 Poster: A snowHead
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Is it me or has this become a joke?
Originally it worked well and I recall one trip last season where we went to the bag drop, handed over bags, and walked away, to the envy of the queue of people waiting to check in.
But now the check in line and the bag drop line seem to be the same line, and all the online check in does is give them your passport number to save the check in clerk typing it in. (Oh and saves them printing out a boarding card as well!) Still have to show passports. Still have to answer stupid, patronising questions about someone else packing my bag. Still have to hold up my carry on bag to be assessed like a naughty schoolboy.
Oh and can anyone in the airline industry tell me why everyone in the party has to be at check in? If the only reason we have to queue is to drop off bags, and therefore, had we no bags, we could all go straight through security, then why do we all have to queue up like sheep just because we are checking a couple of bags?
I haven't mentioned an airline and I won't because this is a general problem caused by stupid rules. The throng of people at check-in or security is now an equally tempting, and far more accessible, target for atrocities than the plane itself. 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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sanman, depends on the airline. On Saturday at the Cathay check in in Brisbane, the Business Class queue was longer than the economy one (because all the HK expats going home are frequent flyers!) and the fast bag drop was empty. I'm sure half the people in the business class queue had already checked in online too...
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You should be quite careful describing anywhere at an airport as a tempring and accessible target for atrocities.
The reason you have to queue for check in is that they have to ask those patronising questions about your bags. Only the people checking in bags should need to queue up, if it's a major issue put them on separate bookings so some of the group can go straight through with hand luggage.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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We fly hand luggage only with Ryanair from Stansted regularly and have not had to do the passport/questions bit. Are you sure you didn't get diverted to the wrong line? Did you ask why you had to deal with a human?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Layne, we were checking in bags so had to queue up to hand them in. The person employed to marshal the queue was clear that everyone had to go in the same line.
I didnt dare ask questions because my experience is that this only makes things worse and airlines have a tendency to treat even the mildest questioning of their procedures as a challenge to security. So I grin and bear it with everyone else.
Monium, I doubt I am the only one who has noticed this.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| sanman wrote: |
| Is it me or has this become a joke? |
Rather than a joke hasn't it just become the norm (and therefore just about everyone joins the same queue)?
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It's fantastic though if you just have hand luggage. I flew to Lyon with EJ in September and avoided a big queue on my return at Lyon going straight through to security.
Even with luggage I've always found, so far, that it has got me through quicker. Saturday 19th February at Luton will be the big test I think.
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| Colin B wrote: |
| It's fantastic though if you just have hand luggage. |
That's the main benefit IMO, especially with truly online checking through various smartphone apps that mean you don't even need to print out a boarding pass just flash your phone.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I don't think they'd be impressed with my 4 year old basic Nokia with a big crack in the display 
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Colin B, 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Depends on a combination of the airline, the airport and the particular member of staff you speak to. Going out to Munich before Xmas I checked in on-line, but still hat to queue with everyone else to get baggage tags. The gentleman on the desk was less well informed than me, telling me I was lucky to get free ski carriage because they usually charge but we're letting it go because of the big queues caused by snow in Munich. I tried to tell him that it was explicitly stated in the Ts&Cs that it was free but he was having none of it. I let that one go.
On the return trip I'd booked on-line. Massive queue at Munich to get tagged but when the line manager lady spotted my skis she directed me to desk 26 for oversize luggage. I pointed at my normal roller bag and she said no problem, do them both at 26. No queue, took 30 seconds. The chap at the desk wasn't even interested in seeing my passport. Job's a good 'un.
Goes to show that when the staff are given the latitude to think for themselves then everything runs that little bit smoother. That was only on the German side though, obv.
Last edited by snowHeads are a friendly bunch. on Tue 4-01-11 14:29; edited 2 times in total
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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The thing that really does work well is day before check-in which is sometimes available on charter flights. You have to live close enough to the airport that it isn't a problem for you to make the extra trip the day before and you have to time it so that you avoid the check in queues of the previous day's flights. It's great we have done it about 3 times now. You do go straight through to security the next morning.
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What really works well is in town check in Hong Kong. You can check in at the airport express station any time on the day you leave, up to 1.5 hrs prior to your flight leaving, before you travel to the airport. Saves on draggin luggage around!
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You know it makes sense.
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EJ's hand luggage policy (max size, no weight limit) is also causing a problem now. On most of the flights I've been on recently it has take some time to find space for everyone's hand luggage. This led to a short delay on one flight.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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sanman,
| Quote: |
| I didnt dare ask questions because my experience is that this only makes things worse and airlines have a tendency to treat even the mildest questioning of their procedures as a challenge to security. So I grin and bear it with everyone else. |
I know exactly what you mean 
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Poster: A snowHead
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Colin B, don't get me started on that! I measured all our hand luggage, having been previously forced to put it in the "gauge" to see if I could be fleeced a few more £££
And on our flight back yesterday I saw at least two travellers with hand bags nearly as big as my check in bag.
Like I said ... grin and bear it.
beanie1, I recall many years ago flying Virgin from Orlando, you could check in at 10 am in a car park (they had a mobile van thingy) and then turn up at the airport in the evening and walk straight through to security. 9/11 put paid to that I suspect.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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In 2008 I flew from Kapalua on Maui to Honolulu with Go Airlines. "Check in" was from a phone on the counter as you entered the place.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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we've flown ryanair out of stansted quite a few times with cabin baggage and quite often seen people getting on with bags as big as they are! but last time we came back from Bergamo they were having a bit of a crack down and measuring peoples cabin baggage at security; this was not going down well with most of the local Italian crowd!..........
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| beanie1 wrote: |
| What really works well is in town check in Hong Kong. You can check in at the airport express station any time on the day you leave, up to 1.5 hrs prior to your flight leaving, before you travel to the airport. Saves on draggin luggage around! |
Many a-time I've checked in at the airport express at the end of a business day, before a leisurely meal with friends somewhere up the escalator, followed by getting the train for a midnight flight. Flat-bed seat and a couple of G&Ts and Bob's your uncle!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| Quote: |
Is it me or has this become a joke?
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Not just you. We checked in online for a recent return flight from Munich with easyjet. The supposed bag drop was a joke with the staff member taking an eternity to process each bag. Meanwhile the passengers joining the normal check in queue were speedily dealt with - with people joining that queue ages after us being dealt with ages before we were.
The moral? No point whatsoever in online check in.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Colin B wrote: |
| It's fantastic though if you just have hand luggage. I flew to Lyon with EJ in September and avoided a big queue on my return at Lyon going straight through to security. |
Indeed.
When I went tro Jersey for a long weekend in October, I checked in online for both the outward and return flights before I left home (with BMIBaby you can check in up to 7 days before the flight).
It did make me laugh though that when you do that, and when you only have hand luggage, they still ask you the questions about whether you packed your bags yourself and have they been left unattended - this being for both flights, before I had even traveled out!
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