New Trend? or Old News? ~~Mandatory~~ self check-in
 

I travel internationally (live in the US) quite often but not exactly every
week.

I saw an astonishing new trend at NCL (Newcastle UK) Air France check-in the
other morning though.

In the wee-small pre-dawn hours checking in for the 6:20 NCL to CDG the
people in the check-in line (yes, those with luggage to check!) were being
forcibly removed by an attendant and forced (literally no choice) to do a
self-check-in at a machine first. Then they were "allowed" to go back in
line and check their bags.

I noted an old lady saying something like "Ooh no, pick someone else PLEASE"
but her pleas fell on deaf ears of the gestapo-ish attendant. Help and
assistance -was- given but seeing old ladies with poor eyesight and zero
computer skills being forced to try and enter passport numbers or scan
passports etc. etc. on touch screens they obviously had no clue how to use .
.. . was very painful and I am sure embarrassing and stressful for them. It
was bad enough for me and I am 50 and very computer savvy. I was not
expecting this and did not have my reading glasses handy. I also had carry
on and 2 bags to check and no spare hands at all to fart around with all
that stuff.

I was required to enter Green Card info and a lot of very persnickety stuff
which was a strain for me both in terms of not being able to see well (!)
and having to remove documents from safe places in a confusing environment.
A recipe, in short, for lost passports, dropped valuables, and what have
you.

Is this mandatory self-check-in common in Europe *even* for those checking
baggage? Is it unique to good old Air France?

Either way: it sucks imho. I was only dispensed one boarding pass from the
machine anyhow, for a 2-leg flight to IAH, and confusion ensued.

I am interested to hear feedback from the group. I think those who are
machine-o-phobic, old, or have baggage to check should be allowed to choose.

bb

New Trend? or Old News? ~~Mandatory~~ self check-in
 

New Trend? or Old News? ~~Mandatory~~ self check-in
 

British Midland on certain classes of ticket, ie the very cheap ones, part of
the terms and conditions for their purchase are you can only use the self
check in kiosk.
--
Lansbury
www.uk-air.net
FAQs for the alt.travel.uk.air newsgroup

New Trend? or Old News? ~~Mandatory~~ self check-in
 

On Oct 17, 11:56 am, "SBC News" wrote:
[snip]
Is this mandatory self-check-in common in Europe *even* for those checking
baggage? Is it unique to good old Air France?

Either way: it sucks imho. I was only dispensed one boarding pass from the
machine anyhow, for a 2-leg flight to IAH, and confusion ensued.

I am interested to hear feedback from the group. I think those who are
machine-o-phobic, old, or have baggage to check should be allowed to choose.


It is coming, and quickly, if its not already here. I suspect
"self"
check-in via a website will become "mandatory" somehow, in
an effort to offload the entire "front desk" cost to someone else.
Only gate agents will be around, and only close to the flight.

My computer hostile wife is going to have to come (dragging
and screaming) into the 21st century soon. I haven't exactly sprinted
in myself, even though I was an early user of the web for travel.

I actually see the "re-rise" of the travel agent industry where one
goes to a travel agent, either in the airport, or just off property
(maybe even at your rental car counter) to handle the check in
process and then basically proceed directly to the gate.
(Quite honestly I'd be just as glad to "check" my bag at
the rental counter prior to boarding the bus and then just
heading to the gate).

New Trend? or Old News? ~~Mandatory~~ self check-in
 

Could this have happened because it was in the "wee-small pre-dawn
hours" and the counter wasn't fully staffed?


No I don't think so. The 2 check-in stations (2 lines) were manned as
normal. AF only have 2 stations per flight for check-ins at NCL normally I
think.

New Trend? or Old News? ~~Mandatory~~ self check-in
 

On Wed, 17 Oct 2007 10:01:07 -0700, me
wrote:

On Oct 17, 11:56 am, "SBC News" wrote:
[snip]
Is this mandatory self-check-in common in Europe *even* for those checking
baggage? Is it unique to good old Air France?

They were certainly doing this at the CDG Air France check-in earlier
this year. The counter agents were just lolling about bull****ting,
and were clearly upset that a customer was upsetting their routine
by asking for assistance..

