Why can you check in to a flight the previous day? [duplicate]

I always thought that the point of "checking in" to a flight was so that the airline knew you were at the airport and would most likely board the plane.

But nowadays you can check in by computer or smartphone, which is great -- but you can do so as much as 24 hours before the flight. That's before you even go to bed the night before the flight, let alone arrive at the airport.

If there's a emergency, or even very bad traffic, that makes you miss your flight, won't it be in the last few hours? What good is checking in so far in advance?

EDIT: And almost as soon as I finished typing my question, I saw this: What is the purpose of check-in before flying?

air-travel airports

Best Answer

It's a good question.

The answer is that "check-in" simply no longer means what you accurately point out it literally means.

We live in a marketing-driven era and language-meaning-and-logic is subjugated to catchy terms and marketing implications.

(Note that even if you do use modern "check-in", you have to, well "actually check-in" your bags if you have any. Note that they are now shifting that term to an exciting! new marketing term ... "drop-off". In the next 20 or 30 years they'll probably move "drop off!" to the thing presently called "check-in" ... and they'll have to think of another term for "literal check-in"!)

It's likely that in the future the process of {what is presently called} "check-in" will just be eliminated: when you "buy a ticket", the airline will at that point just build in the process where they (incredibly) try to charge you more for a seat, and you have to eula security questions, etc, i.e. the process that is currently presented as "check-in".

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Can you check in twice for a flight?

(a) You'll not be allowed to check in twice (BA stating that buying a ticket doesn't entitle you to a seat - eg if the flight is overbooked); (b) You manage to check in twice and are given (say) 2A and 2B. 2A passes through the gate and hands in his boarding stub.

Can I check in one day earlier?

I always thought that the point of "checking in" to a flight was so that the airline knew you were at the airport and would most likely board the plane. But nowadays you can check in by computer or smartphone, which is great -- but you can do so as much as 24 hours before the flight.

Why duplicate is written on my boarding pass?

It has also asked airlines to write 'duplicate' on any boarding pass that is printed more than once . This will help us identify people travelling on duplicate boarding passes and we can re-verify their credentials to make sure the traveller is genuine,\u201d the officer said, wishing not to be named.

Can you go through TSA twice with the same ticket?

No issues, go in and out as much as you want.

A New Pilot Makes His First Ever Flight With Passengers! | EasyJet: Inside The Cockpit | ITV

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