Originally Posted by
ijgordon
Well, I think the point was (or should have been!) that if OLCI fails, you should get to the airport earlier than normal in case there are problems.
Of course much of the time, particularly on international, a failed OLCI doesn't indicate anything more serious, but at least you'd know to be better safe than sorry.
Bingo. That is the point.
Whether London or Garden City; why wouldn't you check in as your window to do so opens? At least you know if you might have a problem.
Then there is Point B. The boarding pass in your hand is still your friend and might just save you. I've walked past the frustrated crowd to the gate when the kiosks at the airport were down and nobody could check in on site. Once or twice. They didn't hold the plane. I boarded and went home.
I've also boarded twice when the readers were down at the gate. If you had paper they took it and you got on. Twice. Would they still do that? I don't know.
My third actually happened to me story. I checked in from a phone on a moving bus going back to London from Stonehenge. Very slowly. The day before. Poor connection. But it worked. Much to my amazement that got us far enough up the Upgrade List to sit in the front instead of steerage. Sometimes the seats go to the stubborn. Or maybe it is to the obsessive-compulsive.