How good is automation when it only works for part of the process? That’s what I often wondered while traveling since in many occasions I’ve found myself trying to use technology only to find out it didn’t save me from having to get in line at the airport. For example, sometimes you try to check-in online but get a message about having to stop by the counter to get your final seat assignment (aka someone overbooked the flight and will scramble at the gate to get you in). In other cases, you get an electronic version of the boarding pass yet have to go to a counter to check-in baggage.
Therefore you can imagine how happy I was when I read about Continental offering a real electronic check-in option, without the paper trail. Basically you get the equivalent of a boarding pass in the form of a two-dimensional encrypted bar code that gate agents and security personnel can simply scan.
Now, if they could just link that same code with an RFID tag attached to my luggage, I could also skip that lost luggage line…
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