Old school boarding pass

[cheeruson]

We will be traveling the day before our international flight and I am wondering if, instead of worrying about the best way to accomplish on-line or whatever check-in once it opens, we can just present ourselves at the counter in plenty of time before the flight, check our bags, and get our boarding passes there?  We have air from O'Hare through a cruise line and have assigned seats.

[CruiserBruce]

Yes, you can just show up, and get your boarding pass at check in. The only issue I would worry about is whether you have assigned seats already. If not, I would be checking in the day before.

[Zach1213]

You can (almost always) still check in online but show up at the counter to check a bag and get a paper boarding pass, then you hit the best of both worlds.

[fbgd]

I always get a paper boarding pass having done online check-in and maybe even having an electronic one. Never know when my phone battery might die out of nowhere (had an old phone for a while where it enjoyed doing this!) or if I get a phone call right at the wrong moment or whatever. 

[klfrodo]

Since you are flying internationally, you will have to go to the counter anyway. 

An agent has to physically touch your passport and verify it's validity.

[fbgd]

16 minutes ago, klfrodo said:

Since you are flying internationally, you will have to go to the counter anyway. 

An agent has to physically touch your passport and verify it's validity.

 

Depends on the airline and destination. If the airline have all your passport details on file some will let you go straight to security.

 

In this case the OP says they are flying "the day before our international flight" so the domestic portion may not require any verification.

Edited May 8, 2019 by fbgd

[Ashland]

I always use a paper boarding pass.....no glitches. I've seen many having trouble with their phones....I easily walk right pass them and onto the plane.

Edited May 8, 2019 by Ashland

[fishywood]

When last May I checked in at the Delta first class counter at FLL I offered both my phone and the printed check-in receipt. Agent glared at me as if to say "Whisky Tango Foxtrot am I supposed to do with those?" and icily took my passport (I was flying FLL-MSP-YVR for my Alaska cruise) and issued me the ultra old school paper boarding pass--the size and shape of a punchcard with typeface resembling a dot matrix or daisy wheel printer. Didn't even know that form of boarding pass existed anymore (it had been years since I flew a legacy airline other than AA between MIA and Europe or South America).

[sumiandkage]

After some phone problems on my end and the time Southwest, who I think keeps their IT services low cost by running the back end of them on a Commodore Vic 20, had some sort of IT issues where they sent everyone to a desk to get paper boarding passes instead of letting people use phones, I always ask for a paper boarding pass as a back-up when I'm at the desk checking a bag. I've never had a gate agent blink at the request and a few have mentioned they thought it was a good idea to do that. 

 

I've also heard of times when there was a problem with crediting frequent flyer miles to a partner airline and the resolution to getting them to credit properly involved mailing the saved paper boarding pass to some obscure location, so I now save the passes until I see the miles have hit my account properly. 

[waterbug123]

11 hours ago, fishywood said:

When last May I checked in at the Delta first class counter at FLL I offered both my phone and the printed check-in receipt. Agent glared at me as if to say "Whisky Tango Foxtrot am I supposed to do with those?" and icily took my passport

 

No need for the agent to have been rude, but a check in agent generally just needs your photo ID.  That's it.  If you  haven't checked in, they use your ID to pull up your reservation and check you in.  If you have checked in but need to check a bag, they use it to match your bag to your reservation.  If you've checked in and aren't checking a bag, you don't need to go to the check in counter at all.

[FionaMG]

As an obsessive organiser and extremely nervous traveller, I always have both digital and printed boarding passes in case something goes awry with one of them. The one time it did, it was the paper one that wouldn't scan at the entrance to security and the fact that I had the digital one on my phone saved me having to hoof it back to the counter for a new one.

[brian1]

On ‎5‎/‎9‎/‎2019 at 5:16 PM, FionaMG said:

As an obsessive organiser and extremely nervous traveller, I always have both digital and printed boarding passes in case something goes awry with one of them. The one time it did, it was the paper one that wouldn't scan at the entrance to security and the fact that I had the digital one on my phone saved me having to hoof it back to the counter for a new one.

That's what us Brits call belt and braces.I do the same though,lol.

[FionaMG]

2 hours ago, brian1 said:

That's what us Brits call belt and braces.I do the same though,lol.

Haha, yes. I'm a long-time ex-pat. Haven't heard that expression in years.

My general philosophy when travelling is that it's better to have and not need than need and not have. Unfortunately with the airlines cracking down on baggage allowances, the kitchen sink is no longer an option. 

Edited May 11, 2019 by FionaMG
Sp.

[sumiandkage]

8 hours ago, FionaMG said:

Haha, yes. I'm a long-time ex-pat. Haven't heard that expression in years.

My general philosophy when travelling is that it's better to have and not need than need and not have. Unfortunately with the airlines cracking down on baggage allowances, the kitchen sink is no longer an option. 

 

But someone's probably got a Kickstarter campaign right now to create a foldable packable travel kitchen sink that is not only high-performance but weighs in at less than one kilogram.