You don’t have to be a business traveler to appreciate new innovations that make traveling more convenient. As a parent who often travels with a toddler, I was quite thrilled when I heard that Hilton Hotels is equipping their lobbies with kiosks that will allow guests to check in for flights, change or upgrade seats, and print boarding passes.
The current kiosks allow guests to view hotel reservations, check in and out and view their hotel information. This new technology is considered an up-grade. The new capabilities were recently added to 37 of its properties in Alaska, Arkansas, California, Illinois, Hawaii, Florida, Louisiana, Nebraska, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Vancouver, B.C.
Last year InterContinental Hotels Group outfitted kiosks at the Holiday Inn in Duluth, Georgia with similar capabilities to print out airline boarding passes. It was met with such success that it expects to supply the entire Holiday Inn system with the new technology by the end of this year. In addition, Marriott International currently has travel kiosks at its Detroit Marriott Renaissance Center property and expects to expand it to three more hotels by years end.
Personally, I think the kiosks are great, especially for people who are traveling with carry-ons. The hotel kiosks give you the option of eliminating your wait in long airport check in lines. However, the same cannot be said for those checking bags through to their next destination. Unless the airport you are flying out of offers curbside check in, the kiosks really won’t help you. Also, keep in mind that some of the hotels that offer the new technology have a limited number of airlines in their system. For example, in the case of Hilton Hotels, their travel kiosks will only print out boarding passes for 18 select airlines (typically they are ones that already have an existing partnership with the hotel chain). Regardless, I plan to give it a try on my next trip… I’ll let you know how it goes.