Airports of Thailand Installs 180 Self Check-in Machines at Suvarnabhumi Airport

[NanLaew]

38 minutes ago, The Hammer2021 said:

42 minutes ago, mfd101 said:

If Don Muaeng is anything to go by over the last several years, they won't make a staff saving in any case.

 

They have to employ staff to man (and mostly woman) the machines for everyone who can't work out what to do.

 

In my case the trickiest bit is the last bit - getting the long sticky thingy you're supposed to wrap around your suitcase handle to come out right and then strip off the redundant bit and wrap it the right way round the handle. I've never managed it yet though my b/f does, about 50% of the time.

 

 

Expand  

It's called a LABEL

 

Looks like it's a girl thing.

[Robin]

I guess a salesman has been busy at AOT during this slack period..  Order ome nice new machines and have anice bonus.

Now if there was something to speed up the Immigration lines...….

 

[OJAS]

2 hours ago, Saltire said:

These machines have been in use around the world for a decade, e.g Schiphol, Heathrow etc.

 

Why are they just getting around to it now?

 

I don't mind them at all and am looking forward to a similar machine for entering Thailand.

 

Actually they have been around in some form or other at BKK for a number of years now. I started using them for checking in for my annual outbound flights to Europe after a fruitless attempt one year to check in online before setting out for the airport, which was stymied by a decision by the PEA to play silly b***ers with our electricity supply at precisely the same time as I was supposedly printing out the boarding pass!

 

2 hours ago, clivebaxter said:

Hate these money saving machines, much rather line up for 10 minutes and be able to ask a nice check in girl a question if needed. You still have to line up anyway to check the bags in, not in the customers interest IMO

 

You've got to be kidding if you only have to stand in line at a check in counter for only 10 minutes - more like 30-45 minutes minimum in my experience while each of those in front of you in a snakingly long queue usually faffs around with checking in a whole army of accompanying family members and placing trolley-loads of their luggage on to the conveyor belt! And I can only infer that the "nice check in girls" whom you have encountered are an endangered species since I haven't come across too many of them myself.

Edited June 6, 2021 by OJAS

[orchidfan]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

The decision makers have found their way to siphon off some money.... ????

 

 

Adding a physical point of contact between passengers who all touch the same item (machine) creates an additional point on transmission between passengers, meanwhile a load of other people loose their jobs - the ‘excuse’ that these machines reduce the risk of the spread of Covid-19 is wrong.

 

So, will the check-in clerks who’ve been replaced by the machines be re-employed to wipe down and disinfect the machines between each passenger ??

 

 

These machines have been added to airports world wide and I have not seen them speed up or improve the check-in process when we have baggage. 

 

The biggest PITA is in Japan where they have to be used for the TG flights. They actually add time to the check in process when we also have baggage and have to queue up longer for that because there is not enough check-in staff. 

 

Additionally, what is the point of a ‘Check-in machine’ - we can check-in online, print our own boarding passes or use a Digital boarding pass... but for some reason every time I’ve done that (Air Asia / Emirates etc) we still have to check in anyway and still get a real boarding pass printed !

 

 

Agree totally re AirAsia. Wife and I flew upcountry recently and I did the online  check in and printed boarding passes..BECAUSE  there's a warning on the website that if you DON'T  do this there will be a charge for check in staff to do it.

Like you say, they still weigh your baggage and print out new boarding passes !!,I was going to ask why?, but gave up. 

 

Hong Kong have had these automatic self check in machines for years, and mostly every machine has a ground staff standing next to it guiding passengers how to use them!

Great staff saving....not !

[OJAS]

3 hours ago, Wiggy said:

I hope I don’t get stuck behind the type who even struggle with an ATM. 

 

I used to get stuck behind many of those with seemingly low brain cell counts in snakingly long queues at manual check in counters!

Edited June 6, 2021 by OJAS

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, Wiggy said:

I hope I don’t get stuck behind the type who even struggle with an ATM. 

Can you imagine the numpty at the front of the queue going on a two day trip with a bag the size of a mini-van trying to check-in and load it on the conveyor.

Every check-in will have to have a minder.

[richard_smith237]

4 minutes ago, OJAS said:

 

I used to get stuck behind many of those with seemingly low brain cell counts in snakingly long queues at manual check in counters!

 

It happens...  people hesitate getting on and off escalators !!! People take an age at an ATM... 

 

But, at the Airports where (usually) its busy anyway we have frequent travellers who can navigate these ‘self check in’ stations as easily as they navigate an ATM, then we have everyone else who travels once or twice a year and each and every time these ‘self check in’ counters are a huge stumbling block.... 

