What's the point of early check-in

[njba]

Is there any advantage at all for checking in early for a flight (and by early, I mean before you arrive at the airport/on the way there)?

Prima facie, the only advantage is having a sequence number of 1, but that in itself seems to have no practical benefit.

 

[BAM1748]

No advantage except it saves the airline work.

 

[Sdtravel]

I have often checked in at T24 in the hopes to score that magic No 1.
I generally always get my seat beforehand so i guess no other major reason. I started selecting exit rows so i need to checkin at the desk anyway now. But even if i dont have an exit row i tend to stop at the desk anyway to get a proper boarding pass.

 

[Hvr]

Not so much an issue here but in the US if the flight is oversold you're more likely to miss out if you haven't checked in. Basically early check in secures your seat.

 

[RooFlyer]

Advantages:

It should make your seat selection more secure (but still not totally secure).

If you have more than your allowed cabin baggage, then not fronting up to a check-in agent makes it less likely that you'll get pinged.

Saves time and queuing if you are HLO.

 

[marki]

Not so much an issue here but in the US if the flight is oversold you're more likely to miss out if you haven't checked in. Basically early check in secures your seat.

Agree not as easy to bump you off

 

[JohnK]

I stopped using OLCI long time ago. The few times I felt I needed to use OLCI my seat allocations have been stuffed so not keen to use OLCI again.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Is there any advantage at all for checking in early for a flight (and by early, I mean before you arrive at the airport/on the way there)?

Prima facie, the only advantage is having a sequence number of 1, but that in itself seems to have no practical benefit.

If you don't have status - being able to use the 'bag drop' or 'on-line check-in' counters can save a whole heap of time. I see it fairly often - the bag drop queues can have one or two people while the regular queues might be 30, 40 or 50+.

As others have said, potentially less likely to get bumped or downgraded if you already have your boarding pass. Plus your seat is semi secured... hard for the airline to argue you never had that seat if it's already on your boarding pass.

If travelling without baggage, early check-in might help you if running late and miss the check-in cut off at the airport.

 

[BAM1748]

Not so much an issue here but in the US if the flight is oversold you're more likely to miss out if you haven't checked in. Basically early check in secures your seat.

I find a good way not to get bumped in the US if you must be n a flight is to check a bag, but they offer some good compensation......

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I find a good way not to get bumped in the US if you must be n a flight is to check a bag, but they offer some good compensation......

Good point. Although worth noting that bags and pax don't need to travel on the same plane for wholly domestic itineraries in the USA.

 

[Happy Trails]

On the other hand, what's the point of not checking in early?
Assuming you have access to do so.

 

[froggerADL]

If travelling without baggage, early check-in might help you if running late and miss the check-in cut off at the airport.

This.......

 

[samas]

Not so much an issue here but in the US if the flight is oversold you're more likely to miss out if you haven't checked in. Basically early check in secures your seat.

I've been put on STANDBY 3 times now for Qantas flights within WA because I have forgotten to do OLCI as I scarcely fly QF.
Received a tip from a friend to do OLCI to avoid that scenario. Must remember to do that next week on my PER-PBO and ZNE-PER

 

[Mattg]

I don't think there's any real benefit (to the passenger) 99% of the time. However, checking in online has saved me a lot of queuing time on the two occasions I've flown JQ international out of Sydney. The regular queue was very long, but I was served straight away by going to the "online check in" counter. (Normally this is what the J/priority queue is for, but JQ doesn't offer this to status pax...)

 

[wandering_fred]

Depends on where the check-in is located. Early downtown check-in in Hong Kong can provide a "free afternoon" for wandering :shock: before you need to get to the airport.

Happy wandering

Fred

 

[Conrad_S]

I always OLCI as it's one less thing to do at the airport. With hand luggage only at my local airport I can arrive at the terminal 10 minutes before boarding, pick up my boarding pass and have a chat with the staff. Get a coffee and board. Very enjoyable. I also use the Qantas app on android now and it is easy, quick and works reliably now.

 

[BD1959]

I always OLCI on the way to the airport - I see no reason to check-in earlier than that, I usually allocate my seat at time of booking. Reasoning:

1. I know I'm unlikely to stuff QF around if, for some reason, my cab doesn't arrive.
2. I know I'm already checked-in if the cab gets delayed enroute.

Rarely bother printing a BP, usually just get card scanned at the airport. Usually travelling HLO.

Regards,

BD

 

[njba]

As an inveterate checked luggage chap I think some of the benefit is probably a bit less (because I always have to arrive at least >T-30m).

I'd have thought QFF status would have more of a role to play in managing oversold/standby situation than sequence order?

 

[RichardMEL]

I stopped using OLCI long time ago. The few times I felt I needed to use OLCI my seat allocations have been stuffed so not keen to use OLCI again.

on Dom?
I don't think I've ever had a seat issue pre or post OLCI except for the very rare (like maybe 1 or 2 in >200 flights that I can recall) a/c sub

how exactly do you mean "stuffed"? curious

 

[mannej]

on Dom?
I don't think I've ever had a seat issue pre or post OLCI except for the very rare (like maybe 1 or 2 in >200 flights that I can recall) a/c sub

how exactly do you mean "stuffed"? curious

My wife and I had our carefully selected seats shifted as we didn't OLCI from row 46 on an intl 332 to one of the back rows. The check-in agent was quite rude about it and played the someone with status has requested your seats (Row 46 on an intl 332 really?) so I called the bluff (in reality one wasn't a QFF and the other was a NB). We ended up back in our preselected seats and no apology!