"From 18 September Malév offers its customers two new Internet services: online check-in and online booking modification. Following a two-week test period the new services are open for general use on the Malév website.This latest development makes it much easier and quicker for Malév travellers to report for their flights and to change travel itineraries. The airline will continue to expand the range of services available online as part of the company’s drive to save customers’ time and promote cost-efficient operation.
Customers of Malév holding e-tickets for flights departing from Budapest can, from 18 September, use the Malév website to check-in for their flight much earlier than previously, in fact up to 23 hours before departure. Online check-in closes down 50 minutes prior to scheduled departure.
The new service allows travellers to avoid wasteful and time-consuming queuing because check-in over the Internet takes around 5 minutes against an average 20 minutes for traditional check-in. Passengers identify themselves by inputting their e-ticket number, flight number and name, and then using the aircraft seating plan they can select where they want to sit. If several travellers hold a single reservation identification number then they can make a combined check-in for the flight and select from among those free seats that are located next to each other.
What is more, in the course of check-in online Malév Duna Club members and frequent flyers of oneworld member airlines can also give their frequent flyer ID code, thereby guaranteeing that their Bonus Points will be credited after the trip is completed.
At the end of the transaction the boarding card has to be printed out on a sheet of A/4; this document contains a 2D bar code with essential information on the passenger and the flight. Passengers who have already checked in leave their luggage at one of the airport “Drop off” counters, which also offer customers choosing the online or airport kiosk check-in option various other services such as check-in for connecting flights as well as passport and visa formalities for flights to the US or Canada.
At present, online check-in is only available for Malév flights departing Budapest. Malév is gradually extending its online check-in services and will eventually make the issuance of boarding cards for connecting flights accessible on the website.
Online check-in brings benefits for passengers, the airline and the airport operator alike. For travellers it is a rapid and convenient solution, while the airline is able to reduce its costs because it has to pay for fewer check-in desks at the airport and it saves on the costs of printing out boarding passes as well. Air industry estimates put the cost of traditional check-in at an average USD 3.68 per person, while for online check-in this per capita cost drops to just USD 0.16-0.25.
From the aspect of the airport operator the benefits include being able to offer airlines use of better desks and it is by no means unimportant that satisfied, relaxed customers are likely to spend more in the airport shops than those who arrive in the transit area frustrated after a long delay queuing at check-in."
Read more fromthe source: Malév Hungarian Airlines
22.09.2008