 

 

Last year in Japan I had to Scan my Passport 3x before I called someone over to help, the ‘human assistant’ then simply directed me to the next machine which would accept my passport, then I had to check in for my Wife and Son...  its just a lot less hassle checking in at a regular counter.

 

With Baggage there is no advantage to ’self check in’ - not any advantage I have seen anywhere.

 

 

The queues are the same... its takes just as long to get through check-in... All that may exist is a cost saving for the Airport, but that comes at a loss of jobs for the airport staff, and the cost saving is most certainly not passed on to the customer. Meanwhile the Thai government is looking at ways to get more money from tourists with tourist taxes etc... 

 

So, this has nothing to do with making things better for the passenger. It has nothing to do with covid-19. 

Its about money, and only money. Someone is making money off the top. Someone has shown how AOT may save some money with less staff. But the passenger and staff who have lost their job pay the cost. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Captain Monday]

When back to heavy crowds these machines will block the aisles, which get jammed, and limit area to set up tensabarrier for queuing.  Proper maintenance? Half will be inop. In a perfect situation with 100 percent experienced travelers with the proper APP checked in online and no checked bags they could work.

 

Just not practical for Swampi. Within a year I see certainly see most of these white elephants  unceremoniously removed. Remining ones will be directly adjacent to the check in counter so the agent can help the passenger like you already see at many airports.

Edited June 6, 2021 by Captain Monday

[lavender19]

They have to employ three staff per machine to tell people how to use them thou.

[GreasyFingers]

4 hours ago, Saltire said:

It was a bit of subtle humour.

 

Although the last time I visited the UK, I entered by doing just that, scan passport, no stamp all recorded in the background. One policeman scanning 6 queues. Less than a minute to enter.

 

And what if you had a wife flying for the first time and was terrified of the machines even if their Thai version was better than Google. Had this happen in Australia.

[Denim]

In a few years from now , once the passengers have self checked in and are seated comfortably on the aircraft there will come an announcement.

 

' Ladies and gentlemen , thankyou for flying Thrift Air ,we hope your flight with us will be a pleasant one. Would any passenger who knows how to fly this plane please come forward and notify one of the cabin crew who will shortly be selected from among you . Thankyou '

[natway09]

Another way for some to make "commission.

They will be old before they get any use

 

[Rampant Rabbit]

screen  cleaned  between passengers  no doubt? Cant stand the  things.

[mikebike]

11 minutes ago, Rampant Rabbit said:

screen  cleaned  between passengers  no doubt? Cant stand the  things.

Carry some sanitizer.

 

Are you unable to take care of yourself, or just expecting someone else to do it?

[itsari]

Ready for the mass exodus 

[Rampant Rabbit]

14 minutes ago, mikebike said:

Carry some sanitizer.

 

Are you unable to take care of yourself, or just expecting someone else to do it?

Only for wiping my  <deleted>.

[bangon04]

If you feel the need to  chat to the check in staff, just fly business class... problem solved....

[bangon04]

Just now, bangon04 said:

If you feel the need to  chat to the check in staff, just fly business class... problem solved....

or get a gold card.... if they still do them....

[Mayhem11]

The issue with these machines is they are good for single destination flights. If you are flying say from X to Bkk then Fra. Forget them. The airlines will try to make you use them, but they can’t handle multiple destinations.

[herfiehandbag]

6 hours ago, NanLaew said:

I saw these new machines a few days back as I was heading out and was wondering when they would turn them on. Right now with maybe 50 pax on an A350, check-in is easy but once things get back to normal, there should be no need to do things the 'old fashioned. way.

Turn them on? Turn them on? Once the kickbacks have been safely banked they will forget about them! When the airports do get busier, they will realise that the people they trained to supervise them have all beetled off and got jobs elsewhere, and they have lost the passcodes to programme them. They will become so much more junk cluttering up the floor area...

Edited June 6, 2021 by herfiehandbag

[tonray]

They already exist...some of the airlines have been using them for years...but there's always an issue...I used one to check in to a domestic flight..and sorry #Error# cannot print boarding pass, seek assistance...called the girl over...she told me I had to get in line and head to the counter for my boarding pass....wasting 25 minutes...I could have been at the counter already as now the line doubled by the time I got in the queue. No thanks.

[OJAS]

9 hours ago, Captain Monday said:

Passport stamps are behind the times.

 

In common with the process for renewing the passport itself from Thailand in the case of us Brits!

