lowcountrycarol

I just was reading responses to Irock5's downgrade on Air France post. Does everyone who is returning to the US check in online and print a boarding pass ahead of time? With our twice a year European trips this is something we have never done but maybe should. I got the impression that checking in 24 hours ahead may very well insure your original seat selection.

Since we have to have our passports examined by a person at the check in counter when we check our bags we just assumed it was not really necessary. Also it is not very easy for us to print out our boarding passes while in Europe......but could be done with effort.

I am just expecting the airlines to come up with a new way to charge more $$ by adding on an extra fee to select a seat ahead of check in. Last trip to Portugal we got special fares on TAP on a new route they started out of Miami to Lisbon and we were told that fare did not allow for advance seat selection. We got to the airport way ahead of flight time to get better seats to find there were whole rows unoccupied and each could stretch out....almost unheard of these days of full planes.

Dukey1

In my experience if that seat you paid for and was assigned suddenly gets changed or disappears or whatever I somehow doubt checking in on-line is any sort of insurance against that happening. In fact, when you DO check in on-line it may already have BEEN changed.

If you have a guaranteed seat assignment then I would have that documentation in hand when I checked in (not sure it will help much).

Airlines seem to do whatever they want to do; some charge for advance seat selection and some don't. Some evidently downgrade you and others don't.

Have a nice flight.

kayd

I always check in on line, whether or not I am able to print the boarding pass. I do so in the belief that it will hold the seat I requested, or maybe even give me a chance to switch to a better one. Printing the pass is unnecessary because they issue one at the airport as part of your check-in there. The lack of a paper boarding pass does not negate the on-line check-in.

jamikins

If we can we always check in as soon as possible. If we can't print the boarding pass we just check in and print the boarding pass at the airport. We always stay places that have wifi so it's never been an issue.

hetismij2

Likewise I check in online. If you have a smartphone you can sometimes load your boarding pass onto that. It depends on the airline.
Most airports have machines where you can print out a boarding pass if you were unable to do so when you checked in online. If you have luggage to check you can get your boarding pass then. At Schiphol they have machines for everything for KLM and some other airlines, including checking your bags.

travelhorizons

Definitely check in online, even if you can't print a boarding pass. Primary reason: airlines overbook, and if someone's going to get bumped, it's the passenger who checks in *last* (i.e., waits till s/he gets to the airport).

There's no downside to early check-ins but definite upsides.

Cowboy1968

I'd assume that status will be a much more valuable insurance against getting bumped.
The penalties (or your statutory compensation) for denied boarding are quite stiff for
> all EU carriers either way and
> any carrier on its way from the EU to anywhere.
Any status will most "certainly" overrule (just my guess, to be honest) any non-status pax. Regardless if you check in online a day in advance or not. You may just win the race against any other non-status pax IF the flight is overbooked.
And if that happens, you don't always get bumped. When your flight is leaving from the EU, it may to cheaper for the airline to upgrade you if seats in C are available.

november_moon

When we check in for our outbound flights, we always select the automatic check-in option for the rest of the flights on our itinerary. Then we either download the boarding passes to our phones or we print the passes out when we get to the airport - from a kiosk if we can or from a person if we have to.