Frequent Fliers Can Check in by Phone

July 11 -- If you're an American Airlines frequent flier, checking in for a flight is just a phone call away.

Beginning this week, American Airlines passengers who fly more than 25,000 miles a year don't have to wait in line and can check in by telephone.

"Literally, you can be in your car, on your mobile phone, call into the Advantage hotline number, and check in for your flight," says American Airlines spokesman Gus Whitcomb. "We are eliminating every single line they can stand in except for the security checkpoint."

To use the new simplified system, passengers call the American Airlines telephone check-in hotline anywhere from three hours to 30 minutes in advance of their flight. The automated system will require callers to complete a series of prompts. From there, passengers can proceed directly to the gate for boarding.

The fully automated phone system will prompt travelers to answer the same security questions passengers who check in at the airport answer in order to meet Federal Aviation Administration requirements.

"There are security features built into the program so that the public can feel secure that American and the FAA have achieved the safety procedures necessary," said Whitcomb.

To qualify, travelers must be traveling domestically on an electronic ticket and have no baggage to check. Passengers must also have a preassigned seat to use the automated check-in service.

Airlines Offer Perks to Save Time

The Fort Worth-based airline is the first to offer telephone check-in nationwide. Delta Airlines has a similar service for travelers originating in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Jacksonville, Fla., or New York's LaGuardia Airport.

"It's a perk for our most frequent travelers," says Whitcomb. "People are saying 'I could see this saving me 15 to 20 minutes.'"

The world's largest airline began testing the system last month at airports in Austin, Texas; Boston; Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; and San Jose, Calif.