Airline Boarding Pass Kiosk

The ability to print boarding passes for flights is a great convenience. Unfortunately, half the time you’re in a hotel room when you check-in online and can’t print the boarding pass.

Some airlines (Northwest for one, but I always fly United) will fax the boarding pass to you—but this still requires that you get the fax. Unfortunately, lots of things can happen between the hotel fax and your room—for example, the business center is closed until after you depart.

The Hyatt Regency hotel at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois has a very helpful solution to this problem: an airline board pass printing kiosk. It’s very helpful and shows that someone was thinking about the customer. I hope that the person who thought of the kiosk sees this blog posting.

Comments

[Allan]

With most airlines, you don't need to really print your boarding pass until you get to the airport, as long as you have checked in already. When I fly on Southwest, I check in automatically using www.seat-sniper.com to get an A-group boarding pass, then print it at the airport kiosk.

[Wayne]

I faced this exact same dilemna 2 weeks ago.
Now hotels just need to standardize free wifi so people can blog in their sleep :)

Wayne, Editor
Gary Carvolth Voice of the Common Man
www.garycarvolth.com

[Steve Severance]

Yeah. I have used that kiosk a bunch of time. Has saved me tons of time at O'Hare many times.

Steve

[Hakan]

Kiosks are getting better and better, and I love them.
Great idea!

[Kevin Stirtz]

Good point Guy. The airlines have done a great job using technology to help streamline things. Most hotels have yet to catch up. I can usually get the front desk person or concierge to print my boarding pass for me but it's often a challenge and can be time consuming. Once I drove to a Fedex Kinkos and had them print my boarding pass from the PDF I created while in my hotel room!

Best regards!

Kevin Stirtz

[Steven C.]

I faced this exact same dilemna 2 weeks ago.
Now hotels just need to standardize free wifi so people can blog in their sleep :)

[NickP]

Hiltons within North America that have the self check in kiosks to check into the hotel also have the ability to use that kiosk for airline check in. Simply said the kiosk lets you use get to the internet self check in sites of most airlines then use the printer built into the kiosk to print the boarding pass.

In regards to needing a boarding pass. Most US airlines allow you to self check online then reprnt the boarding pass at the airport kiosk. Hint for those who don't want to hunt for a printer! I now NEVER print at the hotel. This works for UA, AA and Southwest. Should work for others to althought your results will vary!

Also I used to use the AA no boarding pass needed checkin... you had a copy of your itin to go through security and just used your Advantage elite card at the gate reader. Post 9-11 changed that and to top it off half the AA gate agents didnt even know it worked...

If you use San Jose's Terminal A (yes it sucks) get a Clear card if you travel more than twice a month through there. From reprinting my Southwest boarding card and going through security it takes 5 mins :)

[surnish]

I typically fly southwest, and just checkin online (hopefully get boarding group A!) without printing the boarding pass. Get to the airport, and I usually have to check bags (thanks to no / limited liquids on board) - and at the self-service counter, I just swipe my credit card - that brings up my itinerary, and then I choose "reprint boarding pass" (hey, who wants to carry a printout around anyways), then choose how many bags I want to check, and off I go. Don't these other airlines let you do that?

[MS]

At least 2 co's sell these:

Vertical Systems Inc. (http://www.buyerinteractive.com/bi_main.asp?page_id=40&articleID=7133) and iBahn (http://www.techdaily.info/news/news_view.asp?id=26663)

[footrix47]

The other day I went to a boat expo and they sent my tickets directly on my phone. It was just a picture with my code. No print, no paper !

[Stefan]

Printing a boarding pass? Wow, the US are so old fashioned, it's almost hip. Travel in the EU and you won't need anything else but your frequent flyer pass, or your credit card, or simply your passport to board. No paper, less wait, less waste.

[Gopal Shenoy]

Hi Guy,

I recently stayed at Hilton New York in NYC and the room check in kiosk could also print out boarding passes for a bunch of airlines (I was travelling on American and it could do it).

I can't tell you what a time saver this was. One of those ideas where you go "Why did'nt they think about this before?" or "Why are the others not doing this?". I am not sure if this is available in all Hiltons.

[Kevin]

This is pretty common, but not common enough. What I'm waiting for is the next step in Guest Experience Management (GEM) where I can check-in on line, have the confirmation message sent to my phone with the 2D barecode imbedded in the email, and then just scan the bardcode directly from my pda phone at the security check-in and at the gate in order to get on the flight. All the technology exists...

Why do we have to print anything at all...seems like a big waste of trees.

[Kyle]

Sure beats having to remember 24 hours ahead of your flight that you need to call your buddy and ask him to go online and check you in. Great idea!

[Kyle]

Sure beats having to remember 24 hours ahead of your flight that you need to call your buddy and asking him to go online and check you in. Great idea!

[Dootz]

The Omni in Newport News, VA (a very nice Omni, by the way - bit of a surprise) has a kiosk in the lobby. Hampton Inns I've stayed at have "business centers" along the corridor to the elevators, so you can print right after you check in on the way to the room.

Do business travelers out there actually check bags any more...?
******
http://surfcountry.blogspot.com

[Rob Mark]

Maybe it's me, but don't any of you ever check a bag any longer? If you do, these hotel kiosks are useless.

Print me a boarding pass at the hotel AND take my bag and I'll follow you anywhere.

