Airlines often need to work together, not just on codeshares but for interline feed too, and travel agents anywhere could be selling a journey for any airline. There are many millions of travel agents around the globe and hundreds of airlines. Often many airlines are involved in a complicated itinerary, such as a round-the-world ticket. Maybe you buy the ticket from a travel agent. You probably have noticed that you often buy your flight from a different company than the airline itself. But they do not need to obey the rules on time limits. They still have an interest in knowing how many people are likely to show up, in collecting passport or immigration information where required, and estimating baggage weights for the flight. These airlines are free to arrange their check in system however suits them best. Travel agents who wish to sell their flights must arrange to use their special and proprietary systems. However, some low cost airlines, like EasyJet and Ryanair, do not participate in the "normal" way ticket accounting is done, they just collect all the money at the time the booking is made. Everyone has to play by the same rules, to ensure interoperability between airlines and travel agents worldwide. The coupon (and the money) is not transferred earlier because once it is out of the agent or original issuer's hands, the flight related to it cannot be cancelled or changed until the coupon (or the money) is transferred back to the original issuer. The coupon, whether paper or electronic, is needed for the operating airline to claim the value of the flight back from the original travel agent or airline that issued the ticket, and who received the money from the purchaser in the first place. It's how the airline gets paid for the flight.Īt check in, the airline receives the relevant flight coupon(s) from the ticket or electronic ticket. What is the check-in for and what does that tell the air-line company? Why is that procedure necessary? Couldn't that be avoided? If it's just for collecting extra information couldn't you fill that up when buying the ticket online? If it's to generate the ticket for home printing couldn't that be also done when you pay for the ticket? Why not do it all in one step? Nowadays we can do the online check-in up to one month before traveling depending on the airlines. That could be useful for them to know that you are really going to travel, to take a few extra verified information about you, to prepare the airplane (eg.: fuel/per passenger) and maybe for security to know that you are in the airport perimeter. I always thought the function of the check-in for the airline company would be to tell the company "I am here at the airport and I am going to fly". A few years ago, to do the check in, we would go to the airport and do it directly at the counter.
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