Qantas forcing everyone to use self-service check-in kiosks in AKL

[dajop]

For a premium airline if you’re flying in J it’s illogical to be forced to use a kiosk

Having it as an option is great. But I agree that for a premium class on a premium carrier there should be a staffed option as well.

IMHO, the day that you front up to a kiosk, stare into the camera and it recognises you straight away and spits out your boarding pass* (perhaps asking you a question about baggage and issuing appropriate number of baggage tags as well) is a good kiosk experience. Mucking around with passport scans and/or entering PNRs is not necessarily something that everyone wants to bother with when paying a significant premium.

* or a reminder of your seat number via printout, email or message, as I assume same technology could recognise you when boarding thus you wouldn’t need a boarding pass.

 

[wandering_fred]

How is it illogical to get a boarding pass and then drop off the bag though?

Domestic connection to international multi-segment flights
Mobility assistance is required to get from check in to the gate area.
Extra baggage fees are required (and known in advance)

I am certain more reasons can be envisaged.
Qantas management should do more interesting wandering
Fred

 

[sap1l]

To add to the list of “can’t use a kiosk” reasons, if your passport doesn’t have a last name field in the MRZ you can’t use the kiosks for international flights.

 

[Rangalad]

How is it illogical to get a boarding pass and then drop off the bag though?

Having it as an option is great. But I agree that for a premium class on a premium carrier there should be a staffed option as well.

IMHO, the day that you front up to a kiosk, stare into the camera and it recognises you straight away and spits out your boarding pass* (perhaps asking you a question about baggage and issuing appropriate number of baggage tags as well) is a good kiosk experience. Mucking around with passport scans and/or entering PNRs is not necessarily something that everyone wants to bother with when paying a significant premium.

* or a reminder of your seat number via printout, email or message, as I assume same technology could recognise you when boarding thus you wouldn’t need a boarding pass.

Had a similar experience at HKG.
OLCI, outbound immigration check via e-channel.

Got to the gate, lined up in front of the camera, machine beeped.
Had to go to the service desk.
This is the first time (excluding the outbound security check) when I got to interact with a human.

I was entering Taiwan on a one way ticket. Separate booking ex TPE.
Showed the agent the booking ex TPE and was manually boarded.

 

[Rangalad]

How is it illogical to get a boarding pass and then drop off the bag though?

In the good old days, we'd accept the customer's baggage first, tag it, then print the boarding pass.

New technology reverses the workflow.