What do people do at the check in counter for 16min???

[jad01]

One thing I can't get my head around is where people stand at the check in counter for a long period.
for example today I arrived to drop one bag off in the premium check in queue and there were 3 counters open, the first counter had one person, then second two people and the third three people, with what looked like one standard bag per passenger.

They were already at the counter when I joined the queue at 1115 but there was no movement at any of the counters till 1131.
the man in front of me with 3 bags was at the counter for all of 51 seconds and for me I was already checked in so was quicker than that.
this seems to be a regular occurrence which has me puzzled, how others zip through in under a minute while others are there for protracted periods.
maybe someone can shed some light on this for me

JASON

 

[markis10]

Sometimes its for people who have problems with ticketing or connections further down the track.

 

[Hvr]

And sometimes preselected seats have been changed.

 

[AIRwin]

Reading this, it immediately brought me back to the scene in "Little Britain" where the check-in agent behind the desk was typing profusely on the keyboard...

 

[harvyk]

I've had a few times when I've been at the check in counter for a lot longer than I would have otherwise liked. It's happened a few times when my grand plans have fallen flat (eg one of my flights has been cancelled or is going to be delayed which could cause problems with onward connections) and plan B needs to kick in.

Don't assume that it's just because someone is a little slow at organising their stuff.

 

[chrisb]

International connections sometimes take a while.

The largest delay I've had was caused by a booking that lost its ticket number in the few days between me flying in and then trying to board the return. The agent spent ages on the phone to someone. Thankfully they realised that I couldn't have taken the first flight if it wasn't properly ticketed in the first place so it was probably not the usual non payment issues.

 

[UP4014]

usually connections, I'm often sorting out the next flight or changing something.

 

[simongr]

My slowest check in was when for some reason the first leg of a DONE4 had disappeared and I had to be rebooked on QF (from CX). I do wonder sometimes why people have such challenges.

 

[here2go]

I've spent half an hour at MI check-in in DRW. They lost details of my infant daughter, and the passports in the system had to be reentered. Not happy with the travel agent and Amadeus migration.

On SK flew HEL-CPH-MUC. They had details of my wife having already flown ahead. They dodgied up a ticket to CPH for her, and then for the second flight they had to rebook us. Took another half hour.

These are all compartiely complex. Makes you wonder why JQ queues are so long when they are mostly point to point.

 

[jsoprano]

My longest check-in experience would have been at JFK back in 2008 when we were checking in for an AA flight to LHR and asked if our bags could be checked through to TXL. The connecting flight was with BA on a separate booking. The check-in agent was a bit 'rough' and unfriedly at first because of this seemingly odd request, trying to fob us off arguing it's not possible (which I knew is incorrect), but once she realised I was 'in the know' she was an angel, got onto it and tried her best. She had some systems issues (our connecting flight BA9XX didn't show up in the list of possible connections for some reason) but was committed to make it work, after a good 15 mins I already offered her not to worry as we had plenty of connecting time in LHR, but then after ca. 20 mins the printer spewed out the correct bag tag and everyone was happy.

I had another one (not so long at the counter but in total), where we wanted to check in for an EK flight in FRA and were some 5 kgs over the limit (65 instead of 60 in total for 2 pax, or something similar). No leeway from the check in agent, cost was EUR 80 per kg or something around that (for FRA-DXB-MEL) which we wanted to avoid. So went back to the in-laws car to unpack some unimportant stuff. Came back to the check in counter some 15 mins later to find the baggage system had broken down and the conveyor belts and scales weren't working. They were still able to check us in and tag the luggage, so in the end our baggage was not weighted (at least not on the spot where they could have charged us, but I am sure for weights & balances they would have had to do it later). That was annoying...

 

[UP4014]

the other thing to do is engage in a quick intercourse on how the day is going for each other. I look over to the machines and think poor sods, another screen and buttons to push and nil human interaction.

 

[The Rok]

the other thing to do is engage in a quick intercourse on how the day is going for each other. I look over to the machines and think poor sods, another screen and buttons to push and nil human interaction.

Intercourse at the check in counter? Shame on you.

 

[drron]

I always used to wonder but on one occasion where the rest of our DONE4 disappeared we looked likely to be there for a while until the agent"found it".It must have popped out for a coffee.
On the other hand we had 2 BA flights in Africa in March/april but they are they are still in mrsdrron's bookings as coming up in July/august.

 

[tuapekastar]

Had a long time (15 - 20 mins) checking in at LAX for LAX-AKL-MEL. The issue was that LAX-AKL was the last leg of a DONE4, and AKL-MEL was just to get me home on a separate ticket (in Y, and same flight number - QF26 - but a change of aircraft at AKL as well). Agent had problems, had to get his supervisor over, they typed away awhile and eventually he presented me 2 x BPs and proclaimed "I got you a good seat on AKL-MEL". Indeed he had, one in J! I said that's a wonderful seat thanks but I'm in Y on that leg, so he had to get the supervisor over and 'unload' me from the flight and do it again.

 

[Isochronous]

I checked in at MEL earlier this year for MEL-SYD-NAN-LAX-DFW-AUS and had to get my laptop out because I forgot to pay the visa waiver for the US online. But I just went to the side and she went to another counter and continued processinig people while I fixed that. So sometimes problems do happen.

 

[vertisol]

I travel a couple of times a week on average. My alarm goes off 60 minutes before departure and it takes me 17 minutes from my garage to the good side of airport security at CBR airport. Notwithstanding fog I tend to be able to check myself in and walk on the flight no problems... I can almost guarantee when I am travelling with my 2 yr old and have to wait in line to check in the pram, portacot, car seat that it will take the person in front of me forever (and that the car seat will fall off the trolley at least twice).

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Had a long time (15 - 20 mins) checking in at LAX for LAX-AKL-MEL. The issue was that LAX-AKL was the last leg of a DONE4, and AKL-MEL was just to get me home on a separate ticket (in Y, and same flight number - QF26 - but a change of aircraft at AKL as well). Agent had problems, had to get his supervisor over, they typed away awhile and eventually he presented me 2 x BPs and proclaimed "I got you a good seat on AKL-MEL". Indeed he had, one in J! I said that's a wonderful seat thanks but I'm in Y on that leg, so he had to get the supervisor over and 'unload' me from the flight and do it again.

so you got a free upgrade and told them to shove it and put you back in Y?

 

[jukebox333]

It could be because they are being told that two of the five ESTA applications of their party have been filled out with a typo, and so they won't be boarding...

 

[tuapekastar]

so you got a free upgrade and told them to shove it and put you back in Y?

I didn't tell them to 'shove it', I simply knew it would end in tears at AKL (the check-in guy mistakenly thought I was in J AKL-MEL) so cut things off at the pass!

 

[JohnK]

I have spent 30+ minutes trying to get bags checked through to final destination on separate itineraries but I have learned that lesson now. Don't bother.

I have also gone to check-in with what I thought was a valid ticket only to find that it has been cancelled by computer as I was a no show for a flight and I am no longer booked on any flights. Wrong. All got sorted but it makes me wonder why they do not send an email when the computer has somehow cancelled the remainder of an itinerary.

And other times find I do not have a valid ticket as I called Qantas 2-3 times to make changes but the person making the changes over the phone has not confirmed them or taken payment and then I have to have my ticket re-instated and luckily all my seat allocations restored.

I guess that is one of the hazards of frequent travel.