I don't understand why people check baggage outside when they have to stand in line again to check in and get boarding tickets. I must be missing something, but I think it's better to just be in line once instead of twice. Straighten me out, please!

Here's why. There are 2 places you can check-in and receive boarding passes in the airport. The first is the main ticket desk, which comes before security. here you can check bags, get boarding passes, etc. The second is at the gate itself, after you go through security. (a third option might be a ticket machine). Generally speaking, the lines at the gate are much shorter than the lines at the main ticket desk because people do not check bags here. They just get boarding passes. If you check your bags outside at the curb, you can just go through security and pick up boarding passes at the gate, thus avoiding the longer line at the ticket desk. Make sense?

I rarely use the curbside check-in because I don't trust them to keep all the bags straight. For whatever reason, I feel more confident checking bags at the main desk (although this may be foolish). I wait a little longer so I can have peace of mind.

I'm just the opposite. I don't understand why more people don't check in curbside. At DFW you just pull up, check your bags, they give you a boarding pass and then you go to security. 20 minutes later your finished. But if you go to the ticket counter to check in your bags that can add an hour or more. Sometimes I wonder if maybe I'm not doing it right, it just seems too easy, but I've never had a problem.

That's pretty much how I felt about it, too. Thanks for your response, Jason.

KB, if they're letting you on the plane, you're doing it right! I'm unduly paranoid about my bags and my seat (I like an aisle), so I go out of my way to deal with a "desk agent." This probably makes little sense because, as you say, you can save a lot of time by letting the men outside handle it.

kb: That makes sense, but at the airport we mainly fly out of, they don't seem to be consistent about receiving boarding passes outside or not. I know it sounds weird, but we've checked into the same airline and one time we get boarding passes and another just the bags went and we had to stop at the ticket counter. These trips were both after 9/11 so it probably wasn't due to upgraded security. Maybe I'll just try contacting the airline and see what their policy is the next time we fly. Thanks for all responses.