New Trend? or Old News? ~~Mandatory~~ self check-in
 

"SBC News" wrote in message
t...
Could this have happened because it was in the "wee-small pre-dawn
hours" and the counter wasn't fully staffed?


No I don't think so. The 2 check-in stations (2 lines) were manned as
normal. AF only have 2 stations per flight for check-ins at NCL normally I
think.


It is the same with British Airways at Newcastle and, certainly, also at
Domestic check-in at LHR. The only way to check-in other than online or at a
machine is when you don't have a PNR recognisable by the system, such as
when on a ticket issued by a Code Share Airline (such as AA) or on some bulk
tickets.
--

JohnT

New Trend? or Old News? ~~Mandatory~~ self check-in
 

Fair enough.

But I flew a few months from NCL to AMS and no such thing on KLM (which even
though now ~~affiliated with~~ Air France I think of as an "old school"
airline versus AF and even BA). So it may vary by carriers as well. It's a
bit like the new and insidious trend at some supermarkets in the US, to have
you bag your own groceries (they've already introduced unload your own
groceries onto the checkout which was not the case even 15 years ago). Hey,
up each ticket $5 or add $5 to the grocery bill and hire check-in clerks and
spotty youths to do this will ya? Nah, that would be too simple. Why not
impose on an already weary travel populace even more and save the dosh.

bb


"JohnT" wrote in message
...
"SBC News" wrote in message
t...
Could this have happened because it was in the "wee-small pre-dawn
hours" and the counter wasn't fully staffed?


No I don't think so. The 2 check-in stations (2 lines) were manned as
normal. AF only have 2 stations per flight for check-ins at NCL normally
I think.


It is the same with British Airways at Newcastle and, certainly, also at
Domestic check-in at LHR. The only way to check-in other than online or at
a machine is when you don't have a PNR recognisable by the system, such as
when on a ticket issued by a Code Share Airline (such as AA) or on some
bulk tickets.
--

JohnT

New Trend? or Old News? ~~Mandatory~~ self check-in
 

On Wed, 17 Oct 2007 10:56:22 -0500 in rec.travel.air, "SBC News"
wrote:

I am interested to hear feedback from the group. I think those who are
machine-o-phobic, old, or have baggage to check should be allowed to choose.

why should the rest of us pay for your concierge service? go
hire a jeeves to travel with you and wait on you hand and foot.
if you want to be an upper class twit you have to pay for it.

get used to it. i'm not responsible for you not having your
reading glasses or travelling with unnecessary baggage. whatta
whiner.

New Trend? or Old News? ~~Mandatory~~ self check-in
 

Hey, why even put seats in the f'ing plane then. It would cur the cost
considerably if they bedded us down on straw like animals.
(It's pretty close to that already to that, and pig swill would be a step up
from Air France in-flight food all right) OR why pump in expensive jet fuel
when the 737 engines will probably will run OK on recycled McDonald's
grease!

Last time I checked having some person check you in was not "concierge"
service. Maybe it is these days. Times must have moved on for all I am
referring to is
what is standard for all peons and upper class twits alike at all airports
in living memory.

I never suggested you or anyone else was responsible for me, but changing
the rules in a game that has been set for about, oh, 70 years, leaves one
"unprepared" is all.

Fair enough to say screw me. upper class twit that I am (I was flygin from
NCL which is not classic UCT territory). But those old ladies were really
upset at the ordeal I noticed. Screw them too I suppose in the name of
progress and cheapness.
Fair enough. I get where you are coming from.

bb

"Dennis P. Harris" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 17 Oct 2007 10:56:22 -0500 in rec.travel.air, "SBC News"
wrote:

I am interested to hear feedback from the group. I think those who are
machine-o-phobic, old, or have baggage to check should be allowed to
choose.

why should the rest of us pay for your concierge service? go
hire a jeeves to travel with you and wait on you hand and foot.
if you want to be an upper class twit you have to pay for it.

get used to it. i'm not responsible for you not having your
reading glasses or travelling with unnecessary baggage. whatta
whiner.