Today Delta’s eBoarding Pass technology launched in Memphis (MEM).
Now our eco-conscious customers (or those who are stuck in traffic/running late) can use their web enabled cell phone to access delta.com, follow the steps for mobile check in, and receive a bar code allowing them to breeze through security without ever printing a paper pass or touching a kiosk.
MEM joins LAS, LGA and MSP, which already have the product up and running. Over the next few months our eBoarding product will also roll out in ATL, SLC, and MCO. But… as of 12pm we’ve reported only 15 mobile check-ins today in our launch city. Help us get the word out?
Give it a try and let us know what you think! Up next month, ATL…
Katie
Sr. Marketing Associate – WW Communications
February 20th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
You should also mention that your sister company, NWA, allows paperless check-in at Detroit. Works great, saves trees too! Surely this means you can expand the DL capability to DTW quickly too?
February 20th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
DisneyDude, great question! We’re definitely working on it as fast as we can. I’m hearing March for Atlanta, Salt Lake City, and Orlando, all other locations TBD. Here’s the info on NWA you mentioned. Those destinations do not yet have timelines. We’ll keep you updated as soon as they are up.
February 21st, 2009 at 11:22 am
I was going to mention myself that NWA offer E-Boarding Passes in DTW, MSP, IND, and a few other places. Delta should try to see if they can expand their service there as well. Plus, according to the Detroit News, Delta is going to rebrand the McNamara Terminal at the end of March, so maybe it will be a good idea to launch the Delta eBoarding Pass around that time
February 27th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
After using paperless check-in for CO & NW flights (EWR & DTW) I was full of expectation about busing it for my flight out of LGA on DL. Unfortunately, it did not meet up with my earlier experiences, in a number of ways. I would like to pass on some suggestions and hope that DL will take them as constructive criticism (Katie please note). I know the text below says “If you’ve had a not-so-fun…….” but I do not need individual attention. These are general comments which I believe will apply to all users of the paperless checkin facility.
Firstly, the check-in process…I received the usual text message and went straight to the (mobile) site. I checked in and expected a text or email with my bar code (as with CO or NW). No such luck. I had to follow the link in the “check in now” email, and then select ‘Reprint’ to get the barcode to display. For mobile transactions there were just too many screens, scrolls and clicks. If I may suggest, the CO process, with MMS message (text message with text) is the better process, NW is a close second where the barcode is emailed. The latter will not work however for pax who do not have email on their phone.
Back to the story….Now that I have the barcode on my screen, one thing that struck was that DL is using a traditional 2D barcode and not the 3D code being used by both CO and NW. As 3D barcodes are easier to read, this put some suspicions in my mind. And yes, at the security checkpoint, even after setting my backlight to full brightness, the barcode could not be read. So out of line, reprint a paper pass, and back into line. Luckily I can use the Clear line, so at least I did not have to wait 15 minutes again [On an aside and not DL's fault, but the Clear line had "lost" their scanner and had to use the TSA scanner! Obviously not many people use this feature at LGA, especially Clear members].
Next stop, Crown Room, and yes again, no joy with the scanner. The agent at the door actually said that he thought that the Crown Rooms were not yet ready to accept the mobile barcodes.
So finally, what will happen at the gate. I am actually writing this in the Crown Room before my flight, so I will have to let you know later whether this last step was successful.
So while I am excited about paperless checkin being expanded on the DL network, especially at my home airport, MCO, I am worried that I may not be able to use it much. Unless DL “borrows” technology from their sister airline NW, which I know works for me.
February 27th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Hi golich17, thanks, I’ll definitely pass your suggestion along to our teams.
Hi DisneyDude, thank you for sharing your experience. Here’s some info from one of our project managers that may help:
Delta’s product does require navigation to the mobile version of the website as it exists today, definitely not ideal. We are working on two things to alleviate this. 1) With a future product we’ll deep link into the mobile site from the “check-in now” email so the user does not have as many clicks to get to the barcode. 2) We’re also pursuing alternate delivery methods for the barcode including MMS/WAP Push and tying that into the normal delta.com check-in experience. The second item is more or less the NW process with some improvements built in.
