As part of the effort to eliminate kiosks and transform the lobby experience that was announced almost one year ago, no more printed boarding passes or check in at kiosks for flights with Alaska Airlines are now in effect.
No More Printed Boarding Passes or Check In at Kiosks For Flights With Alaska Airlines
New airport check-in experience
Our airport kiosks no longer print boarding passes — this means you’ll need to check in and access your boarding passes through the Alaska Airlines mobile app, from a computer, mobile device, or print them at home. If you’re checking bags, you’ll use our new bag tag stations to print bag tags, add a bag, or pay for your checked baggage. If you are unable to obtain your boarding pass before arriving at the airport, please see an agent for a paper version. Learn more about our streamlined lobby experience.
This is potentially bad news for passengers who do not use portable electronic devices while they travel; but in the overall grand scheme of things, this new policy is a minor issue at best. Moreover, most ultra-low-cost airlines already have a similar policy to what Alaska Airlines is implementing — and they charge a fee for anyone who must have a boarding pass printed at the airport.
At least Alaska Airlines is not currently charging a fee if passengers require one of their agents to print the boarding pass — but then again, who wants to take the time out to approach an agent at a ticket counter? Was that not one of the solutions that a kiosk was supposed to resolve?
Regardless, expect additional airlines to follow suit. Alaska Airlines was the first airline to introduce kiosks greater than 20 years ago and will be the first airline to remove them.
Final Boarding Call
Although I have used my portable electronic device to check in for flights with an electronic boarding pass, I prefer to use kiosks whenever possible when I want to check in for a flight.
I also prefer receiving a physical boarding pass, which inevitably winds up crumpled in my pocket by the time the flight has concluded. One simple reason is because I can walk through the security checkpoint at an airport with a boarding pass, which I can keep in my pocket or hold in my hand — whereas all portable electronic devices are required to be placed in a tray or stored in baggage before going on the conveyor and being electronically scanned. I do not want to print my boarding pass at home and then first trim it so that it fits in my pocket.
Another reason is that once a boarding pass is printed, nothing can go wrong…well…unless the passenger loses the boarding pass or its thermal “print” fades from excess heat and moisture or gets stained — whereas a portable electronic device can malfunction at the time when it is needed the most.
Plus, sometimes a Wi-Fi or data connection can fail — which is why I always take a screen shot of an electronic boarding pass and use that instead of the live version, which is again an additional step for me.
As with electronic tolls on highways, I really do not understand why technology at times must be forced down the throats of people who are not exactly “Luddites” and prefer simpler methods to get the task completed. Do airlines really consume a significant amount of flimsy paper to have those boarding passes printed? Do too many personnel need to be hired to maintain and repair the kiosks? Is the technology of the kiosk simply becoming too obsolete? Is this a solution in search of a problem?
I know I will survive with the minor inconveniences — I usually do…
…but what are your thoughts about the extinction of kiosks at the airport by airlines?
All photographs ©2023 by Brian Cohen.
