Next In Line, Please - electronic ticket services for airline passengers - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, July, 2001 by Erin Burt

AIRLINES For passengers, FLIGHT CHECK-IN could be a breeze this summer.

FLIGHTS MAY be delayed during the summer travel season, but you should at least be able to get to the gate more quickly.

For e-ticket passengers, most major airlines have self-service kiosks for check-in. Northwest has kiosks in every major U.S. airport. Continental has more than 350 stations in 63 airports, and United plans to install 800 new kiosks in 25 airports by year-end.

Passengers on Alaska Airlines and Northwest can check in at the airlines' Web sites and print out a boarding pass on their personal computer. Alaska Airlines also offers wireless check-in via a Web-enabled PDA or cell phone.

If you're flying American Airlines, ATA or United, watch for roaming customer-service agents armed with wireless check-in devices. They'll be dispatched to long lines and popular entrances to head off passengers and print boarding passes on the spot.

Even if you can't avoid the line, you might be able to lighten your load. Passengers on ten airlines traveling through McCarran airport in Las Vegas can pay $6 to check their baggage at Alamo car-rental counters and at 11 local hotels up to two hours before takeoff (you don't even have to be a guest at the hotel). Nine of those airlines allow the remote check-in counter to issue you a seat and a boarding pass.

Travelers arriving at London's Heathrow airport can leave their luggage with a service called Baggage Direct. For $29, you can have your bags delivered anywhere in greater London while you ride a city-bound express train for free.