I read in the Globe the other day, Airlines want to help you help yourself, about Air Canada's move to include baggage tags at their self-serve kiosks. Being in a relationship with someone who is very closely tied to the airline industry tends to give me a bit of early warning on these trends, indeed Montie Brewer, CEO of Air Canada, has noted this change in one of his letters in enRoute magazine, Air Canada's in-flight magazine.
I think that while this move could be a bit of a gamble in terms of customer service, I'm pretty sure that most Canadian travellers will actually welcome the option to help themselves manage this kind of service. The same people who use ATM's, make use of the self-serve checkout lines at Loblaws, purchase books online instead of at the retail outlet - these people are the ones who are going to benefit most from this change. The overseas group travellers who have 18 mounds of boxes and bags they're bringing with them back to wherever they came from - these are not the target market for this service.
Harry Gow, co-founder of consumer advocacy group Transport 2000, has a big problem with this service - and I do call it a service whereas he would more likely prefer to call it a non-service. His concerns seem to stem from the fact that the airlines are reducing manned service stations in favour of machines, a move which appears to him to reduce services for travellers as opposed to helping them. Frankly, I couldn't disagree more. For the experienced traveller, holiding an e-Ticket, printing my own boarding pass and luggage tags amounts to nothing more than a reduction of the two plus hours I'd have to normally wait in the queue just to drop off luggage. In this time-is-money society, that two hours just cost me a relaxing pre-boarding experience. That time that could be better spent shopping for duty-free or having a nice sit-down meal - or trying to find free wireless...
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