djmp

This might well be an improvement. I’ve stood front of line for a long time waiting to drop off a bag at SFO where every desk agent is tied up rebooking someone’s Cleveland to Tokyo leg for a family of 4 with upgrades or similar,

BudgetJetsetter

I flew out of EWR to IAH with checked bags earlier this week and now am flying back tomorrow. I got the email and thought it was part of some initiative to get me to print my bag tags at home or something so I ignored it.

magendim

Yes, if you're able to check in on the app and need to do nothing else but just check bags, the purple zone is for you. They have an agent at the entrance that checks your boarding pass and if won't let you pass if you don't fit that bill. Walk up, put on scale, scan your BP, agent tags it, checks your ID and done. I was always a paper boarding pass person but now that i've gotten accustomed to using my phone

Specifically for EWR (where I'm usually flying home to SFO), in the past when I've gone to the premier/1K/etc check in area, it was always a complete free for all. The agent would let you into that big rectangular area, you randomly pick a counter to line up at and hope someone in front of you doesn't have that complex rebooking with 6 bags to check (and unlike SFO, with seperate international & domestic terminals, EWR check in serves everyone). In those areas in EWR, what I noticed they have done, is put a stantioned line in so you wait and then go to the first available counter. That at least makes the regular check in area more organized and you're not jockeying for an open counter. YMMV but for me the process was much faster this time around....

aisleorwindow

Well I tried to use this for the first time at DEN and it didn't go too well.
I checked in on the mobile app the prior day, and selected 2 bags to check.

First kiosk, I scanned my boarding pass and the screen changed to "KIOSK CLOSED". LOL, ok next kiosk. Boarding pass wouldn't scan. Tried the one next to it, wouldn't scan. OK no problem, entered my MP number and it came up and said "printing baggage tags". First one printed, then I waited....and waited...and... no second tag printed. Tagged one bag, brought it up to the belt and explained my situation. Agent sent over a contractor in a blue vest to print me another boarding pass. We walked over to the kiosk and she added a bag to my res, and the machine wanted to charge me $150 (!!) - This made no sense on a number of levels since I was on a First class award ticket. Fortunately she had some sort of override card which brought up a list of reasons to remove the charge, ranging from various elite statuses, intnl itinerary, etc etc. She just said "choose one." LOL, ok, I chose "Customer Already Paid" .

On top of this the conveyor belts were down at DEN, so I just had to put my luggage in a pile and trust (hope?) that somehow they would make it to my plane.

I checked the app after clearing security and noticed I now had 3 checked bags attached to my itinerary. Only 2 actually tracked being loaded onto the plane, etc.
In the end, both bags made it to my destination. But the process certainly did not save me any time, and required 2 agents to help me, rather than one, so didn't save United either.

Just one data point, hopefully an outlier.

docbert

Checked in for an international flight out of LAX last night using the app. Towards the end it gave me a fullscreen message about how I could use this, including details on exactly which terminal/gate/door I should go to (same as the one in the photo in the 2nd post)

Check-in then failed to finish (understandable given Covid requirements and a connecting flight on a non-partner airline) - which means of course that I actually can't use it. Seems they need some app improvements to only advertise it after they are sure that you're going to be able to check-in successfully!

fumje

I observed this at ORD and LAX over the past couple of weeks. It doesn't seem to me that there's a real innovation in terms of check-in flow, except that there is a separate area that most passengers don't seem to really know about, and so it stays less crowded than the general bag-check area. But for those who know, it could be an improvement because it stays less busy.

simong

I just checked in for SYD-SFO and it told me to use bag drop.. Now I would be happy if this was true, I liked it at EWR but I don't think it is based on it telling me to go to Terminal 3, Level 2, Door 12 (which I presume is it's location at SFO)

uastarflyer

Actually at SFO the counter should be in Terminal G

unless you have an onward connection in SFO on UA in which case you are probably correct

simong

I actually don't but I am flying back SFO-LAX-SYD on Friday so you are probably on to it...

satan666

Used the drop at ORD Terminal 1 on 4/22. Right next to the CLEAR entry point. Checked Into the B6 club in less than 5 minutes. Does not get much better than that!

PTahCha

It seems that all kiosks got the software update, where if you are already checked in online/on the app with indication that you are checking a bag, the bag tag(s) come out automatically when you scan the BP at the kiosk. Definitely a timesaver with or without using the bag drop area.

Say Vandelay

I got the notification to do this at IAD for an upcoming flight. Think it would be okay with checking carseats?

WineCountryUA

Anyone know the location / door at SFO?
Don't normally do bags.

jonu

This morning at EWR, there was a moderately sized crowd in front of this area (~3-4 people deep). No idea how fast it was moving because I just went to Premier checkin to drop off bags, and it was completely empty there.

paule123

On the day of departure, the UA app should prompt you with the location/door number of the express bag drop. At least it did for me departing ORD which was outside curbside at a dedicated skycap stand...