Delta early check-in

[DisMN]

Are there any benefits to doing the online checkin at the earliest time you can?

On our way out I do it so I can prepay my luggage fees but on the way home we had some sort of glitch where I screwed myself by doing an early checkin. We ended up having to pay our fees twice (did get them refunded) and couldn't check our bags. We had to take them to the airport which kinda defeats the purpose of Magical Express. LOL

Any clue how I can do it different so we can do resort checkin and have them get our luggage to the airport instead of taking it with us?

 

[sam_gordon]

Any clue how I can do it different so we can do resort checkin and have them get our luggage to the airport instead of taking it with us?

Yes. Don't use your phone, laptop, other computer, etc to check in for your flight. Simply take your checked bags to the RAC desk*. You will check your bags (they'll be weighed, tagged, and taken) and checked in for your flight all at the same time. Since Delta has assigned seating, there is no benefit to checking in right at the 24 hour mark (unlike SW, where early checkin is essential to get a high boarding number... not sure how RAC factors in with SW).

*Make sure you follow the RAC rules:

• Hours are 5am-1pm
• Checkin must be COMPLETE by 3 hours before your flight
• You can check in no MORE than 12 hours before your flight.

 

[DisMN]

Thankyou so much! I was thinking this was the case but wasn't 100%. Nice to know I won't feel stressed to check in early at our resort.
I should still be able to call the bags number and prepay our baggage fees right? Or not?

 

[sam_gordon]

Thankyou so much! I was thinking this was the case but wasn't 100%. Nice to know I won't feel stressed to check in early at our resort.
I should still be able to call the bags number and prepay our baggage fees right? Or not?

Yes, I do believe you call the bags number to prepay the fee. Sorry, I forget about that.

One thing you may want to consider is signing up for a Delta American Express Card. Tie that to your Delta Frequent Flier number and you get one free bag for each person in your travel party (up to 9). The first year of the card is free. I did that for our trip last year and saved $150 (three bags, $25 each way). As long as I cancel by April (I probably won't), there's no charge. PM me if you are interested (not that there's a lot more information).

 

[smitch425]

Are there any benefits to doing the online checkin at the earliest time you can?

On our way out I do it so I can prepay my luggage fees but on the way home we had some sort of glitch where I screwed myself by doing an early checkin. We ended up having to pay our fees twice (did get them refunded) and couldn't check our bags. We had to take them to the airport which kinda defeats the purpose of Magical Express. LOL

Any clue how I can do it different so we can do resort checkin and have them get our luggage to the airport instead of taking it with us?

We checked in with our phones before we headed down to the RAC desk and it was a hot mess. They told us they could not chcek us in and we had to take our own bags. 4 suitcases, 2 carryons and 4 pesonal item bags with only 2 adults and 2 young children was no picnic. Plus, I had called Delta that morning after paying the bag fees on my phone to confirm that it went through and spoke with two different people who said that they were paid only to get to the airport and find out that they weren't! Not the best way to end a vacation. I will never do online checkin when leaving Disney again. It was a nightmare!

 

[vellamint]

Off Topic kind of.....

Does it cost MORE if I dont check in and pay for my bag ahead of time?

 

[jessa07]

Off Topic kind of.....

Does it cost MORE if I dont check in and pay for my bag ahead of time?

Actually, I think Delta recently stopped charging more at the airport for checked bags...can anybody confirm that?

 

[DebbieB]

Actually, I think Delta recently stopped charging more at the airport for checked bags...can anybody confirm that?

They stopped giving the discount for online check-in. It's $25 either online or at the airport for the first bag.

 

[DisMN]

We checked in with our phones before we headed down to the RAC desk and it was a hot mess. They told us they could not chcek us in and we had to take our own bags. 4 suitcases, 2 carryons and 4 pesonal item bags with only 2 adults and 2 young children was no picnic. Plus, I had called Delta that morning after paying the bag fees on my phone to confirm that it went through and spoke with two different people who said that they were paid only to get to the airport and find out that they weren't! Not the best way to end a vacation. I will never do online checkin when leaving Disney again. It was a nightmare!

Not that I'm happy it happened to you too but I'm glad to know we weren't the only ones who experienced this. Very frustrating wasn't it? I wonder why there isn't more uniformity in what we're all supposed to do when we're leaving.

So if I have it right now we can prepay our bags via ebags but not checkin yet? Or do we have to checkin THEN pay for our bags, which brings it back around to our original glitch.
I'm hoping we can just pay our luggage fees at RAC then....but maybe not. LOL Wow.....

 

[jlewisinsyr]

I will disagree with some on here, there is a very limited benefit to checking in as close to the 24 hour mark as possible. When a flight is oversold (which is often the case), airlines will first ask for volunteers to give up their seats in exchange for a form of compensation. If however, they cannot obtain enough volunteers, they will often use the check-in time or fare class to help determine who will be removed from the flight and booked on a new flight (with compensation of course).