Feasibiility for in town/remote check in for Australian Domestic and International services

[TheCollecter]

But I do see now that the 901 itself goes all the way to Frankston, but I would think the train into the city and then out to Broadmeadows would have to be quicker than the bus all the way around.

About 3 hours quicker, yes, we live and breath what we have - not what we want

 

[Himeno]

From anywhere in JPN to anywhere in JPN

Your hotel can just book Tak-U-bin who will transport your luggage to airport or anywhere else.
From airport same service to your JPN destinations alleviating need to drag heavy luggage on trains.
Of course distance determines time required

Companies like Yamato Black Cat provide very cost effective, efficient and reliable Tak-U-Bin

We Once left a passport in hotel safe. Rang hotel. They got the passport delivered from a hotel to another hotel in another part of JPN within a day.

During the Japan leg of my last DONE4, I had the hotel I was staying at in Ikebu ship one of my bags to a hotel in Osaka. The hotel called the receiving hotel to confirm they would accept it. They were concerned that the bag wouldn't arrive before I did, but I was stopping for 2 nights in Numazu in between.

I've done airport - hotel, hotel - hotel and hotel/Yamato transport office - airport many times. They'll also store the bags and delay delivery so that it will arrive at the shipping destination the morning you plan to get there.

 

[Himeno]

I agree, and that's where I suggested a remote check in service with use of UberCourier technology.

Uber already partners with Qantas, so why not use the Qantas app to get an Uber driver to check your baggage at home, at least for domestic services?

DoorDash and Uber already have people doing supermarket shopping for online orders. They have a photo of the item they are to find and have to scan the barcode of each item before moving to the next and they pay like a normal customer with a DoorDash/Uber company card.

Wouldn't be too hard to get something like it set up for baggage check in.

 

[Himeno]

They invented the Electronic TV, Walkman, lithium battery, blue LED. Sega, Nintendo, Sony
But they can't do online Tak-U-Bin or Shinkansen bookings.

Still on paper train tickets
But hey the train turn up when they are supposed to and a Passport arrives

Japan Post now requires online forms for international packages. You scan a QR code at the post office to print out the filled in form.
Yamato Transport has been rolling out online Tak-U-Bin, at least for airport shipments. I've used it a number of times at the Namba office.
JR Central and JR West have the option to link online Shinkansen bookings via their SmartEX app to an IC card, allowing you to tap that IC card to pass through the Shinkansen gates. They've been printing a "seat information" card at the boarding gate, but are about to transfer that into the app.
JR East is no longer doing magnetic tickets for local trips. They have QR codes now, but they are also pushing their online Suica apps more. They are also upgrading their Eki-net online Shinkansen booking system to no longer require collecting tickets prior to passing through the ticket gates. Moving to a QR code system within the Eki-net app or link to an IC card like SmartEX.

 

[elanshin]

I posted this because:
There has been reports saying MTR is considering shutting down In-Town Check in due to low demand.

港鐵想把市區預辦登機服務取消 - hkitalk.net 香港交通資訊網

岩岩路過九龍灣，聽到有港鐵高層想係機場快綫换車同時取消行李卡，務求載多個人好過載多件貨，車站就開多間舖好過依家成個死場咁！未知班人係吹水定係真 ... 港鐵想把市區預辦登機服務取消

www.hkitalk.net

In fact, there has been a new service by SF Express for in home check in, where a dedicated staff will come to your home to check in your bags and issue you boarding pass:

Home Baggage Check-in Service - Hong Kong International Airport

www.hongkongairport.com

Therefore there is no point to argue for a rail service to the airport which will enable this service.

I would say if we can hire working holiday visa people to run this service at minimum wage, I think that is feasible, and furthermore, I don't understand why airports don't have space for baggage storage when there are plenty of wasted space for large open space car parks at MEL, BNE etc.?

Just curious, but do you have any idea what the current minimum wage is - and this sort of job usually attracts more than minimum because there's a bit more physical labour involved.

Tack on insurances, super and other miscellaneous costs - i can guarantee you it'll cost anywhere from 5x to 8x the cost to run in a place like hong Kong.

So then who pays for it? The customer? Paying $50+ to send a bag? Most people won't do that they'd just store it then take it with them.

For reference $50 a bag is probably on the cheap side. Same day courier for a bunch of stuff I got printed (big things) ran me $75 ( and i suspect my printing place was absorbing some of the shipping costs).

 

[AuSammy]

Won't work in Austrslia
High cost
Small population

Late 80s, Qantas had in town check in at the Hyatt on Collins Melbourne and The Regent Hotel (now Four Seasons) Sydney.

For those old enough from SA might remember the Ansett Hotel on North Terrace (now Stamford Plaza) had a side laneway. You could enter there, check your luggage for your flight and come back at a predetermined time and they would transfer you by bus to the airport in time for your flight. Was all part of the service at the time. I don’t recall ever having to pay anything, pretty sure it was covered by your flight ticket.

 

[Quickstatus]

pretty sure it was covered by your flight ticket.

What happened to the airline?

 

[Forg]

What happened to the airline?

The All Blacks?

 

[kookaburra75]

For those old enough from SA might remember the Ansett Hotel on North Terrace had a side laneway. You could enter there, check your luggage for your flight and come back at a predetermined time and they would transfer you by bus to the airport in time for your flight. Was all part of the service at the time. I don’t recall ever having to pay anything, pretty sure it was covered by your flight ticket.

Ah yes, I remember that When travelling between Adelaide and Alice Springs. Mind you the cost of that airfare back then was the same as if I had paid for an international airfare to get me from Adelaide to Singapore, and then back down to Alice Springs via Darwin. With what I paid TAA or Ansett SA/NT they should have carried me out to the airport in a sedan chair. For meetings in our Perth head office, it was cheaper for our Darwin manager to go via Singapore too.

It's all a good idea, but how much are you prepared to pay for it? If you just booked a limo for the day, where your bags are in the back and the driver got you to the airport on time, I suspect that would be cheaper than what the airlines would sting you for.

 

[AuSammy]

What happened to the airline?

i was a Golden Wing Diamond and mostly travelled AN but have a hazy memory returning from a business trip having the same service in MEL provided by AO (now QF)

 

[AuSammy]

Ah yes, I remember that When travelling between Adelaide and Alice Springs. Mind you the cost of that airfare back then was the same as if I had paid for an international airfare to get me from Adelaide to Singapore, and then back down to Alice Springs via Darwin. With what I paid TAA or Ansett SA/NT they should have carried me out to the airport in a sedan chair. For meetings in our Perth head office, it was cheaper for our Darwin manager to go via Singapore too.

It's all a good idea, but how much are you prepared to pay for it? If you just booked a limo for the day, where your bags are in the back and the driver got you to the airport on time, I suspect that would be cheaper than what the airlines would sting you for.

Yes I remember the firm paying around $900 rtn ADL-MEL in Y (but I was invariably upgraded to J). The duopoly was good for the well heeled traveller or on the company dime at the time. If your plane went tech on one airline you could walk over to the checkin counter for the other airline and trade your ticket in for a seat on the other airline and leave at the same scheduled time (provided there were spare seats of course)