If you are checking in luggage do you save time using the online check in ?
I was just reading this thread, and thought I would answer this question (even though it was asked a while ago):
You do generally save time checking in luggage online, for 2 reasons:
1. You can use the Web Bag Drop line. This hasn't benefited me personally much up to this point, as the lines have been short pretty much every time, but if there were significant lines, the Web Bag Drop can help a lot.
2. If you have to pay a bag fee, you can pay the fee online, so you don't have to deal with that in the airport.
One other note: Main Cabin Select on the short flights (like LAX-SFO) is a really good deal if you are checking a bag anyways. The upgrade is only $25 (which includes the first bag), and with a bag fee of $15, it's only $10 more, meaning just $10 for first class check-in, security if available, boarding, and free food and liquor (to the extent available on the plane).
Programs: Piggly Wiggly "Shop the Pig!" Preferred Shopper
Posts: 8,145
I'm not sure this warrants mention here in the sticky, but let me post something that might be of value to others. VX has a rule that if you want to do the 24-hour upgrade, you must upgrade all passengers on your reservation. With that in mind, I tried to upgrade my family of four recently on an LAX-SFO flight. There were only three F seats available, though. After I went through the upgrade purchase procedure online, I eventually got an error message and a request that I call customer service.
A knowledgeable agent immediately recognized that she would need to separate my reservation from the rest of my family's and upgrade the latter. So, for $150, my wife & daughters got to enjoy F while I slummed away in back. The real cost, though, was $90, since our four checked bags flew for free, saving $60 in baggage fees.
Bottom line: if there are fewer F seats available for upgrade then there are passengers on your record locator, call customer service in the first instance. Online upgrading attempts will just be a waste of your time.
Bottom line: if there are fewer F seats available for upgrade then there are passengers on your record locator, call customer service in the first instance. Online upgrading attempts will just be a waste of your time.
To me the bottom line is to keep all parties in their own reservation, with their own PNR. Then you have more freedom all around.
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My profile only lists status I've earned (not Centurion amenities)
Once you try Red, you'll never go back to Ted
FFP: The following is not entirely true: "Points for air travel are earned at a rate of 5 points for every dollar spent." You don't appear to earn anything for the money spend on upgrading to first.
Lounge: At LAX, you can buy a $30 day pass to the Alaska lounge.
You should add a FAQ regarding whether it's possible (or will it ever be possible?) to purchase tickets mixing cash & our soon-to-start-expiring points.
