Online flight check in

[ls1222]

We are flying Continental in a couple weeks and I noticed on their website that you can check in online from 1 to 30 hrs before departure. Is there benefits to doing this, or negatives? Does it guarantee your seat assignment? What do you do with your luggage? I have never heard of this before and would like information. Thanks!!!!!!

 

[Claudia1]

We have done it with Delta and loved it. Not only does it give you your seat assignments but you don't have to stand in any lines. It can save as much as 30 minutes on your pre-flight time.

The downside is that Delta only does this for passengers with only carry-on luggage. Really gives an incentive for packing only carry-ons!

 

[Barb]

USAir offers this, too. But it doesn't say for just carry-on luggage passengers. So how do we handle the luggage part?

 

[CarolA]

IF you have luggage you will still have to stand in line at either the skycap or the ticket counter.

My suggestion with luggage is to use Kiosks if your airport has them. You put in a credit card for ID (I have done this hundred's of times and never been charged, don't panic!) and tell the machine how many bags you have. You then walk to the counter and hand your bags to the agent.

 

[safetymom]

Barb, what airport in PA are you flying out of with USAirways? If you are flying out of Pittsburgh it is a two step process with check in. You can use the kiosk but you still have to get the baggage tags, then you have to go to the screening area with your baggage.

 

[Barb]

Hi, Carol! I've used the kiosk thing before with check in luggage. So that's not a problem and it went pretty smoothly. I always have check in luggage. I can never pack everything I want to take in a small suitcase.
Safetymom, I'm flying out of ABE (Allentown/Lehigh Valley). It's so convenient and only a short drive from my house.
So if I have carry on luggage, I guess it doesn't pay to do the on-line check in. I still have to stand in line for that. Thanks!

 

[ls1222]

Thanks for your help. If we use this online check in, will this guarantee our seat assignments? I always worry about getting split up from DH and the kids. Can the seat assignments be changed on us after we print our boarding passes from home? I had asked a question awhile back about Continental giving us "elite" member seats and we are not even close to being "elite" members and was concerned that maybe I should say something but most on this board thought it would be best just to keep quiet about it. Thanks again.

 

[ncligs]

Originally posted by ls1222
If we use this online check in, will this guarantee our seat assignments? I always worry about getting split up from DH and the kids. Can the seat assignments be changed on us after we print our boarding passes from home?

We have used on-line check in many times with Continental and have never had a problem. We always travel with carry-on only, so it is perfect for us. The seats are guaranteed once you print your boarding passes.
We always do this at the 30th hour and have gotten exit row seats(more leg room) every time so far. Children CAN'T sit in exit rows though.
Once we are at the airport, we walk right up to the security check point, and are on our way to the gate.

 

[inkkognito]

In theory, it should guarantee your seat assignment. In practice, you may have a problem. We've used the web check in a few times with ATA with no problems, but on our last trip they gave away one of our seats on both the outbound and return trips. The website had given us a confirmation page and we had printed out boarding passes, but it didn't matter. I was ready to put up a stink because I had checked us in 24 hours ahead of time (as soon as the flights opened) and the people who the seat had been given to had gotten it at the airport. But since it was a two-across in an exit row and hubby and I were together, they made the other person move in both instances. I got the impression that if we had NOT been together, they would have tried to force one of us to move, but it was their mistake so I would have taken the stance that the person who got the seat first should take priority. Always print out two copies of each boarding pass...the first time this happened, they took hubby's away and gave him some crummy back-of-the-plane seat, so he had no real proof that he had dibs once he got on the place!
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[SamR]

I usually fly with checked luggage, so I had not been able to take advantage of online check-in until a trip this summer on Delta. I thought it was really neat at first. It was quick/easy to go online, verify my seat assignment (which had been made many weeks before), check-in, and print my boarding pass. Once I got to the airport, it was really nice to bypass the counter and go straight to the security line. The problem was that once I got on the plane, there was someone else that had been assigned my seat. Since I was by myself, and the person in "my" seat was one of a party of three, the flight attendant found me a seat more to the rear of the plane.

Of course, this type of confusion can happen anyway. (I've seen it happen to others a number of times over the years, and well before the introduction of online check-in.) However, that's the first time it has happened to me in many years of flying, so it was a less-than-favorable first impression of the procedure.

On the flip side, I have had nothing but positive experiences in using the kiosks for check-in. On each of my last two return trips (one out of Washington National and one out of Miami), I have bypassed long lines at the normal check-in counters for very brief (Washington) or no (Miami) waits at the kiosks. And I can do that even when I check luggage. So, even if your carrier allows online check-in with checked luggage, the kiosks may be about as good a bet since you will have to stand in line anyway to check-in your baggage.

Whichever check-in method you try, good luck and have a good trip!

 

[Barb]

Seems like the bugs aren't quite out of the on-line check in yet. I think I'll wait till it's running a bit more smoothly. Thanks!