Early check in before flight

It depends on the airline, but usually online check-in at the 24-hour mark is something you can do, but it is not mandatory. Some people need to check in right then to be able to choose seats for free, instead of paying to reserve a seat earlier.

You check in for each flight, coming and going. Not mandatory, but online check-in allows you to print boarding passes before you get to the airport.

Exactly as the prior 2 posters said. The 24-hour part is the time airlines generally set as the earliest one can check in on-line and print a boarding pass.

I guess then I would need access to a printer, maybe from the hotel? I'll just have my smartphone. I phoned the airline (Aer Lingus) and they gave me our seat assignments already, perhaps 2 months ago.

It's a good idea to check in on-line before arriving at the airport. If you don't, you may need to fine a machine at the airport to print out a boarding pass to check baggage or to enter the secured area. Having a boarding pass before arriving avoids at least one line.

I usually check in online on my phone and then get or print boarding passes at the airport. If Aer Lingus has an app that might be an easy way to do it altho when I recently flew Delta out of CDG in Paris I could not get the app to work properly so I just went to the regular website on my phone and checked in that way.

If you check in online you can print your boarding passes then or print them at the airport. The latter requires you to stand in line at the check in desk (unless your airport and airline has an express kiosk for this purpose). If you are checking luggage you will do this anyway, if not it is an extra step.

Most hotels will print them for you. Smaller ones often ask you to email the front desk the file and they print them in a back office. Bigger ones have printers at the desk or a courtesy computer/printer for you to use.

If you stay at an Airbnb then there may not be a printer. You could find an Internet cafe, or ask your host. In these cases I don't bother printing though. I check in online to make sure my seats are ok, times are normal, etc but print at the airport.

Previous post is bad advice. Always check in when you can ahead of time. If you are delayed, your seat is confirmed. If you have not checked in, you may be treated as a no show despite seat assignment and your seat forfeited. For most airlines this is 1/2 hour prior to departure, but for others such as EasyJet it may be tighter. Check in when you can, print the passes if you can, if not, print at the airport. But do check in.

More and more airlines are allowing you to check in online and get boarding passes on your phone, either on their app, or as a PDF or JPG sent to your phone even without the app (I just did this for Iberia). You will usually get an e-mail, and can sometimes set it up to get a text; if you have the airline's app, it will usually notify you.

As Alan says, I've always read (no direct knowledge) that checking in ahead makes it less likely that you will be bumped (your check in time is earlier than those who waited until they got to the airport). It certainly can't hurt. And if you're not checking bags and if you can print your boarding pass or get it on your phone in advance, you can often go directly to the security checkpoint with that, bypassing the check-in counter completely.

Many airlines also have e-boarding passes - no printer required. Ypu can access them either from the airline app or an email.

We've always been able to use the computer & printer at hotels in Europe to print boarding passes for the trip home. Not to say that will always be the case, but as a general rule it is. Someone mentioned Easy Jet. About a year ago we were able to print out boarding passes up to 30 day before an Easy Jet flight so we did them at home before we left. May or may not still be the case.

TC is correct that most hotels will allow you to use a computer to check in and print boarding passes. In fact, many have a computer dedicated to this purpose. While advance check in is not required, it is nice to have your boarding pass when you get to the airport, rather than having to stand in a line in order to print it when you arrive on the day of your flight.

TC is correct that most hotels will allow you to use a computer to check in and print boarding passes. In fact, many have a computer dedicated to this purpose. While advance check in is not required, it is nice to have your boarding pass when you get to the airport, rather than having to stand in a line in order to print it when you arrive on the day of your flight.

Re flying back to the US from Europe: I definitely recommend checking in before arriving at the airport if at all possible. I, too, have heard that not checking in in advance increases the chance of getting bumped. Re printing your boarding pass, having it in hand (or on your Smartphone) may save you valuable time in the airport. Sometimes I have breezed through luggage check in and security. On other occasions, lines have been unexpectedly long and I was very glad I had arrived at the airport 3 hours before my departure.

If you are might use a European no-frills airline, read their requirements on their website. With some you can check in as much as 30 days in advance. The downside is that if you don't check in on-line it will cost you a bundle at the airport. Anything to do with these money-saving outfits should be researched carefully, and take it for granted that they will enforce all their rules.

Only one hotel refused to print boarding passes, but that was the least of our issues with them.

If your accommodation can't print them and you want a hard copy, a Western Union or Internet Point or public library may work.

I've also found when flying codeshare airlines checking in online is sometimes not available.

I'm almost always able to check in in advance when flying back from France, but not always able to get boarding passes because of where we're staying. But most airports I've flown from have kiosks for printing the boarding pass.

If you do check in with your smart phone using the airlines app, I recommend screenprinting the barcode which creates a picture of the barcode. I've been in a TSA line (and it was long!) and the person in front of me could not access the app to show the agent and he had to go back to the check-in desk to retrieve a boarding pass. He was NOT happy.

It's a lot easier and faster to access a photo on your phone than trying to access a particular app.

Pilgrim... great idea. Thanks!!

Oh, wow, I agree. Great idea Pilgrim.

Now just have to have a sticky note taped to the back of my phone reminding me of how to DO a screenshot, lolol!!

I also change the "Auto-Lock" to "never" on my iPhone while I'm in the TSA lines or Custom Lines (Settings> Display & Brightness > Auto-Lock > "Never") By doing that I don't have to scramble to put my passcode into my phone when I have to show the TSA agent my boarding pass barcode or the Customs agent when using Mobile Pass.

I then change it back to a short auto-lock time period once I'm through and I don't need to show anyone any more barcodes.