[steven]

Hi Guy,

Good thing on my 1st trip to US, Atlanta, Georgia, i stayed @ the Marriott Downtown. They also have a computer where you can print out the boarding pass which was very useful when i had to change flight dates due to unforeseen circumstances.

They could definitely count on me as a satisfied customer who will come back to them!

[Stefan Fischer]

Travelled in Europe?
I insert my credit or frequent traveller card when arriving at the airport - right at all entrances. Confirm your booked flight. It takes 30 sec to get the ticket. Walk to the gate and board.
Why should I bother to print a ticket somewhere else or board over the internet?

[pch]

Bellagio in LV will let you print them for free - just about the only thing you can do for free in LV!

[Diego Dal Cero]

In Spain is available a new system to let you print your boarding pass from inside a cab. Actually you can do it with two major airlines, as not all the companies will accept boarding cards printed in termic paper.
The system is offerded to the cab company or the taxi driver as an extra services with the meter, installed in the rear seat of the car. You can also surf the web, read news and view ads, using a 3G UMTS connection.

[ctrl.altered.mind]

the Hilton on Michigan Ave in Chicago has kiosks that let you do that and check out. pretty nifty.

[Indus Khaitan]

You can try the local Hyatt in Santa Clara, they have 'em too ;)

(No, I don't work for 'em)

[jake]

i have this same issue at home, since my printer is perpetually out of paper.

the trick is, check in online, and don't print it. you're still officially 'checked in'. the airport kiosks will then allow you to re-print your boarding pass in the terminal.

this comes in handy if you make a habit of getting to the airport later than 30 min before take-off... *ehem*.

[Terry Bone]

They had this at the Hyatt in San Diego and I used it. You know they wouldn't need this if the airlines would let you print the boarding passes in advance. Let go of that 24hr restriction and you could print both before you leave on your flight. Why not let you print both ends of the trip within 24hrs of leaving???

************

It's because if you check in more than 24 hours in advance you might get recruited by terrorist organizations in the meantime. It's for our safety.

Guy

[christopher carfi]

the kiosk is cool, but (as you noted), it's not always there.

guy, i wrote about this last year when i was traveling in chicago as well. here's the lifehack to check in and print your boarding pass, even when you are in a hotel room without a printer.

http://www.socialcustomer.com/2006/01/a_lifehack_for_.html

[Matt]

Treasure Island in Vegas (as of last summer) has the ability to print boarding passes, but they charge $5.00 per copy. Unless you freak out and yell at them, then they give it to you for free.

Better for them to not have it at all than to try to dig the last $5.00 out of your pocket after you check out. What a crappy way to say "Thanks for staying..."

[Vetle]

Do you have e-tickets in the states? In Europe, SAS have e-tickets. No need for boarding pass, even, at least not when travelling inside Norway.

1: Book ticket using bonus card or credit card
2: Check in on the Internet or WAP (it's not dead yet, unfortunately)
3: Go directly to gate, use bonus/credit card at the gate before entering airplane to get ticket with seat assignment

Lovely stuff, no need for anything on paper until that last bit... :)

[olivier Blanchard]

Great idea. I wonder why more hotels don't already do this.

[JasonC]

I recently ran across one of these at the Harbor Marriott in San Deigo. It's such a simple thing for the hotel to do, but a great convenience for their customers. There is a Hyatt, the Omni, and many other options nearby, but all other things being equal (or reasonably close) I'll choose the Marriott next time I'm down there because of this service.

[Ankit]

The Hyatt Regency on the Embarcadero in San Fran has this kiosk too. Very helpful.

[Chicago 2016]

I know the Hilton Chicago has express hotel check-in with airline-like kiosks. What'll we think of next?

[Neil Watson]

It makes me wonder how hotels have missed the opportunity of hitching a printer to their network and charging for printing by the page.

It wouldn't be difficult to track who had printed what - they manage to track the bar bill ok!

[Scott Yates]

Kiosks are getting better and better, and I love them.

No offense to gas station attendants, but I don't care about your boyfriend making a pass at the daughter of his parole agent, I just want to pay for gas and leave. That's why I love love love paying at the pump.

In Denver we have Red Box, which is awesome for when I just can't wait for NetFlix. Right now they are only in McD's... I wish there was one on every block, or in every Starbucks (whichever is greater.)

[LW]

Guy, another helpful tip: you can check in online and then re-print your boarding pass at the airport ticket counter kiosks when you arrive there. You get credit for the early check-in but can still show up 30 minutes before the flight and grab your boarding pass. I'm not sure that all airlines do this, but I know that Continental and Northwest do. I use this all the time!

[sean]

The East Side Marriott in New York also has this type of kiosk in their lobby. Great idea.

[Stephen Pierzchala]

The Residence Inn I stayed at in Beverly Hills had the same feature (same kiosk?), and it was a lifesaver after a long day and a late check-in for the red-eye back to Boston.

It's not a rocket science solution: a low-end printer, and a browser crippled to only go to airline/hotel/shuttle Web sites. Makes the hotel look like they are thinking about their travelling customers.

smp

[Brian]

Neat idea. Makes you wonder if there's something to be said for truly portable printing, but let's not kid ourselves... there isn't. Not yet, at least :)

I appreciate this little exercise about thinking in terms of the customer.

[TR]

Hi Guy --

Won't we just be able to pull up our boarding pass on our iPhone screen and have them scan it at the gate? ;-)