Airport Check-in: United tests faster bag tags
— -- United Airlines says it will begin testing new plastic bag tags at Chicago O'Hare that will allow some customers to bypass waiting in line for paper tags required for checking luggage.
Available for 1,000 United frequent-flier members who live in the Chicago area, the tags are equipped with a radio frequency identification (RFID) chip. In the test, which starts Wednesday and is expected to last six weeks, the participating customers can check in for their flight online or, using a kiosk, then drop off the bag in a designated spot, where an airline employee scans the tag and checks the passenger's identification. Once the passenger leaves, the tag is scanned again, and the bag enters the screening process. Travelers interested in participating can apply online (www.united.com). The airline, which is conducting the test with the Transportation Security Administration, plans to evaluate the program after six weeks. "We're going to find out through this trial what work needs to be done in order for this to become the next generation in how customers check bags," says spokeswoman Robin Urbanski.
What's else is new
Virgin America plans
to launch service to John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Calif., from its home base at San Francisco International. Starting April 30, Virgin America will fly five daily flights to Orange County, which will be the ninth destination in its network.
Milwaukee's General Mitchell Airport
has launched a website tailored to travelers with smartphones and mobile devices. Visitors to www.mitchellairport.com/mobile will find arrival and departure data, real-time parking updates and an airport guide, formatted for the smaller screens and slower bandwidth of handheld devices.
Gladstone's 4 Fish
, a Malibu seafood restaurant well known in the Los Angeles area, has opened an airport location at Los Angeles International. It's in Terminal 3, past security.
Route news
Ohio to D.C., no stops in between
US Airways began its new daily, non-stop service between Akron-Canton, Ohio, and Washington Reagan National last week. Slots at Reagan National are hard to come by since they're restricted by the federal government. Kristie Van Auken, the marketing director for Akron-Canton, says the airport has been lobbying for the route for years, and Washington, D.C., had been the most requested location that the airport did not serve with a non-stop flight.
