I'm several days into an annual roadtrip with stays at multiple hotels across the Bonvoy spectrum and this question has really been reinforced. When the idea of online/mobile check-in launched it was portrayed as a timesaver for Marriott's best customers to bypass a potentially long line at the front desk and either quickly pick up their key or proceed directly to their room with a mobile one. Both concepts seem to have fallen on hard times, with almost all hotels - particularly in North America - requiring one to line-up at the front desk to present photo ID and have their credit card swiped regardless of status or method of payment. Added to this is the increasing trend to charge (not just authorize) a deposit for incidentals on point/FNA stays. Carrying over from the past year I've had no luck in over 100 nights using either mobile check-in without a further check-in at the front desk or receiving a mobile key that worked. I'm solidly at 0% so far in 2025 and already have had two hotels charge my credit card for an incidentals deposit of a fairly significant amount on both a points and a cash stay. (Others have not.) If you factor in the automatic selection of points as a welcome gift on the mobile app, requiring an often protracted negotiation to switch to breakfast (at those hotels where this is a benefit), I'm no longer seeing the value in advance check-in. I'm sure there are those who will say it always works perfectly for them, but surely others are considering the same question.