The barcode used by all major airlines in the US is actually a 2D Aztec type barcode with roughly the same amount of data in each one. The only variation would be how they are displayed on screens, which may make them appear to be different.
We have three scanner types between the two carriers now and we believe one type may scan better than the other. This is a learning process and we’re taking good notes. We also have a trip planned to LGA in the near future to follow up with the staff there to see how the project is going. Hopefully the onsite visit will smooth out some of those bumps experienced.
Crown Room scanners unfortunately not 2D capable – this will be resolved in the future but no timeline on that.
Delta’s gate scanners have been altered to better read and accept 2D barcodes; hopefully that part of the process went a little better.
What kind of device and model number did you use?
February 28th, 2009 at 2:22 am
Katie,
I think mobile check-in is a GREAT idea, and it will be a huge success in the future. DisneyDude brings up some great points in his post that will ensure further success of the program. I am currently using an iPhone, do I have to set the brightness setting all the way up to make sure it’s scannable?
Thank you for your informative posts. I’ve browsed these blogs for quite a while and finally decided to register/contribute. I’m a VERY frequent flyer out of SLC and was wondering when I’d be able to start using the new system. I know you have mentioned March for SLC rollout, but I’ve heard other members mention that they have tried at other airports not currently part of the testing group and it has worked. Do you think it’s worth giving it a shot, or will I just get blank stares from TSA employees at SLC?
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:55 am
Hi DLflyer, I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed our posts. Thank you for your message and feedback! Regarding mobile paperless check-in in SLC, I would recommend to wait for launch later this month. Here’s why:
I want your first time using mobile check-in to be everything it’s supposed to be: helpful, convenient, and time saving, so that you’ll use it every time you fly. Consider giving our teams time to properly test and train stakeholders in SLC. It will be worth your time in the long run.
Regarding specifics for iPhone, I personally have not seen problems with standard brightness settings, but will ask a few of our counterparts in NYC for tips and tricks and get back to you. They’ve been testing it out since last June, so they should have some great ideas for you.
Also – if anyone here has used mobile check-in on their iPhone, please chime in as well!
March 4th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
I used it today in MEM on a NW flight back to DFW. On the NWA site, it walks you through the set up to pick your phone carrier, phone manufacturer and type of phone. After that, it sends a txt msg with a link. So, I just clicked on the link when I was in the TSA line, and there was the barcode. Very easy! Much better than when I used CO in EWR a few months ago. Hopefully DL will implement that system!
March 4th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
March is what you are hearing for ATL? This post was great. I am so excited for that feature to come to ATL, but this was the first place I heard any timeline at all. Thanks Katie!
March 7th, 2009 at 10:57 pm
[...] of participation in what seems to me a convenient and useful tool is astounding to me. On the official Delta Air Lines blog, a short blog post was posted on the day of the launch followed with a short sentence of [...]
March 19th, 2009 at 10:03 am
Hi Andy, Great feedback, thanks. Atlanta mobile check-in launched today. Try it out!
June 29th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
I have found a bug with the service…realizing it is not perfect yet.
BUG: Once I/you have checked-in for your flight and claimed your boarding pass (able to view your boarding pass with the spacial/bar code) and then you accidentally time out your session or change screens…you can no longer go back and retrieve your boarding pass for visibility.
I used my mobile to get through security but accidentally changed screens in my browser at the gate and am no longer able to go back and pull up my boarding pass. I had to go to the gate counter and get a paper boarding pass. Very inconvenient from delta mobile.
June 30th, 2009 at 9:23 am
2252483041, thanks for your feedback. This is a functionality we’re working on and we’ll keep you posted here on the Blog once we’ve updated it. In the meantime, if you are able to bookmark the page in your browser, try that out and let us know how it goes.
June 30th, 2009 at 11:23 am
I would like to try to bookmark the page but I cannot even recall the boarding pass page to bookmark it. Also, I would not expect that I am able to bookmark the boarding pass because my session will eventually timeout. As a matter of fact I tried to just click on “back” to get to the boarding pass that was accidentally lost and I get to the boarding pass page but it says my session has expired and I need to login again. When I login again it takes me to the home page not directly to my boarding pass. Hope that makes sense.