowed flexible total unconditional cancellation within a short time after buying.
Quite helpful when you need to arrange multiple bookings, hotels, etc. on short notice with changing availability. Plus there’s that time I literally bought a same day ticket just to enter HKIA and meet arriving friend (a ticket was required due to protests). Returned it as soon as I passed the guards. With that low-cost airline it wouldn’t be possible directly, and even if somehow it was the ordinary refund would’ve taken days. (After I saw their ticket verification procedures I realized a even a well-done fake might have sufficed, but you don’t want to leave stuff like that to chance.)
That said, in some countries I have never seen agents offer better options than airlines.
Re: What is the purpose of check-in before flying? (2014)
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I thought everyone who flew domestically more than twice a year did that. Not at all, I've never seen a flight cheaper direct with the airline than going through an agent.
So, the answer is: "it's complicated" You can get a cheaper ticket with an agent than with an airline but this would be a ticket attached to certain conditions (for example, it can only be sold together with a hotel room) Another possibility is that you do a search and find it per X and then go to an agent and they find it cheaper but because they know how to look around your dates and possibilities you might not kno…
The problem is that you're not dealing with one vendor though: you're actually dealing with N+1, where the +1 is just an opaque intermediary to the N services it's brokering/reselling.
When there are no issues, this works fine.
If there are issues? Be prepared to do the customer service tango, and hope that the person at check-in understands how $intermediary actually resells their stuff and knows the right knobs to twiddle, because otherwise you're shit outta luck.
Re: What is the purpose of check-in before flying? (2014)
#35On many airlines they use check-in as a way to try to upsell you on higher priced seats or other services.
I often am a sucker for those. I'm 188cm tall (6'2-ish). Long legs. For about $10 per hour of flight time, I'll pay more for a couple extra inches of leg room.
During boarding, I have sometimes mentioned to the boarding agent or air staff that if someone in an exit row isn't able to perform the exit row duties, I'm happy to trade seats. A couple of times it's even worked.
Re: What is the purpose of check-in before flying? (2014)
#36I’m still confused. > You probably have noticed that you often buy your flight from a different company than the airline itself. What? No, never. I figured out long ago that one carrier always has the best rates for my city, middlemen rarely/never cost less, and I've got the frequent flier card and the points. I thought everyone who flew domestically more than twice a year did that. I thought the check-in was just to…
> I figured out long ago that one carrier always has the best rates for my city, middlemen rarely/never cost less
Is this WN out of Burbank or something? Your experience (to the first point) is not typical. To the second point, even restricting to one carrier, using a different ticketing carrier can indeed be advantageous, especially if you're using credit card-derived points.
Now, if you're at an airport only served by a single (U)LCC I can see both points but that seems rare.
Re: What is the purpose of check-in before flying? (2014)
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
I missed a flight in Oslo two years ago and the counter agent looked at me like I was insane to suggest that they airline would rebook me. In Norway it was clear that the $800 ticket was completely wasted if I got delayed on the way to the airport.
I had no idea that the way it works in the US seems to be the outlier worldwide. Even the ultra-low cost airlines here (like Spirit) work this way.
That may explain why the European ultra-low-cost airlines are even cheaper, while providing a similar service.
People who miss their flight on purpose aren't great for revenue (no vastly overpriced food, overweight luggage fees etc), but people who miss flights by mistake end up paying €250 (rather than €20) for the next flight.
Re: What is the purpose of check-in before flying? (2014)
#38> Some airlines (particularly non-U.S. ones) will completely void your ticket (meaning that it loses all value) if you miss a flight after checking in. (Most U.S. airlines do not do this.) Does this mean that in the US, if I miss my flight, my ticket is still somehow valid? I have never heard of this.
The ticket itself is not valid, because you obviously can't get on a flight that has already left. But the ticket still has value (what you paid for it) because you didn't use it. I have never missed a flight before, but I've also never heard of anyone in the US losing the value of their ticket because they missed their flight. I saw a video recently of a person who was denied boarding due to being visibly intoxicate…
Yes, in my experience tickets are often not refundable but they do have value that can be applied to another flight if for whatever reason you become unable to use the ticket on the flight originally booked.
Re: What is the purpose of check-in before flying? (2014)
#39Just imagine if other forms of transport used the same ticketing system... "I'm sorry sir, you can't get on the 09:03 Southbound Red Line express subway because you didn't check in 40 minutes before departure. Check in has now closed, so you'll have to buy a new ticket."
This scenario has happened to me with Amtrak. It also applies to some coach bus services.
Yes! I ran into that with a coach bus one time (trip from some big Boston transit hub to NYC). I wanted to get on the bus but they told me I had to check in at some gate first, and I was like, “what? We have to do this like an airport?”
And I didn’t have to do that for the first leg (from NYC Chinatown).
Re: What is the purpose of check-in before flying? (2014)
#40Boarded a plane today. Me and my son both have pre check. His digital boarding pass didn’t have pre check on it. They sent him to regular security. I walked through with his paper boarding pass (we got when checking luggage), so he had to go get another one. His second boarding pass had pre check on it. Whatever this system is, this is ridiculous. These tickets were bought together, and our numbers were entered correctly.
I half wondered if there was a technical glitch when generating his boarding pass. Like, an unavailable API endpoint.
My latest “check in” story. If you don’t have pre check on your digital or paper boarding pass, request another. And remember to check.