It's pointless. You need to check your luggage and verify your documents anyway, electronic check-in is a waste of time... I used to do it, now I don't.
What is the purpose of check-in before flying? (2014)
51–60 of 81 posts
Re: What is the purpose of check-in before flying? (2014)
#52If you are planning to travel, always check if you actually got a ETicket (ETK) number. Most airlines companies do not really have all kinds of implementations with end to end transactions. It will happen to you maybe once in your whole flight traveler life.
-> You get both the money taken out of your credit card plus an airline confirmation of your booking AND a booking number. However if the ETK number is missing you dont have a ticket and wont be allowed to fly.
Tip to single bachelors: If the check-in counter is not too busy, and the ground hostess is attractive, it is a good pick up line. Go on asking if it happens frequently to other passengers and more frequently with other companies than others :-))
Re: What is the purpose of check-in before flying? (2014)
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
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.
The ability to rebook and refund your ticket is the thing you pay for when paying for a business class ticket.
Re: What is the purpose of check-in before flying? (2014)
#54On many airlines they use check-in as a way to try to upsell you on higher priced seats or other services.
[deleted]
Re: What is the purpose of check-in before flying? (2014)
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Being 2.08m tall (6’10) I _have_ to always pay extra because I don’t fit in a regular seat. Many years ago at check in I would automatically be put on the exit row but nowadays that doesn’t happen anymore. So now I need to book very early because otherwise the exit row seats are all gone.
No post body was provided.
Re: What is the purpose of check-in before flying? (2014)
#56On many airlines they use check-in as a way to try to upsell you on higher priced seats or other services.
I've assumed for a while that's the real reason they have it any more. Years ago it made sense that you checked in when you got to the airport so they knew you were physically there and they wouldn't give away your seat. But now, checking in from home up to 72 hours in advance sometimes completely fails for that purpose.
Re: What is the purpose of check-in before flying? (2014)
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Being 2.08m tall (6’10) I _have_ to always pay extra because I don’t fit in a regular seat. Many years ago at check in I would automatically be put on the exit row but nowadays that doesn’t happen anymore. So now I need to book very early because otherwise the exit row seats are all gone.
I'm not quite as tall, but still quite tall (slightly under 2m), and I'm still not sure what I prefer: the exit row seats or regular seats. The problem with the exit row seats are that you're "boxed in" due to the meal trays being stored in the side of the seat, so the sides aren't open. I'm not fat by any means, but even for me it's really annoying especially on longer flights: my hips start to hurt.
Last time I had a flight I got a fairly good deal on a business class seat. That was quite nice.
Re: What is the purpose of check-in before flying? (2014)
#58It's pointless. You need to check your luggage and verify your documents anyway, electronic check-in is a waste of time... I used to do it, now I don't.
Depending on your situation, this might not apply to you: Often, when airlines need to bump passengers, one of the factors they'll use is the checkin time. https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer...
Re: What is the purpose of check-in before flying? (2014)
#59> When you buy a flight or a journey, you are actually buying a ticket. This used to be a paper ticket, but now it's electronic. But the actual process is the same as before, it's just an electronic implementation of the paper. The ticket is your proof to the airline that you paid an organisation it trusts for the flight. The airline will only distribute its unique ticket paper to travel agents it trusts. Back a very…
Thieves used to break into (relatively unsecured) travel agencies, steal the blank paper tickets, and resell them at astronomical markup, with the agency "on the hook" for paying the maximum value of the tickets stolen. Basically, "ticket paper" was like a blank check which you could fill in with a pencil saying "$10,000: first class ticket from NYC to LON", and the airline would accept that ticket, and reconcile it…
> Thieves used to break into (relatively unsecured) travel agencies, steal the blank paper tickets, and resell them at astronomical markup, with the agency "on the hook" for paying the maximum value of the tickets stolen.
As I recall, the room security for the ticket printer was a requirement of our sponsoring travel agency and our insurance company. I had to meet with a representative of our insurance company, a person from The Hartford who was dressed identically to an IBM salesperson of old, for them to inspect the arrangements. According to my boss, who was in the meetings to get set up, we were just barely a big enough company that our owner (the company was private at the time) didn't have to sign a personal guarantee for something like $3 million worth of potential ticket losses.
Of course, us eggheads in the IT department didn't fully know any of this until the stupid printer blew up.
Oh and thank you for the links. I did kind of wonder where those incredibly cheap but shady looking travel deals in the classifieds came from...
Re: What is the purpose of check-in before flying? (2014)
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
Being 2.08m tall (6’10) I _have_ to always pay extra because I don’t fit in a regular seat. Many years ago at check in I would automatically be put on the exit row but nowadays that doesn’t happen anymore. So now I need to book very early because otherwise the exit row seats are all gone.
They have financially engineered every part of the process now.
Once upon a time you would get those seats for being a nice person, now they go to the highest bidder...