Why does it take so long to check-in at the airport

[Stephy1886]

Most of the time the self checkin isn’t working so everyone has to wait in line to check on hold luggage

I’m always surprised how long it takes groups / individuals to checkin

when it’s finally my turn it’s hand over the passports then put each suitcase on to check the weight,
get the boarding passes & see you later.

the amount of times you see folk giving staff long winded stories, standing up there for ages. Why do some folk take so long to hand over a passport & weigh a case?

It's not really though is it.

Document wise you only need to hand your boarding pass and passport.

A small bit of prep before you leave home eliminates much of the faff.

Weigh your bags before you leave to make sure they are under limit.

Check in all passengers and download boarding passes. Screen save QR codes just in case app fails.

Separate out any liquids that you need to carry on board and bag them up before you get to the airport.

Keep passport accessible and not buried at the bottom of a bag.

Wear clothes/shoes that are easy to remove when passing through security.

I am rarely more then 2 mins at the desk dropping a bag off before heading to security.

The documents thing is a bit of a faff. If you check in or use the bag drop, you need the documents.

Then you need them for security.

Then you might need to scan your boarding pass at some stage during security so they can see how long it's taking people to get through.

Then you might need it to get into the lounge.

Then to get into the gate.

And occasionally again to get on the plane. I've not seen it since but one time I flew BA had someone checking your boarding pass to get into the gate, then a turnstile thing and then they checked it again before you got on the plane.

That makes several occasions when you could easily lose it! In fact DH did one time but fortunately he'd printed two off (this was before having it on an app).

Oh and I forgot passport control as well (outside the UK as we don't check departures). And since Brexit you need to allow a lot of time for that.

Excellent. Your organised and particularly speedy execution of the check in process will balance out those who for various reasons may take a little longer. Your service to your fellow travellers is applauded!

Why does it need to be a balancing act between those who have got their shit together and disorganised people holding up the show? Most of those 'various reasons' for taking longer are usually.completely avoidable with a little bit of pre planning.

It's probably partly that you just notice the people who are either unprepared faffers or who are complicated in some way because every time you look up they are still at the desk. The people who zip through quickly are there for so little time that you don't notice lots of them goings through.

You tell em sonny. Show them how it's done. You could give tutorials.

Naaah, I'd rather be in the lounge drinking a gin and tonic and reading my book then teaching some grown up how to be an adult in the extremely complex world of air travel.

Because that's the nature of the human race, isn't it? Some people find things easy, some find them more difficult. Some have awareness if the things they can plan for, some don't. Some are better at reading and following instruction than others. The calmest and most relaxed amongst us know that this isn't something we can do anything about, and that any huffing and tutting we do serves only to interfere with our own equilibrium, and possibly make the slower people more stressed than they already are, so we concerntrate on what we're doing and mind our business..

I've not noticed it at check in but in the security queue and also boarding the plane there is a ridiculous amount of dithering.

How can you walk past all those big signs and free plastic bags and not realise you need to put your liquids in them. Or not read the sign that says take your coat off etc. Then there's as much faffing put it all back I their bag right by the xray machine and not on the tables to the side where you are meant to do it.

And on the plane, some people are up and down repeatedly getting stuff in and out of their cabin bag....just take a smaller bag with the bits you need to go under your seat.

I literally flew home from my holiday this afternoon- I also travel a lot for work, 10ish times a year to all over the world to/from different airports.

I remarked to my DP that it’s amazing how different airports/airlines/destinations have their own rules, not even security is the same from airport to airport. I’m always well prepared in these situations as I’m well travelled, and these differences even catch me out sometimes.

Not to mention that not everyone you see at an airport has loads of experience travelling and need a bit longer to work out what’s what.

So.. I work at check in.
The reasons are multiple and it all comes down to security.

People epically manage to mess up their bookings for some reason and even in this day and age I see on average 4 expired passports a week.
People like to argue.
People like to tell you how to do your job.

The biggest things are seating issues, visa checks, overweight bags, people not actually booking a bag but bringing one with them anyway, people bringing an extra bag as ‘he’s not travelling now so Ive bought his case as an extra’ (huge security implications there and takes a while to correct)

Medical equipment and documents.

The list is actually endless.

People epically manage to mess up their bookings for some reason and even in this day and age I see on average 4 expired passports a week

I have read several threads on mumsnet about expired passports and often the (IMO misguided) advice is to go to the airport and try to get on the flight🙄

If it’s an ‘issue date’ expiry then some airlines will allow travel as they risk paying the fines.
others absolutely refuse travel.

Issue date expiry is a pain as technically the passport isn’t expired.. but is!

As someone who works in an airport and has done so for over 25 years, I can tell you that all the staff wonder the same questions every single day.

Indeed!
And wonder how people can make it through departures and still miss the flight…
You go to an airport for one reason surely? 😂

And wonder how people can make it through departures and still miss the flight…

I’ve often wondered this. There must be a study somewhere that has some numbers of what people actually do that makes them miss flights once through security?

DHs boss did this. He apparently even heard the call for his name and thought it was strange there was another traveller with his name.
He just thought the flight was an hour later!

Completely off piste here but I always think this about the local tip. Queue for absolutely ages just to get in, then when I'm finally inside, I'm in and out even with a car full. The amount of people you see fannying about like it's a grand day out... they're the people who think the check in desk is part of the actual holiday.

Another one who for some unknown reason has to give the check in staff a long winded story about how everyone must sit together

I understand OP's point completely. It staggers me that people are so ill prepared, faffing around, etc at times like this. I have an overwhelming desire to pop on a uniform and go and assist them. Drives me nutty. People are so slow.

You will take my jaw clean off? I beg your pardon?

Cause majority of people who check-in in person are either inexperienced travelers, there is a problem with something, there is some special assistance needed or it is a group. Those take longer than a minute to sort.

Next time tell airport staff that you need to go first because you’re so much better than everyone else and you need to get back on your pedestal .