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Skip the Line and Check a Bag in a Minute or Less: UA Debuts New 'Bag Drop Shortcut'

Skip the Line and Check a Bag in a Minute or Less: UA Debuts New 'Bag Drop Shortcut'

Old Mar 3, 2022, 2:05 pm
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Skip the Line and Check a Bag in a Minute or Less: UA Debuts New 'Bag Drop Shortcut'

Hadn't come through EWR since the fall but flew out yesterday and check-in/bag drop seems to be much better. When I checked in on the app, the app kept telling me to use the purple bag drop area, so I did. Gatekeeper agent asked If I was invited said yes and showed my app BP. Got assisted immediately, scanned my BP, they attached the tag & premier tag, checked ID and off I went in about two minutes. Walking past the premier check-in area, I noticed that they now have a stantioned lines vs that frustrating randomly pick a staffed station free for all they used to have....
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Old Mar 3, 2022, 2:12 pm
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Skip the Line and Check a Bag in a Minute or Less: UA Debuts New 'Bag Drop Shortcut'

Skip the Line and Check a Bag in a Minute or Less: United Debuts New 'Bag Drop Shortcut' Service
Special areas available for customers to weigh their bag, scan a boarding pass and go;
Free service is live now in Chicago, New York/Newark, Washington D.C., Houston, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco, with plans to expand to dozens more airports this year
Video(1) Photos(1)

CHICAGO, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- United today introduces bag drop shortcut, a new, simple way for customers to skip the line, check their bag in a minute or less on average, and get to their flight. According to recent customer surveys, the bag check process can be one of the more stressful and time-consuming parts of the travel experience and United is the first airline to streamline the process in this way.



Here's how bag drop shortcut works:
  • Check-in on the United app and select the number of bags
  • Find the bag drop shortcut location at the airport with detailed instructions available right in the app
  • At the bag drop shortcut location, customers place their bag on the scale and scan their boarding pass at the kiosk
  • The United team will check the customer's ID, apply the bag tag and they're on their way!
This free service is available now at all of United's U.S. hubs in Chicago, New York/Newark, Washington D.C., Houston, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco and the airline plans to expand bag drop shortcut to dozens more new airports this year.

"Our initial customer data proves this free, simple-to-use process saves our customers time and energy as they get ready for their flight," said Toby Enqvist, chief customer officer for United, "We're thrilled to be the first to offer this service to all customers who check-in on our award-winning mobile app."

United continues to reward its app users with exclusive experiences, such as bag drop short cut. Originally tested in New York/Newark in August 2021, bag drop shortcut was instantly popular with customers. In less than six months, bag drop shortcut moved from a proof-of-concept to a fully functional service in all seven of United's hubs. By creating a dedicated area for those who only need to drop their bags, United is able to reduce wait times for all customers, which has significantly increased the airline's customer satisfaction scores.

Bag drop shortcut is the latest way the United app is making travel easier, just as millions of customers across the U.S. are gearing up for Spring Break travel. United also helps customers bypass lines with its exclusive Agent on Demand service, where travelers can easily connect with a live customer service agent directly from their mobile devices. United's mobile app and website also provides customers with a step-by-step guide on what tests or documents are needed to travel anywhere in the world, and helps customers find testing locations, schedule appointments, upload tests and vaccine cards if necessary, all within the app.
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Old Mar 3, 2022, 3:00 pm
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From the above description, it seems like what the 1K line used to do for me without need for any faffing about on the phone. And I would usually receive a card stock boarding pass and a smile to boot.
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Old Mar 3, 2022, 3:24 pm
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Originally Posted by magendim
Hadn't come through EWR since the fall but flew out yesterday and check-in/bag drop seems to be much better. When I checked in on the app, the app kept telling me to use the purple bag drop area, so I did. Gatekeeper agent asked If I was invited said yes and showed my app BP. Got assisted immediately, scanned my BP, they attached the tag & premier tag, checked ID and off I went in about two minutes.
Sounds definitely like an improvement!!
So, the decisive trigger whether one can use the "Skip the Line and Check a Bag in a Minute" is whether one is checked in online or not?
Can you still get a printed boarding pass at the 'purple' drop-off location?

Originally Posted by magendim
Walking past the premier check-in area, I noticed that they now have a stantioned lines vs that frustrating randomly pick a staffed station free for all they used to have....
Okay, now I am confused though: THIS was the major problem at check-in/bag drop off at EWR: not enough staff, and the issue of getting the attendant's attention. If UA fixed/changed this now, why bother with the "Skip the Line and Check a Bag in a Minute"???

These two systems [at EWR] are now identical, no?
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Old Mar 3, 2022, 3:25 pm
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I assume "Washington, D.C." means Reston, VA (IAD, and not DCA)?
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Old Mar 3, 2022, 3:29 pm
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Originally Posted by drewguy
I assume "Washington, D.C." means Reston, VA (IAD, and not DCA)?
UA does say just the UA hubs for now, but others later.

