After weeks of regularly taking the 6am back to Atlanta, I’ve gotten to the point where I recognize fellow frequent fliers in the TSA line. Shoes-off and sleepy-eyed each Monday morning we exchange knowing glances and try not to fall back asleep until after boarding.
This week my equally frequent traveling seat mate and I woke up enough to begin pooling tips on how to shave minutes off our morning check-in routines. Here were our favorites:
Online check-in (approx one to two snooze buttons) Sometimes we’re just not as on time as we thought we’d be. Frequent fliers know you can check in up to 24 hours before your flight, including when traveling internationally and with bags.
Use baggage drop off points or carry on only (approx one snooze button) We agreed that mini shampoo bottles are worth skipping straight to TSA any day. I like Aveda’s security friendly lines.
Try not to confuse the security scanners (approx one half snooze button) 3.2oz means 3.2, but anything that looks bigger will undoubtedly slow you down, especially if it’s not in a one quart size plastic bag. Smaller airports tend to take this very seriously. More tips on surviving security from FO Robin here and news from today’s Atlanta Journal Constitution here about speedy security lanes.
What is your fastest check-in time? Share your tips?
Katie
delta.com
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May 28th, 2008 at 8:55 am
Fastest check-in? With CLEAR in Orlando I can park Terminal Top at 7:00am for a 7:30 am flight.
May 28th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
wow so I guess it’s worth the investment. that’s great, thanks hyku!
May 28th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
My fastest check-in was at DTW on Northwest. I checked in in about a minute, even with a checked bag. The security checkpoint wasn’t crowded at all, so I got through that in about 4-5 minutes. Then, my gate wasn’t too far. All-in-all, my check-in process was speedy and everything was on-time on that day. I was a very happy traveler that day!
May 28th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
golich17, sounds like you’re saying luck factors in as much as strategy? Can’t say that I disagree. Thanks for sharing your experience!
May 29th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Katie,
Could you share some stats on the percentage of people who check in online/kiosk/ticketcounter and broken down by domestic/international. I’m just curious to see how the technology has been adapted by the overall public. Also, is Delta 100% e-ticket yet or are there still paper tickets floating around?
May 29th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
buckeye, thanks for your note. A majority of our customers use one of our self-service check-in options and we continue to see that number growing rapidly (I am not at liberty to share exact percentages however). As for the paper tickets, there are still a couple of airlines that are not e-ticket capable that we interline with which gives customers the ability to purchase one ticket for multiple airlines. However, this is a small number and the vast majority of our tickets are electronic.
Hope this helps!
May 30th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
I would miss so many flights if it was not for online check-in….
Just earlier this month at BWI I parked the car at 5:40am, took the shuttle to the terminal, cleared security, ran to my gate only to hear “Mr. Geoffrey this is your final boarding call.” I was in my seat with a Bloody Mary at 5:55am just as the door closed. :o)
At CAE I can routinely show up less than 30 minutes before departure and have more than enough time to catch my flight. That only backfired once when I was traveling Easter weekend but I didn’t realize it was Eaaster weekend so I didn’t expect to run into Kettle Fest at security with no CLEAR or Elite line.
Is it evident I have a problem being on time? ;o)
May 31st, 2008 at 11:18 pm
my fastest ever checkin was for a Delta flight from JFK last monday night. i rolled up to terminal 3 at 8pm for a 10pm flight and there were like 6 checkin agents just sitting waiting for someone to serve, and then they directed me around the corner to security where again i was the only person going through at that particular time - no wait line at all!!. the whole process took less than 3 minutes. but of course i still had to wait 2 hours for my flight. i can’t believe it’s always like that, but it’s enough to encourage me to fly delta next time. way to go.
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Geoffrey, great story! Agree, cutting down on my airport wait time is a HUGE benefit (since you have to check in at most airports at least a half hour before domestic flights and even farther in advance when flying internationally). I’ve never made it from parking lot to seat in 15 minutes though, even checking in in advance and without luggage! Thanks for sharing your experiences.
wiwo, love the feedback! We have definitely been working hard in New York this year in particular, so it’s wonderful to hear that it’s making a difference to you. Thank you for sharing your story.
June 11th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Thanks, Katie!
I’m glad to see my post about surviving security still has legs…
http://blog.delta.com/2007/12/17/surviving-security/
Robin Maiden