What's the point of online check in?

[lastminpanic23]

It's been a while since dh and I have been abroad so we are bickering over this. He says we should check in online. I said it's pointless when we have bags to drop off for the hold as you still need to queue up to check those in and might as well do it all at once. We also don't have a printer so wouldn't be able to print off our own boarding passes anyway.

I understand it makes it quicker for people who just have hand luggage and can therefore bypass the check in desk but what's the point in doing it if you have suitcases?

With some airlines you have to check in on line. Also if you have checked in on line you just have to drop your luggage at the Bag Drop rather than check in.

And you don’t have to print your boarding pass as you can have it on your phone.

I'm not 100% but I imagine that seeing as airlines purposely overbook their flights and if everyone turns up, the people that have already checked in online would get on the flight, and the people who go to check in at the airport would be bumped onto the next one?

Depends who you're flying with and from which airport. EasyJet for example bag drop is just bag drop, and you already need to be checked in. In fact they'll charge you if they have to check you in at the airport. BA are going the same way at Heathrow but AFAIK will still check you in without charge.

I suspect Ryanair and Jet2 are the same as easyJet but I haven't flown with either for a long time.

Yhk is correct. Always check in online

If you want to choose your seats/make sure you sit next to each other.

The point is that the cheaper airlines make you pay £££ for the pleasure of airport check-in, even when you're there at the counter with your bag and passport anyway.

Agree with this too.

Some airlines will charge you to check in and have your boarding passes printed at the airport.
We always do it online and then bag drop if not hand luggage only but I agree the queues for bag drop can be annoying if you have already checked in.
If not long haul we never do checked luggae these days

Also this. Almost happened to me once with easyJet when I'd forgotten to do online check in. As it happened someone else didn't turn up but it wouldn't have mattered to me if I'd flown later that day so was actually hoping they didn't for the €250 compensation I'd have been entitled to

Dont you HAVE to check-in online these days? Also, generally you can use boarding pass on your phone so don't need a printer. Guess it depends on the airline but just dropping your luggage off after checking-in online is reasonably quick AND you have your seats all sorted (if where you sit is important to you eg together or extra leg room etc)

At our airport there are 2 queues, one for people who’ve done online check in, one for people who haven’t. If you have the queue takes about 2 mins because everybody is just scanning their pass and chucking the cases in, if you haven’t then the queue can be huge because they are having to do the check in process as well.

With some airlines and some airports there are two separate queues - one for automated bag drop kiosks for those who have checked in online and a snail queue do those who haven’t.

And what everyone else said about seat allocations, risk of bumping and some airlines charging you extra to check in at the airport.

Who prints boarding passes nowadays? You have them on your phone.

If for nothing else- to chose your seats and make sure you are sitting together. Unless you'd prefer to sit separately 😆

At Gatwick you just do bag drop off at a machine if you have checked in online.

The big queue is just people who haven’t checked in for some reason.

I am Team DH

Check in online. Go to bay drop ( not check in ). Some airlines charge more to check in at the airport.
You don't need to print out boarding passes, download them to your phone (wallet if you have an Apple phone ).

*bag drop

Cost. Don't most airlines charge you a lot more to check in at the airport and print boarding passes?

Depends on airline, but when you check in online you also select your seat, and can upgrade it to have extra leg room. Or just select ones by the emergency exit - usually there is a bit more room. Also a bag drop might be an automated kiosk, unmanned. So do check in online.

Where I've just been, I went straight to bag drop, weighed my case and got my labels for them. And walked straight to the lounge. I'd already checked in so they had my passport details and everything else they needed. 100% with your DH.

@lastminpanic23
It's a lot quicker just to drop your bags off than if you had to go through all the check in rigmarole . Many airlines now have automated baggage drop so as long as you have your boarding pass , you pop your suitcase on the scale, scan your pass, then it prints you a label and you pop your case on the conveyor belt .

I can't remember when online check in first became a thing but I can recall the huge queues that there used to be at check in - which are generally now down to a couple of people unless you are particularly early and check in hasn't yet opened .

You will spend long enough queuing at security without making check-in longer than it needs be - both for yourself and those behind you in the queue .

Definitely check in online. You can usually have the boarding passes on your phone so it doesn't matter if you don't have a printer.

Even though I have them on my phone and check in online, I still print a paper copy.
I once lost my phone on holiday, fortunately I had paper copies of the boarding passes.

That’s why I screenshot them and send them to whoever I’m travelling with

Team DH here too. He's right, for all of the reasons already mentioned.