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?

You’re clearly in the queue behind my parents OP! Without fail they get to the front and it’s a shit show, despite them having packed about 2 weeks before the flight and getting to airport about 3 hours early.

They are ALWAYS massively overweight on luggage. Even if they use the option of paying for additional luggage, they will still overpack and are always surprised their bags are too heavy. They then stand for ages with their suitcases open at the desk trying to work out what they can take out to give me to bring home . Once my mum had a massive electric can opener. They always end up having to pay the full airport price for even more additional luggage.

This all happens at the desk whilst there’s a massive queue behind them. It’s so embarrassing. DH now refuses to do airport drops with them, can’t take the shame.

Not RTFT but a long time ago I was check in staff, you would not believe how disorganised people are at the check in desk. It was also the most high-conflict customer service role I have ever encountered.

Often it's like they've arrived on the moon, for some reason people have no idea what you are supposed to do. They don't have anything ready, passports at bottom of bags etc, then quite often there's a drama about what seats they have on the plane, then their luggage is overweight, and on it goes. Airports seem to be a proper 'leave your brain at the door' situation for many, many people.

People are fucking stupid. Fact. They get to the front of the queue they can't find their passport. They can't find their boarding pass.

They get to the customs they start checking laptops and liquids for the first time. most people with half a brain cell will have thought about this already, put all the liquids in a bag, on the top of their small hand luggage, put it in the separate tray and away we go. so so easy, I'm staggered by people's stupidity.