Printing Boarding Pass Early, Why?

[jraczes]

I see a lot of people suggestion to print boarding paasses early from home (24 hours before flight) but I'm confussed, why? If I have to go to check my luggage in at the airport and the little check in kiosk is right next to it, how much time can that possibly save me? Oh and I'm not flying South West

[mickeys_princess_mom]

If you fly Southwest, for instance, seating is first-come, first-serve (A,B,C...) The first to check in get A passes and board first (after children....), then the B's board, etc. Since the seating is not assigned, you stand a better chance of sitting in a particular seat if you have an A or B boarding pass.
Welcome aboard, by the way! :wave:

[EpcotNut]

If you fly Southwest, for instance, seating is first-come, first-serve (A,B,C...) The first to check in get A passes and board first (after children....), then the B's board, etc. Since the seating is not assigned, you stand a better chance of sitting in a particular seat if you have an A or B boarding pass.
Welcome aboard, by the way! :wave:

This is definitely the biggest advantage - no doubt about it! You MUST do this if you fly SW.

Welcome!:thumbsup:

[kakn7294]

Curbside luggage check! You must have a boarding pass in hand to check your luggage (regardless of whether you check your luggage at the curb or the airline desk), so if your airport offers curbside luggage check and you want to take advantage, you need to have that boarding pass printed before you arrive. However, most of the people that you see talking about the pre-printed boarding pass are flying SW and are worried about the boarding assignment and the choosing of their seats.

[TammiMcMan]

Curbside luggage check! You must have a boarding pass in hand to check your luggage (regardless of whether you check your luggage at the curb or the airline desk), so if your airport offers curbside luggage check and you want to take advantage, you need to have that boarding pass printed before you arrive.Is this something new? We use curbside check-in all the time and the porters have always been able to check us in right there and print out our boarding passes :confused:.

[kakn7294]

Is this something new? We use curbside check-in all the time and the porters have always been able to check us in right there and print out our boarding passes :confused:.
Maybe each airport or airline is different. I know that with SW in Pittsburgh, they wanted us to have our boarding passes in hand before we arrived. In Orlando, we were forced to completely bipass the curbside check (by a skycap so he may have just wanted those tips) who took us straight to the SW desk inside the airport. I just assumed that each airport required that you already had the boarding passes before you arrived - I guess you learn something new everyday! BTW, we've also never gone without a boarding pass pre-printed except for the return flight from Orlando in Dec (and we were pre-checked-in, we just didn't have the actual passes) so I guess I'm not entirely sure.

[luvdiznee]

We printed out our passes when flying JetBlue, basically because we had the option and if you are a planning freak like me, you may like to have them. We did use curbside check in as well and I think we had to flash them very briefly. :confused:But I just like have all my "stuff" ahead of time when I can. And we did the same for SW of course to get on the "A" list though. :mickey:

[TammiMcMan]

I just assumed that each airport required that you already had the boarding passes before you arrived - I guess you learn something new everyday!I've never pre-printed my boarding pass and we travel quite a bit. Maybe it depends on the airline as you said.

[playdead88]

we preprinted ours the past couple years and it was great when we didn't check any luggage - if you have all carry ons you print the passes at home and head str8 for your gate but if you are checking luggage, like we did last year, it doesn't save much time - at the richmond airport we had to scan our passes at a kiosk and still get in a baggage check line - now on the return trip home we checked our luggage at the desk at the beach club and they printed our boarding passes so all we had to do was get on the magic express to the airport and go str8 to our gate - that is a time saver!

[Donalds Duckie]

It's a must-do with SW, although I never fly SW.

You can check-in and print boarding passes at kiosks or curbside with other airlines. I always fly Continental or ExpressJet and always check-in early online for departing flights because it's just a bit easier (a few less steps) checking my bags at the kiosk. However, I don't check-in early on return flights unless I have been visiting family and can use their computer.

[CleveSJM]

Early check-in often also allows you to change your seats to bulkhead or exit row if it's available. It also puts you on the list for upgrades earlier which can make a difference sometimes.

Like others have said, it saves the most time for those with only carry-ons.

[snifflesmcg]

I like to check in because, like others, I'm a planning freak. I think that may illimate you getting bumped from an overbooked flight.

[kakn7294]

I just read a newspaper article about bumping and according to this article, about 10% of all airline passengers who are bumped from their flights are forced to bump involuntarily. The article said that checking in online 24 hrs in advance shows the airline that you are serious about traveling (won't be a no-show) and makes it less likely that you will be the one bumped from your flight. It also allows you advanced notice of any problems with your reservation, giving you more time to address the problem. The article also suggests getting to the airport and the gate early (two hrs in advance) because those there last are usually the first to be bumped - although in my limited flying experience, they don't know who got there first or last, so I don't see how that could help. The article also says to join the airline's frequent flyer club - those people who are members are less likely to be bumped.

[tarjaybuff]

We fly Air Tran and found that sometimes there is a line for the check-in kisok. It is easier and quicker to check-in from home. Also you can pick the seats you want.

[JPL]

I check in early so I can change seats if I don't like my seating assignment and to save some of the hassle at the airport when I arrive. I can just cehck my bags curbside and head straight through security to my gate :thumbsup:

[crazeedizneefinatic]

We always fly Southwest out of Pittsburgh and pre-printed boarding passes are not a must. We do it anyway just to have some extra time eating breakfast and getting everything in order. We usually fly very early morning and sometimes we are still asleep, lol. I have never pre-printed boarding passes on the way home and still was able to drop my luggage off and head to the check in kiosk at MCO. By the way we always got a boarding pass A even checking in 3 hours before our flight at the airport. Southwest travelers, relax. Who knows maybe we are always lucky but we have never had a problem not printing them 24 hours in advance.

[E-Ticket4]

I think I recall that the front desk area at POR had an airline check in desk. Is that correct? What airlines do they do this for? Maybe I am confused and thinking it was a Magical Express desk? I know someone here would know for sure!
Thanks!