[Inquisitive]

Cedric wrote “My intentions will almost certainly not have changed at all in that 24 hours so they have no new information for their dynamic pricing model.”

You will be surprised how dynamic things are today in airline business (or for that matter in many other businesses). Every bit of information is useful even within past 24 hours.

We only discuss passengers, do not forget the cargo. Cargo loading is also dynamic depending on passenger loading and I am pretty sure a good airline do a lot of sensitivity analysis for cargo loading based on latest probable passenger loading.

[CathayLoyalist2]

Not really that different to a foreign exchange dealer. Markets move in seconds

[Cedric_Statherby]

[quote quote=1105345]You will be surprised how dynamic things are today in airline business (or for that matter in many other businesses). Every bit of information is useful even within past 24 hours.[/quote]

Oh no! This could mean they want to check up on me every 24 hours to make sure I have not changed my mind and my intentions! Dynamic ongoing check-in not just to secure my seat but to maintain it. Please no …

[IanFromHKG]

One of the aspects is undoubtedly collecting API, often done at the check-in stage and not the booking stage.

Personally I always travel with luggage and refuse (unless forced to) to use those wretched self-check/bag drop machines. I am nearly always flying in a premium cabin and am damned if I will do someone else’s job for them. Plus I find that the few I have used are clunky and annoying and just wind me up. Maybe I’m just a bloody-minded old sod (not “maybe”, come to think about it) but while I understand the move to automation I would much rather swan up to a check-in desk manned by an actual person and let them do it. And check my passport while they’re at it so I don’t have to do it later in the process.

Having said that, I often do check-in online once I know I am going to fly* and get an online boarding pass, and it always annoys me that when I go through the above process I am almost invariably given a paper boarding card – what a waste of paper!

* Regarding comments above about cancelling online check-in, with most (if not all?) of the airlines I fly on (not LCCs, they are different) it is extremely easy to cancel check-in online.

[canucklad]

[quote quote=1105507]Personally I always travel with luggage and refuse (unless forced to) to use those wretched self-check/bag drop machines[/quote]

Hurrah, it’s a mystery to me why there is a need for them at all. They invariably are located in the most inconvenient part of the airport –either blocking your way to the manned checked-in desks or hidden away in a secluded corner like a sex shop in the middle of a bible belt town. Worse , and at least at EDI they’re supported by a gang of overly keen human hornets to manage ours and the machines deficiencies. People who could be relocated behind a desk !! Then there’s the long queue to actually drop off your bags , again invariably located as far away from the machines as is possible !!

And from a personal point of view , I can’t use my charm on a machine !!

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TupeloKid

[AisleSeatTraveller]

lots of info in here, must sit down for a cup of tea (fortunately not sat on a Virgin flight at present)

sorry

[jjlasne]

The actual boarding pass no longer exists but remains in the digital world. Perhaps it is an obsolete remnant of past times. It would be interesting to discover the origin of it all. It could be attached to the first computer reservation system. After all, it is nothing more than an IBM card with your name, your flight number and departure time and, more importantly, your boarding gate and time and seat assignment.

[IanFromHKG]

For some reason I just thought of one use for paper boarding passes, at least in one country. When departing from India, it was necessary to produce your boarding pass at numerous points and to have it “stamped” at each stage as you passed through the airport. By the time you arrived at the ‘plane there was generally no space left. Can’t do that to a smartphone…!

[AisleSeatTraveller]

the paper boarding pass makes a good book mark for your inflight reading (not so good with a Kindle)

[IanFromHKG]

[postquote quote=1105716]

Surely unnecessary with your inflight reading if you’re using a Kindle? LOL

[canucklad]

Times move on and the digital world certainly has is advantages , although I do fondly remember the cabin mock-ups at check-in desks with the removal stickers representing the seats. Peeled and then stuck onto a colourful (sometimes) elaborately decorated piece of card . Ahhh nostalgia, and how old am I !!

As an aside I’m sure I’ve got a shoe box back home in BC filled with records of my allocated seat on the many flights / airlines I took

[Inquisitive]

I commented earlier on this topic that boarding pass is not really required for boarding. However a paper boarding pass carry a lot of information that could be handy if something unexpected happens during or after the journey.

For example, if someone has checked in luggage and that is lost, the reporting may need ticket number, seat number etc. And if one’s digital equipment run out of battery after a long travel, the boarding pass could be handy.
Similarly for any delay (to collect food voucher)/cancellation (for hotel accommodations from airlines)/travel change at midpoint, the boarding pass could be useful for economy passengers who do not have lounge access and get slow treatment from airlines.
And I totally agree with the bookmark use.

[Cedric_Statherby]

All of these points are very well made. My initial post though was on the value of checking in straight after making the booking and months before I fly.

I have no objection to checking in at the airport, indeed that is what the original meaning of “checking in” was. And I accept that physical boarding passes have many values, from being analogue paper back-ups to digital systems that can fail to bookmarks to souvenirs (I still have my Concorde boarding passes). I find it pointless and irritating though to be asked to “check in” 4 months before a flight and just 24 hours after booking it. And I am driven to distraction by the subsequent emails reminding me that “you have not checked in yet – do so now”.

[EU_Flyer]

[quote quote=1105738]And if one’s digital equipment run out of battery after a long travel, the boarding pass could be handy.[/quote]

Such a good point. I’ve sometimes arrived at airports following long periods of train or car travel when my phone wasn’t able to charge, praying that the battery would last long enough to get me on the plane or at least a desk to get a paper pass, assuming a power point wasn’t available.

[quote quote=1105740]All of these points are very well made. My initial post though was on the value of checking in straight after making the booking and months before I fly.[/quote]

Apologies if you’ve already mentioned this but other than Ryanair – which airline does this?

[Cedric_Statherby]

[quote quote=1105807]Apologies if you’ve already mentioned this but other than Ryanair – which airline does this?[/quote]

Current bugbear is with Loganair for a domestic Scottish flight, though I suspect the guilty party is the booking engine I used, Opodo.

[Author]

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