Is it worth checking in online for international flights?

Is the pre-flight check-in really necessary?

I’m about to take a short international flight in Europe and my airline wants me to complete the pre-flight check in. Five minutes and it’s done, but not completed. The airline’s website is telling me it can’t issue my boarding pass.

There’s actually a method to online check-in madness.Credit: iStock

I’ll have to show up at the check-in counter to get my boarding pass and drop my baggage. That’s common with international flights.

The airline needs to see my passport to make sure the information I’ve provided online – my passport number, the expiry date, country of citizenship and the passport photo – are legitimate.

If the system worked perfectly I could download my boarding pass, tag my own checked luggage at the airport and head straight for security.

Even though I don’t have to complete the pre-flight check-in before getting to the airport, and plenty don’t, to me it makes perfect sense. I’ll confirm my seat booking and check if there’s a better one available and insert my phone number and email in case of a last-minute flight delay or cancellation.

Also, it means I can join the dedicated queue of passengers who have completed the pre-flight check in, and that’s always shorter than the queue for those who have not. It’s possible that I’m less likely to be bumped from an overbooked flight if I’ve already completed the online check-in. If I happened to be travelling on a domestic flight with just hand luggage I could go straight to security, and that’s a decent time saver.

Apart from the security considerations, airlines want you to complete their online check-in to know that you intend to take a flight for which you are ticketed.

It can save them time and manpower. Also, the airline wants to know I’m aware of the dangerous goods warning and any information relevant to my travels. During the pandemic, it was not uncommon for airlines to ask passengers checking in online if they were aware of the health requirements at their destination.

There’s a precedent for this. Decades back, it was standard practice when taking an international flight to call the airline within 48 hours of your flight to reconfirm your booking. By comparison, online check-in is a doddle.