QANTAS: Hello check-in machine, can I charm you into an upgrade?

I wrote this back in 2011 when Qantas introduced its Next Generation Check-in. That was long ago. Those machines have since been replaced. And the new ones are better. But they are still not people.

There are now even fewer staff on the ground to help you. The main departure hall Qantas Service Desks at most Australian domestic airports are now closed.

So, my thoughts then are only more applicable now.

Who stole the check-in counters?

I flew from Sydney to Adelaide last weekend. The Sydney Airport Qantas terminal is deserted! There are no staff, only uniformed security and columns with screens. From a design perspective, I like the minimalist space—just a sea of marble tiles, with the occasional vertical sculpture sprouting a screen that you (apparently) tap to check-in.

Next Generation check-in

Fortunately, I didn’t have to actually engage in the Qantas brave new world (called by Qantas—Next Generation Check-in). I had checked in online, and given I only had carry-on, I went straight to the Club lounge. At least there, you can ask dumb questions, like ‘Even though I have checked in online, do you need to give me a boarding pass?’ (They don’t).

If I am nice to you – will you be nice to me?

At the risk of sounding like a sentimental old grump, I am mourning the days when, at check-in, you could compliment the (usually female) staff member on her hair/jewellery/general demeanour and gormlessly ask, “Is it a well-booked flight?” If they said yes, you could try, “Is there any possibility of an upgrade?”

It sounds silly, but it sometimes worked. Even if it didn’t always get us an upgrade, sometimes, on a poorly booked flight, it would get me and my partner three seats for the two of us to share—any extra legroom in a storm.

Not to mention the discretion they had to ignore your blatant ignorance of the permitted luggage allowance.

My airfare used to pay someone else to do that.

If I have actual check-in luggage, I will have to print off one of those sticky strips that you have to tear off and wrap around your luggage handles and load onto the conveyor belt. Didn’t the cost of my ticket include that service by a Qantas staff member in the past? The alternative is to buy their ‘Q Bag Tags‘ at some undisclosed cost in the future.

So, another small part of the luxury that used to be travel again disappears on what the industry still laughably calls a full-service airline.

For a full report on the experience of the Next Generation Check-in see Dan Hill’s Blog entry at City of Sound.