Weeks ago, I paid Lufthansa £185 for a return flight from London Heathrow to Munich. The fare is non-refundable. But with 30 hours before my flight home, I am obliged to go online to declare that, yes, I fully intend to travel.
It is a disagreeable process – the opposite of the James Bond villain’s line: “I’ve been expecting you.”
Airlines across the world chorus: “Just because you’ve booked a flight doesn’t mean we’re expecting you.”
Having logged in to the Lufthansa website, as a poor German speaker, I then had to scroll through the homelands on offer before happening on Vereinigtes Königreich (“United Kingdom”).
Then came the challenging questions. To the surprise of the German airline, I can reveal that I have not changed my nationality, gender, passport details or reason for travel since I flew out on Saturday.
Perhaps Lufthansa could use the details I provided ahead of the flight out to Germany?
After painstakingly completing all the details from my British passport, it was surprising to be told that for the purposes of entering the UK, “a national ID card of your home country is not sufficient”.
Then the kicker screen: “Something went wrong. We are currently experiencing technical difficulties. Please try again later.”
In 2025, what is the purpose of check-in? I can see that in the olden days, it served a purpose. Tickets were ridiculously expensive, but also flexible. Choose to “no-show”? You’ll be able to claim a full refund or travel on any future flight. So it made sense to have a check-in stage at the airport. Most passengers, too, were checking in luggage, so an extra step was acceptable. And the flight coupons had to be physically torn from the ticket and exchanged for an additional document: a boarding pass.
Today, the check-in process looks ridiculous. Every airline inserts an intermediate hurdle that goes, approximately: “We notice you have bought a ticket for a flight. Are you by any chance intending to travel?” This unnecessary interrogation does not take place on trains and buses (though it did on my recent Stena Line ferry from Harwich to Hook of Holland).
I accept that the booking stage and check-in formalities are subtly different. When you buy a flight online, the airline is not concerned with which document you will be using to travel. On the eve of departure, the carrier certainly wants to know. But I contend most people know that they will be using their current passport on their next flight.
A cynical person might conclude that the reason for the check-in stage is because it gives the airline an opportunity to “upsell”. Before the Lufthansa check-in system imploded, I was invited: “Treat yourself to an upgrade from €75.” Compared with some other airlines – particularly Ryanair and Wizz Air – that was a fairly easy exercise in swerving the many invitations to spend more money before being issued with a boarding pass.
I understand that carriers are legally required to provide a complete manifest of who is on board their aircraft; they must reconcile passengers and their baggage; and assign passengers prudently for the purposes of weight and balance.
They must also comply with aviation rules such as: “The operator shall establish procedures to ensure that passengers are seated where, in the event that an emergency evacuation is required, they are able to assist and not hinder evacuation of the aircraft.”
But all of this could happen at the departure gate. Even if it means getting passengers there 10 minutes earlier, I believe we would accept that in exchange for expunging an unnecessary hurdle.
Which airline will take the radical and profitable step of saving on costs and passenger hassle by dispensing with check-in? I promise to be first on board.