Skip the Line and Check a Bag in a Minute or Less: United Debuts New 'Bag Drop Shortcut' Service
Special areas available for customers to weigh their bag, scan a boarding pass and go;
Free service is live now in Chicago, New York/Newark, Washington D.C., Houston, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco, with plans to expand to dozens more airports this year
....This free service is available now at all of United's U.S. hubs in Chicago, New York/Newark, Washington D.C., Houston, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco and the airline plans to expand bag drop shortcut to dozens more new airports this year......
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Old Mar 3, 2022, 3:40 pm
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I used the Bag Drop Shortcut at IAH a few weeks ago. You needed to be already checked in and could only get your bag tag there. The attendant was turning people away who were not already checked in or who needed anything beyond checking a bag. I'm not sure how it is faster than the normal bag-drop inside the terminal, but I guess it wouldn't get bogged down with people needing other assistance. There was only one attendant, so if there was a line you still had to wait.
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Old Mar 3, 2022, 3:52 pm
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Originally Posted by dmkorten
I used the Bag Drop Shortcut at IAH a few weeks ago. You needed to be already checked in and could only get your bag tag there. The attendant was turning people away who were not already checked in or who needed anything beyond checking a bag. I'm not sure how it is faster than the normal bag-drop inside the terminal, but I guess it wouldn't get bogged down with people needing other assistance. There was only one attendant, so if there was a line you still had to wait.
Yeah, I'm very skeptical, mainly because I don't see much difference from how it was handled before (at certain airports).
Good on them for trying to better this specific issue though; hopefully it will improve from how it was before...
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Old Mar 3, 2022, 4:04 pm
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Don't buy this much at all honestly. If this is anything like the Premier/1K/Polaris check-in area at IAD you'll just be standing there at the chicken (check-in kiosk) waiting for someone to validate/verify your credentials anyway. And they have 2, maybe 3, people working the entire bank of chickens at IAD for the Premier area. I avoid it at all costs. I don't see this "drop your bag in under a minute" being any better. United is woefully understaffed in this area and this is exactly why it's one of the more stressful aspects of travel - because you have to wait forever!

Maybe if they took all the CS folks they're removing from airports in favor of us having to scan a QR code for help, they can move them to the front check-in areas to speed up that process and make it less stressful and time-consuming.

-RM
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Old Mar 3, 2022, 4:26 pm
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I haven't tried this yet but I am assuming the bag drop is staffed by contractors, not UA employees.
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Old Mar 3, 2022, 4:51 pm
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So is this just sorting the line by keeping anyone needing something besides a bag tag out? It always seems that the lines are tied up by someone that has a super complex problem and they hold it up for everyone else. Here those people would all be collected together at the traditional check-in counter keeping this new area fast moving. I wonder if they plan to automate it once people get used to it. DL has tried a few different automated bag checks (the latest using CLEAR meme ERSG up for ID verification) but none have lasted very long.
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Old Mar 3, 2022, 5:57 pm
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Originally Posted by kenn0223
Here those people would all be collected together at the traditional check-in counter keeping this new area fast moving.
Unfortunately, that would also mean that anyone who can't check-in online (because of VISA verification, for instance), will be lumped in with all these "super complex problem" people.
I foresee a potentially worse scenario for some...
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Old Mar 3, 2022, 6:33 pm
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I dont get the difference between this and printing bag tags at a kiosk like we have had. I guess the weighing of the bags?
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Old Mar 3, 2022, 6:56 pm
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Originally Posted by uastarflyer
I don’t get the difference between this and printing bag tags at a kiosk like we have had. I guess the weighing of the bags?
Its a fastrak system for those just dropping a bag and not other issues. Yes, similar to the present system but limited to those without other issues and therefore no slow down for the assigned agents. Should lead to a faster process on average than the present system.

It is a streamline process for those eligible. If you are always getting thru the present bag check process with no delays, then it will not make much difference.

If you don't check bags, something many here don't, it is a don't care.
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Old Mar 3, 2022, 7:05 pm
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Originally Posted by WineCountryUA
Its a fastrak system for those just dropping a bag and not other issues. Yes, similar to the present system but limited to those without other issues and therefore no slow down for the assigned agents. Should lead to a faster process on average than the present system.

It is a streamline process for those eligible. If you are always getting thru the present bag check process with no delays, then it will not make much difference.

If you don't check bags, something many here don't, it is a don't care.
Hmm, if only this would get me across the bay bridge in a minute or less.

I remain sceptical that this is any real improvement, i.e. more PR than customer serving innovation, although now I am motivated to take some time next week and watch the flow of self taggers to see if it looks any faster/different. Let's see what we see.
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