Help with web check in!

[Curly Q]

I will be flying AirTran for the first time in Nov. They are the first airline I have flown that offers web check in 24 hours in advance. I don't really understand web check in. Could someone explain it. On Spirit we arrive at the airport, stand in line and wait for our boarding pass then go thru security, then to our gate. With web check in do I still go to the counter, or do I just go to the boarding gate? Also, on the way back I will not have a computer. How can I check in on the web? I am sorry for the long thread and silly questions, but I get nervous!

 

[inkkognito]

Not silly questions at all! We fly ATA around twice a month from Chicago to Orlando and back again, and we love web check-in. It allows us to get to the airport later, as you actually print your boarding pass right at your computer. If you have no luggage, that means you simply go through security and right to your gate, with no need to stand in any line other than the security line and the one to board.
That's the theory anyway...you are flying a different airline, but with ATA we've had problems with the gate personnel refusing to honor our seat assignments. I am working with their customer relations dept to deal with it because they are supposed to be honored the same as if you checked in at the airport (or so they tell me!).
On the way back, you will either need to do traditional check-in or use a computer at an internet cafe or the business center of a hotel.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[Curly Q]

Thanks! So I we do have luggage to check, then there is really no point in web check?! Except maybe better seats? I wish we were light packers, but we take a lot of clothes!!!

 

[inkkognito]

With ATA, you are only supposed to use web check-in if you do not have luggage. Air Tran may be different, in which case you could probably drop the bags off with a sky cap, or else you would have to wait in the baggage line.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[seashoreCM]

If you have never printed a web page before, you should practice before doing a web check in. You need the printout from the computer as your boarding pass and you don't want the computer to mess things up because of a faulty program or adjustment. Using a strange computer such as a computer in a hotel on your last day, practice printing on something else again before printing the boarding pass.

Web check in saves you from having to wait at the airport ticket counter but does not absolutely positively guarantee your seat assignment.

(Actually you should not do any business or transactions or purchases or bookings on the web unless you are familiar with printing the web pages and printing email messages for confirmation.)

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm