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Tap, Tap, Tap and You're All Checked In on Qantas

Where: Australia
December 13, 2011 at 10:49 AM | by | Comments (0)

Last year, Qantas changed the feel of the airport experience with their Next-Generation check-in. Thanks to the introduction of towers—each around 5' tall—where you check in with a simple swipe of a membership card, passengers in Qantas domestic terminals are having an overall quieter, less-hectic experience. There's not even the need for a boarding pass, since the bar code on the frequent flyer card is the paperless replacement.

When launched, we told you The Red Kangaroo was on the forefront of this technology, trialing in a few cities around Australia before introducing it, practically, across the entire domestic system in 2010. Ticket counters have been replaced with traditional kiosks for those who do not have a smart-chip card, but the number of towers outnumber the kiosks. We have had the chance to use this innovation and think it's pretty amazing, not only because of the technology but also for its efficiency and massive help on cutting down the time from airport door to plane door.

Until last week, this technology was limited to most major ports in Oz with only the promise of expansion. The time has come for international check-in overhaul. Qantas has introduced the next-gen check-in for flights between New Zealand and Australia. The towers are equipped with passport readers for Trans-Tasman passengers to bypass the lines and breeze through to the lounges in Auckland, Wellington, and Queenstown. The service is additionally coming to Christchurch in 2012.

Do note, however, that the Q-Tag bag tags—more new tech that allows you to laser scan your luggage without the paper tag or stickers—is still limited to domestic services. Checked baggage on these New Zealand flights will still need to be processed by customs and immigration.

The best part of this news is that Qantas has announced that the next step of roll-out might be somewhere in the good ol' USA. Passengers flying out of the airline's mega hub, LAX, may soon be swiping their passport and membership cards, collecting a boarding pass and going straight through security; all within seconds instead of minutes. And here, we still think mobile boarding passes are super cool.

[Photo: Qantas]

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