Triangle Trip

For those of you don’t know, Las Vegas McCarran International Airport (LAS) was the first airport to implement the multi-airline check-in kiosk.  You no longer need to find your airline at the airport, find any open kiosk that is working.  All LAS check-in kiosks are integrated with all carriers flying in and out of Las Vegas McCarran.

The first thing you pick on this kiosk is the airline, and from there it behaves like the normal carrier kiosk.  This is great for people who don’t need to check in baggage because you can go to any kiosk.  No longer will you need to go to your airline.

LAS multi-airline check-in kiosk

The real big advantage is these multi-airline check-in kiosks can be put anywhere in the airport.  Not only at LAS airport, these airline check-in kiosks can be put anywhere around town.  We found airline check-in kiosks at the central rental car building.  And even better, there were several multi-airline check-in kiosks at the Las Vegas Convention Center — North and South.  For those leaving direct from the Las Vegas Convention Center, or wanting to check in the 24 hours in advance to get a better seat, they can check in at the Convention Center.

If you know of other multi-airline check-in kiosk locations, please feel free to comment.

I travel through a lot of different airlines, and each airline has their own boarding strategy. I have a rough estimate of what boarding group I will get with the seat I pick.

It would be nice to have the boarding group # displayed when selecting your seat # on the different airline sites.  Also, it would be nice to display the number of tickets seats purchased with priority boarding.  This way I would know when to pack lighter for a smaller carry on, or at least expect to check my luggage in to pick a seat with an earlier boarding assignment.

Different carriers have different number of boarding groups and strategies. United has 4 groups and board by outside-in, 1 status, 2 window, 3 middle, 4 aisle seats. Other carriers do back-to-front (4 groups), while others even do a reverse pyramid strategy (usually more than 4 groups).

Back window seat will guarantee you at least a boarding group 2, B, if you are status-less on most airlines and have no clue of the airline boarding strategy.  Guaranteed luggage in overhead, except maybe United since the majority is group 1, which is a different story.

If you’re flying in the US, always check-in online as soon as you can.

Here are the reasons why:

1. For Southwest, you can get a better seat and avoid boarding towards the end of the plane.
2. For most carriers, you can pick an Exit row seat which is reserved for same day check-in if you don’t have status.
3. As I have recently experienced on (ghetto) Delta, they actually give up your seat if you do not check-in 31 minutes before the actual flight. Delta is actually treating their Medallion Gold members this way, image when you do not have status.

Most airlines also have mobile sites that allows you to check-in via your phone. However most do not work too well. I actually tried to check-in via ghetto Delta’s online site and it failed me. The recent experience will definitely prompt a letter to management,