AA to start charging for curb check-in
 

I can't recall if they said how much...
Makes no difference to me.
Personally I DO NOT like curbside check-in.
I always prefer the super fast self check-in kiosks.
I also like to keep an eye on my luggage until I personally see TSA take it.
I often see lines of people at curbside and stacks of luggage just sitting to the side.
What's the allure of curbside??? If anything, it seems to be more of a hassle.
At least at DFW.

Never use curbside checkin for all the reasaons that you listed TXTravelPro.

Thanks for the information.

I agree with Tx - want my luggage with me. I've even learned how to use the airport computers :)

Even the most fragile can roll a suitcase or get the cart.

Ours was with Continental, but we were served quickly and thoroughly and courteously at the Honolulu airport! Loved it! The guy was super attentive! DH was impressed too!

Belle

I've seen studies that show that your chance of losing luggage is much higher with curbside checkin.

I would like to see those studies. Do you have a link?

I used curbside checkin several times and was very happy with the convenience. They checked me in (I already had my boarding pass), and watched them put the checked tag on the luggage. I then watched them take it to the x-ray machine.

I think one way your luggage could get lost would be late checkin and the luggage missed the flight.

Curbside is very convenient especially if you are dropped off at the departure station. ((b))

Both United and American charged $2.50/bag for curbside service at LAX. This didn't go over very well with the customers and also didn't go over too well with the skycaps as many of the fiers did not give them a tip. This charge does not go to the skycaps so can see this will be a problem in the future. Wonder if the other airlines will start this???

Ok, I'll ask: Why a charge at curbside, but not at the ticket counter?

Do the airlines want to put the skycaps out of business? Do they want us to carry everything on? Do they want to raise corporate profits on the backs of the leisure traveler (wait, that's already true).

What a terrible idea. It's not nearly the hassle that shuffling through regular check-in lines are, but now those regular check-in lines will be even longer as people go inside to avoid the fee. Stupid, but typical of AA, to tack on nickel-dime $2-$25-$250 fees, just nibbling pax to pieces. Am now split between flying them and flying UA -- won't take much to tip the balance.

....unless, of course, all airlines follow suit, in unspoken collusion, and put the skycaps completely out of business, while forcing us to shlep just that much further with our bags to wait just that much longer in line before getting to the gate.

Oh yes, and then there's the issue of taking more and more by way of carry-on.
Stupid stupid idea. They should be encouraging and facilitating curb-side, not the opposite.

I agree that the airlines should be doing what they can to encourage baggage checking. "Backroom" x-ray & other detection only holds up baggage, not the people too, as the checkpoint security checking does.

If any surcharges should be assessed, it should be for carry-ons, which hold up traffic at the check-point and in getting passengers onto and off the aircraft.

The advantage to curbside check-in is convenience. You can drop the person off right there, and they have to carry their bags all of 10 feet. I never do it, but that's only because it doesn't really bother me to walk inside and check in.

As for self-service kiosks, I've run into lines there too. I've also had to wait for someone to tag my bags after checking in (close to 10 minutes once) at the e-ticket kiosk. It's also kind of redundant because I always check-in online ahead of time (so I can get a better seat), so checking in again at the airport and getting another boarding pass seems inefficient. Can't they have a separate thing if you only need to check bags and don't need another boarding pass?

United charged $1 per bag for curbside check in at the Denver airport last time I traveled--in early October.

The only experience I've ever had with curbside check-in was in Detroit (awful, but that's another post), and the service had nothing to do with the airline. Is it run by the airlines themselves at other airports?

What am I missing here?

For domestic travel, check in on line. If the $2 charge is too much, walk in and drop off the bags at the kiosk bag drop off. With your BP already printed, the clerk there will be able to quickly print and attach the bag tags. No need to stand in any lines.

AA still requires everybody to check in at the counter for international, so no difference there.

AAFF-It's not been my experience that self check-in is as quick and smooth as you describe. Even if you've already checked in at home and printed a boarding pass, you still have to check in at the self-service kiosk so they know you have bags to check (and so they can print up the tags). That can require standing in line at the kiosk, and then standing around waiting for the tags to print and the agent to get to your bags after everyone in front of you.

I've never done self-service without waiting for something, generally the agent who has to tag luggage coming from 4-8 kiosks.

My point was this. Sure, it's going to take few minutes to check your bags, regardless of how you do it, but I have seen people waiting in line for Skycap check in as well, so you can't say that one is a flawless process and the other is not. Sometimes, one will be quicker than the other, but it will average out in most cases.