Automated technologies like mobile phone check-in when flying often make life easier. However, there’s always a trade-off: eventually the manual methods become the exception rather than the norm, and companies start charging to use them.
Qantas and Virgin Australia both offer mobile-based check-in, but that service requires a graphics-capable smartphone with an Internet connection. A new SMS-based option from Jetstar can automatically check passengers in 24 hours before a flight using an SMS confirmation, meaning that virtually anyone with a mobile phone can use it.
I’m well used to the idea that budget airlines will try and charge for everything they can, so I wasn’t shocked when I booked a Jetstar flight recently and they whacked me with a $4 fee for choosing my seat. But I balked at the notion of paying 99 cents just so they could send me an SMS with the details of my booking.
Like thousands of other Australians, my flight got delayed and eventually cancelled yesterday after a security breach at Sydney Airport caused massive holdups. And I’ve only got one very minor complaint about the whole thing: I could get better information from the Jetstar site than I could from anyone on the ground at the Gold Coast Airport.
Dear Lifehacker, I travel regularly and was wondering if you could clear up a question regarding e-ticketing. When away in another state I often want to check in online to ensure I can get the seat I want but can’t because I don’t have a printer to print the e-ticket on. Can the e-tickets be scanned from a smart phone or iPad by the check-in staff? Thanks, Printless
When Qantas launched Jetstar back in 2003, it began a process of removing Qantas flights from many routes in favour of the orange-coloured, cheaper alternative. Now it looks like that process might get reversed to some destinations.
For anyone who has just arrived at Lifehacker after seeing our editor on the Today show this morning, click here to read the whole story of the Four Airlines experiment. If you missed it, catch the video after the jump.
