3 reasons why you absolutely must check in online when you’re flying

by Janice Hough on March 23, 2009

Not so long ago, airlines were offering bonus miles for online check-in. While that is no longer true, there are still some real bonuses that make it worth your while to try to hit the computer before you arrive at the airport.

First, the obvious one. A boarding pass in advance, buys a little more time with a late arrival at the airport. Advance boarding passes won’t help with checked baggage cutoffs, or help speed up security lines, but it means the seat won’t automatically be given away 30 minutes before the flight. (Although passengers still must be on board ten minutes in advance.)

Second, while any regular Southwest flier knows that boarding priority generally depends on check-in time, advance check-in can help with seats on other airlines as well. On British Airways, for example, travelers on most discount tickets can only get advance seat assignments when they check in online 24 hours in advance. But most carriers will give passengers a chance to select or change their seat assignments.

Third — and this could be the most important issue — it’s a chance to fix potential problems in advance. If for any reason there’s an issue with the ticket; somehow the computer thinks it’s a paper ticket, there’s a schedule change that didn’t get communicated, a change during the trip caused a mistaken no-show message — the list is endless — finding out before getting to the airport can avoid a last minute nightmare.

Hotels have increasingly recognized the online check-in advantage, and more and more chains are putting boarding pass printers in their lobbies. (Hint: While they’re supposed to be for registered guests, a discreet traveler might be able to use them even when they aren’t staying at the hotel in question. But you didn’t read it here.)

In addition, it’s possible to check in online even without printer access, as most airline systems don’t realize that a boarding passes hasn’t actually been printed when the check-in process is completed. Then the boarding pass can be printed at the airport.

But with or without a boarding pass, the online process at worst takes a few minutes. At best, it can save a trip.

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Tagged as: boarding passes, British Airways, hotel boarding pass printers, online check-in, schedule changes, Southwest Airlines

  • Robert

    … True enough for many travelers, but for business travelers that sometimes have to change their itineraries at the last minute, on-line check in can cause problems. The reason is that once checked in, a travel agent can’t issue a new ticket for an itinerary that has changed. It can only be changed by an airline representative and at the airport, that can sometimes mean long lines for someone in a hurry to catch a flight.

  • Paulette

    Thank heaven for my daughter’s i-Phone. I used it to check in for my Sunday-evening Southwest flight while we were having dinner at a restaurant Saturday night. Even though it was just 5 minutes after check-ins were allowed, I still ended up with B-4. If I had waited till we got home, I would have ended up with a “C for Center Seat” boarding pass on this 100 percent sold flight.

  • Paulette

    My company has no problem making changes on Southwest (fully refundable tickets) even after a boarding pass has been issued. The employee calls in to notify us of the need/desire to change flights, we call Southwest’s 800 number, the rep voids the existing boarding pass, and we get a new one for the new flight.

  • VICKI

    I agree with Robert. I suggest to all my clients not to check in online. If you pre-print your boarding pass the night before and then have to cancel, it is a nightmare to try and get any credit that is due.

  • Carrie Charney

    When you are checking in online for a Continental flight, you are given the option to be automatically checked in for your return flight and to have the boarding pass sent to your computer or printed at the airport kiosk.

  • glorya

    You mention that one can print their boarding passes at the airport even tho they have checked in online and don’t have access to a printer. Can you elaborate?

  • http://leftcoastsportsbabe.com Janice Hough

    Hi Gloria.

    What you do is check in and say to print boarding passes. Even if you can’t print. Then when you get to the airport use an easy-check in machine. Then there is an option to “reprint” boarding passes.

  • http://cestbeth.wordpress.com Elizabeth Smith

    Glorya–online check in is basically an electronic process that lets the airline know you are taking the flight. At that point, you can either print your boarding passes or obtain your boarding passes at the airport by proceeding to a kiosk or an agent to print. Does that help?

    I often check in, but wait until I get to the airport to get the hard copies. It just depends where I am and what I have access to.

    I am a travel manager for two companies and I always check in my clients 24 hours out, so if they are running late, they are already checked in. I usually print to a .pdf file and either e-mail or fax their boarding passes to them, wherever they may be. Yeah, I admit, I have spoiled them! :)

  • Aaron

    Online checkin is great if you can use it.
    For my recent flight from Boston to Toronto, I was unable to do this. I had to check in at the airport.

  • Clive

    Checking in isn’t an irreversible commitment. Recently I was involved in a last-minute decision to postpone my return home. I’d checked in online the night before but my company’s travel office was able to undo this and re-book me on a flight the following week. Not sure what the cost implication was, but I was on a pay-to-alter fare anyway, so having checked in may not have affected that.

    Incidentally, this was with Singapore Airlines, who allow you to print a boarding pass at home – but then insist you exchange it at the airport for a proper, branded one. All done with great charm and efficiency though, so it doesn’t feel like an imposition.

  • mindy

    One reason not to check-in on-line:

    Many, in fact most, Airlines offer you an inexpensive upgrade to Biz/First Class when you check in at the in-airport kiosk (when there are empty seats up front). I hve only run across one airline that does this when checking in on-line. I have been offered $50 upgrades from IAD to SFO – definitely worth it and many hundreds of dollars less than buying that Biz/First class ticket. I’ve also scored a $100 upgrade to Europe.

  • http://sickmomma.blogspot.com Aviva

    When I woke up on my departure day so sick I literally couldn’t get out of bed, I made sure my husband called United to cancel our flights hours before our departure time because I knew that was the only way our non-refundable tickets would keep any value at all. He did that, but because I had checked us in online the night before, I was unable to get a credit for that part of our tickets despite many emails and phone calls to United.

    They insisted that because I had checked in, their computer showed that we had flown PDX to ORD, even though they had a record of us calling and canceling the tickets before the flight from PDX left. I kept asking why their computer didn’t show we didn’t board the plane, but the three United reps I spoke to just kept repeating that their computer showed we checked in and therefore we clearly used the outgoing part of our tickets.

    So incredibly frustrating — especially since United seems to be the only airline that still flies directly (non-stop) to ORD from PDX these days. I’d love to never fly them again — and I won’t when I have another choice of direct flight — but c’est la vie.

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