GentleGiant

A colleague saw an internal email last week saying that BA wish to make self check-in mandatory including printing of baggage tags at home.

They intend to try this in Terminal 3 before rolling it out.

A charge could then be levied if customers do not self check-in.

rossmacd

Sounds a bit Ryanair.

Fitting ^

Castle25

didn't realise it was April 1st.....

r00ty

How does one "print" baggage tags in such a way that they will stay attached to the baggage?

I actually don't have a printer at home. Never needed one. If I actually need to print something, I go to the office.

T8191

Dear BA, please send me, asap, a special printer and a roll of adhesive luggage labels ...


I can understand self-tagging at an airport [I managed to do it at DUB, flying EI] but the idea of 'home printing' is ridiculous.

chrisny2

I also think making it mandatory is a terrible idea.

But some other airlines seem to offer print-at-home luggage tags:

Alaska Airlines: https://www.alaskaair.com/content/tr...g-express.aspx

Iberia tested it: http://www.forbes.com/sites/grantmar.../#46ccda0c714a

Air France: http://www.airlinetrends.com/2014/01...baggage-label/

xenole

Here's a video for the Iberia one.


Am I supposed to have accurate weighing scales at home then?
My bathroom scales give different readings depending on where in the house they are.

GentleGiant

Maybe like the cruise industry.

Print it on A4, fold and staple.

NWIFlyer

The self-check in is common across many airlines, and actually I don't think it's really a problem, particularly given most people will check-in at home anyway. QF do it very effectively in Australia (for all passengers, irrespective of class of travel/status), where the key is to have airline staff around to help in the event of a problem. I happened to need assistance on every internal QF flight I had a few months ago when I couldn't check-in on the website, app or at the machines, and I found it a very efficient and pro-active process. BA would need to commit to providing the support staff, but given how many people they could free from desks it hardly sounds like rocket science to do that. Much like the tube, where ticket offices are being phased out in favour of getting staff on to the floor to help, I'd much prefer a situation where I'm seen quickly and assisted if there's a problem rather than be stuck behind a queue of people who want to go to a desk simply because they can.

The American airlines, across all alliances, have done self check-in and tagging for years. It was introduced at T2 at LHR when it opened, and I think there's general agreement that it's much quicker and easier to get airside there than at T5. Now admittedly when I attended one of the trial days and had to try and print a tag it didn't go well, but that's what happens when you give someone who only ever travels HBO a task to complete that they're completely unfamiliar with! Again, though, even during that proving period there were staff on hand to assist and all was well, and I suspect now it's even more streamlined.

The home printing bit I simply don't buy in respect of being suitable for BA, particularly at T5 - it would doubtless cause havoc with the automated baggage scanning systems.

mrvincent

More likely just remove manned check-in desks and have machines for both check-in and bag tagging. This is what QF have (at least for domestic flights) where there is zero human interaction unless you have a problem.

Reality is that checking-in doesn't require a great deal of skill and people are expensive to have doing it. If you can have greater throughput and less cost, from a commercial point of view it is a no-brainer. From a customer point of view... unexpected item in the bagging area?

xenole

How does this reduce the staff required? (Or is it 1 person with a queue of 200 people instead of 4 with queues of 50 people)
Surely you'll still need to queue to bag drop, get your passport etc. checked, bag weighed to make sure what's on the tag is correct etc?

I self tagged my bag using machines in ARN for Norwegian. Even with the instructions on the 3ft long bag tag, I couldn't affix it anywhere near the standards of the check-in staff.

Worcester

I can see this [printed bag tags] upsetting a lot of infrequent travelers. But given what has come about recently I can believe it.

On the plus side I find quite often that you can't scan QR codes printed on a home printer, so print them on an old and crappy printer and you could be getting a new wardrobe paid for by BA every time you fly.

headingwest

I'm starting to get a complex. Nobody wants to look at me in the shop, at the train station or at the airport. Is there something wrong with me!?

Ldnn1

Perhaps this is the real reason behind the non-interning policy on separate tickets. Soon all bag tagging will be done via these self-service kiosks (or at home) which won't let you do anything complicated.

Could it also spell the formal end of short-checking? For example will these kiosks give you the option to short check if you have an overnight but <24h layover?

UKTraveller4Fun

Makes perfect sense, most LCC's enforce self checkin.

As for bag tags at home gives BA the excuse sorry your bag didn't make it, you must have attached the tag wrong. Obviously this excuse would be used in all situations and followed by sorry we can't be held responsible for any costs.