Millions of words have been written -- including some on this blog -- about the increasing annoyances and unpleasantries involved in air travel. But one thing has gotten easier: the ability to preprint boarding passes from your home or office computer. While I miss the high-touch aspects of flying as it once was, where passengers were catered to rather than hassled, the ability to get some of the mechanics out of the way does make things a lot easier at the airport. You might say that I'm conflicted.
First came self-service check-in kiosks at airports: dip your credit card or frequent flyer card into a terminal, up pops your itinerary, confirm or change your seat selection(s), enter the number of bags you are checking in, press again, and out comes your boarding pass. Take any checked bags to the counter to be tagged and hopefully loaded onto your airplane, and you are ready ready to deal with the security line. I don't know about other airlines, but using United's on-line check-in adds another 500 miles to my MileagePlus account.
Not only do I miss the high-touch elements to air travel in the past, but I really am sorry for the downsized airline employees who used to do for us what are now self-service tasks. Still, I have to admit that high-tech has made it all a lot easier. I am flying out of Denver (DIA) for Boise (BOI) this morning, and along with my photo ID, I'll leave the house, ready to park my car and check in.
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Someone who calls himself "Omar Cruz" is posting comments meant to sell real estate in Costa Rica. The "Deleted by an Administrator" posts you see are to get rid of Aggressive Omar.
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