Edited June 6, 2021 by OJAS

[OJAS]

5 hours ago, Captain Monday said:

When back to heavy crowds these machines will block the aisles, which get jammed, and limit area to set up tensabarrier for queuing.

 

Aisles were, in any case, frequently blocked by heavy crowds queuing up at manual check in counters in the pre-COVID era in my experience.

Edited June 6, 2021 by OJAS

[OJAS]

6 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

its just a lot less hassle checking in at a regular counter.

Maybe it is for those travelling with family members. But definitely not for solo travellers like myself in my experience.

 

[OJAS]

10 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

Mr. Nitinai added that a new AoT Airports app has also been developed, in conjunction with the services, which will be progressively rolled to other airports under the AoT’s supervision nationwide.

 

So will we only be able to use these machines if we've downloaded some bloody whizzo app on to a smartphone??

 

[Poet]

6 minutes ago, OJAS said:

So will we only be able to use these machines if we've downloaded some bloody whizzo app on to a smartphone??

Where does it say "only"?

It will clearly be just an option.

For those of us who are aware that it takes literally seconds to download an app, being able to check-in using our own devices and, then, join a shorter queue to tag our luggage, is preferable to standing in the main queue and having to use a touchscreen that hundreds of other people have touched that day.

 

[Poet]

7 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

So, this has nothing to do with making things better for the passenger. It has nothing to do with covid-19. 

Its about money, and only money. Someone is making money off the top. Someone has shown how AOT may save some money with less staff. But the passenger and staff who have lost their job pay the cost. 

It is about efficiency, which ultimately creates the space in which prices can be lowered and a service can become commoditized. This is a good thing.

Everyone likes to moan about RyanAir, but no one can deny the impact they had on the cost of flying around Europe, and the explosion of new routes that became possible.

They were the first European airline to ditch anachronistic nonsense such as having to have paper tickets mailed out to you. People forget just how much unnecessary stuff was bundled into the air travel experience.

Sure, the classic experience may have felt more special, but I would far rather have a direct flight from, say, Edinburgh to Karlsruhe for £40 than an indirect flight for £240 that involves the nightmare of Heathrow.

These machines will help to keep airfares low in Asia as the cost of manpower rockets over the coming decades.

[Patong2021]

Took long enough, but there is one deficiency: The lack of a feeder line. The scatter format does not work for busy airlines, which is why the airlines at hub airports will have everyone use a single line that feeds the machines. I hope the machines are not as subject to freezing and bugs as has been my experience with Bangkok Airways which has been using the machines for years.

 

11 hours ago, Wiggy said:

I hope I don’t get stuck behind the type who even struggle with an ATM. 

The feeder line concept  fixes that problem. Line moves when machine is free.

 

11 hours ago, clivebaxter said:

Hate these money saving machines, much rather line up for 10 minutes and be able to ask a nice check in girl a question if needed. You still have to line up anyway to check the bags in, not in the customers interest IMO

 "Check in girl"??  Seriously?  It is 2021 not 1971. People other than "girls" can have the job. The format is proven to process large numbers of passengers in much less time. They reduce the potential for the annoying time wasters who bother agents with their inanities and boring stories of their lives and travels. The typical economy class checkin counter has 2-5 positions. It is obvious that  a deployment of 5 of the machines will be able to process more passengers. If people have a question they can use the help line or they can line up for passenger assistance. The  machines won't penalize the organized traveler as does the current system.

 

11 hours ago, clivebaxter said:

How can a machine stamp your passport with the re entry date and permission to stay until on returning?

Why would there be a need? You are obviously confused. The airline desk agent does not process immigration related documentation. That is government of Thailand decision and is done after check in and past security inspection.

[impulse]

What a bunch of luddites.

 

They just added 180 new queues to CHOOSE from.  More queues = fewer people in each queue.  Simple math. 

 

If you don't want to use the machine, go ahead and get in one of the long queues.  Which will be shorter because of all the tech savvy travelers who'll be in the 180 new queues, and not in front of you in line.

 

Edited June 6, 2021 by impulse

[Captain Monday]

These machines are designed to save labor time, not passenger  time. It will make check in take longer. Pax will queue for the machine, most faffing and flailing unable to proceed without assistance, then have to will queue again to check bags, and as an international airport required passport and document manual checks. Until digital health passports are implemented this will only become worse. I'm not a luddite if everyone was like me the airlines at BKK would not need any check-in staff at all. Everything can be accomplished on my mobile except bag check, which I avoid if at all possible,

 

The machines will block the aisles. With normal crowds one cannot get through except straight up the middle.

Edited June 6, 2021 by Captain Monday