Pros/Cons of online check in???

[TeamSy]

We have never done online check in before!!! What are the pros/cons?

I will say in all our visits we have always arrived early and have lucked out and have been given a room right away, which has me thinking maybe why do online check in when its always worked out without it before.... but I also like the idea of being able to go right to our room without stopping at the front desk.

Thoughts?

 

[LuthienDragon]

Pros: I already had a room assigned as soon as my plane landed at 11 am. I skipped the lobby entirely and went to the room. I lucked out and got my preferences.

 

[SleeplessInTO]

In addition to skipping the front desk, I do online checkin so our room isn’t given away if our flight is delayed.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Avoiding the front desk entirely is a big enough perk for me to do online check in. Plus you could potentially have your room assigned by the time you get to the hotel so when you get there you can go straight to your room.

 

[holden]

I love online checkin. We go directly to the room when we arrive. No wasting time at the front desk. Also, once we get our room assignment I usually look it up to see where it is, what the view might be, etc.

 

[CynBeth]

We always do online checkin and request early arrival. A few times did not get the room ready text so went to the front desk and the CM said the room assigned was not ready but luckily found an available one for us.

 

[TeamSy]

We always do online checkin and request early arrival. A few times did not get the room ready text so went to the front desk and the CM said the room assigned was not ready but luckily found an available one for us.

Oh that’s cool!!!

 

[TeamSy]

I love online checkin. We go directly to the room when we arrive. No wasting time at the front desk. Also, once we get our room assignment I usually look it up to see where it is, what the view might be, etc.

How far in advance (prior to your arrival) do you typically get the room assignment? Like by the time your flight lands and you’re on your way?

 

[Smugpugmug]

How far in advance (prior to your arrival) do you typically get the room assignment? Like by the time your flight lands and you’re on your way?

I remember reading somewhere that your room is assigned at least a few days before your arrival. But you won't know your room number until the room is ready day of.

 

[_19disnA]

Disney seems to use online check-in differently from other places we have stayed. At Disney you can 'check-in' months in advance. Most other places only let you 'check-in' on your arrival day or when you are actually on the property. The main advantage is you don't have to wait in line at the front desk upon arrival.

I am not aware of any disadvantage to doing online check-in.

 

[loves to dive]

We always do online checkin and request early arrival. A few times did not get the room ready text so went to the front desk and the CM said the room assigned was not ready but luckily found an available one for us.

Me too. I always pick early arrival around 1pm. I drive down from north Georgia and usually get there between 1 and 3 depending on when I leave. I have never actually rec'd a room ready text before I've arrived but I would say 9 out of 10 times when I go to the front desk they are able to find something right then. I always just book a standard room and really don't care about view, especially at the value and moderate resorts. I've had some not so great views at the deluxe resorts but none of them horrible.

 

[Lisa_lvspplmvr]

Certain resorts are ok for online check in and others are not . Yacht club is always at the desk to make sure we get our preferred location . CSR for sure not online . We almost got stuck in Ranchos this last time . We like casitas by the quiet pool . Definitely worth going to the front desk . Poly was a standard room so we did online checkin.

 

[BillFromCT]

Avoiding the front desk entirely is a big enough perk for me to do online check in. Plus you could potentially have your room assigned by the time you get to the hotel so when you get there you can go straight to your room.

We had done online check in at the Yacht Club and were given a room with a king bed, when we asked for, and needed 2 queens. After much back and forth and sending us over to the Beach Club and back again, they ended up giving us a room next to the quiet pool. She commented how she'd have to deal with the people whose room she gave us when they checked in. I assumed the people whose room we took did not check in online.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We have never done online check in before!!! What are the pros/cons?

I don't think there are any cons. You can always go to the front desk when you arrive, whether or not you do online check in.

I like getting our room ready text with room number. Then we don't have to go to the front desk.

 

[Timandalicia]

We have never done online check in before!!! What are the pros/cons?

I will say in all our visits we have always arrived early and have lucked out and have been given a room right away, which has me thinking maybe why do online check in when its always worked out without it before.... but I also like the idea of being able to go right to our room without stopping at the front desk.

Thoughts?

There are no cons.
Except, skipping the front desk is both a pro and a con. I love the lobby when I first get there and miss the old process of interacting and checking in. I miss my kids running around the lobby while I check-in. I miss being welcomed home. And I almost always have 3 questions to ask when I get there.
But I don’t miss it enough to not do the online check-in.

 

[NJMomto2]

There are no cons.
Except, skipping the front desk is both a pro and a con. I love the lobby when I first get there and miss the old process of interacting and checking in. I miss my kids running around the lobby while I check-in. I miss being welcomed home. And I almost always have 3 questions to ask when I get there.
But I don’t miss it enough to not do the online check-in.

One con is if you go all the way to the room and the door won't open with your magic band or app, then you have to lug your stuff back to the lobby. So if the lobby is on my way to the room, I always stop.

 

[_19disnA]

^^ Even if you check-in at the front desk, you could still have an issue with the door not opening and would have to return to the front desk. The way you check-in won't prevent that from happening.

 

[Miffy]

I once had online check-in send me a text that my room--in the resort whose reservation I had canceled months earlier--was ready. So I ended up having to stand in a not-short line and talk to a front desk person to make sure that I wasn't being charged for both my room (which, btw, I had to go to the front desk to get since I hadn't gotten a text before arrival) and the phantom room. This experience put me off online check-in.

Also, I like to make sure I've got a room in a location I want, if at all possible. So I always go to the front desk now.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

I've always done it, never not done it
There's no draw back to it, which is why I do it.
No con at all.
Even if you do it, even if you get your room assignment, you can go to the front desk if you want to. No rule says you can't.
What you can't do is skip the front desk if you don't do it
So there are cons to not doing it
To me, that alone is the reason to do it. Sometimes the lines at the front desk are long. I don't see any reason to force yourself to stand in a long line when there are ways to avoid it. Got enough lines at Disney
Their newest method has highly increased our percentage of having a room ready at the time we enter as our arrival time. Coincidence, I have no idea. No way to know one way or the other. I can only report that in the past, having a room ready at the time we provided as our arrival time was pretty hit or miss. Sometimes we had one, sometimes it was still 3 or so. As expected. Which is fine
Now, since they have highly pushed online checkin, with straight to room, it's at nearly 90%. You enter your expected arrival time during online check in. 100% of the time I get a text at that time, or within a few minutes, welcoming me and saying we'll receive our room ready notice as soon as it's ready. Majority of the time within a few more minutes we get a text with our room #. We then go straight to our room. I haven't gone to the front desk at any resort in a long time. I'm perfectly happy with that. I know if I need something I can go but I like that if I don't need them, I don't have to go.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

There are no cons.
Except, skipping the front desk is both a pro and a con. I love the lobby when I first get there and miss the old process of interacting and checking in. I miss my kids running around the lobby while I check-in. I miss being welcomed home. And I almost always have 3 questions to ask when I get there.
But I don’t miss it enough to not do the online check-in.

Then do both. Do online check in and still stop by the lobby if you want to. No rule says you can't