News

Hotel kiosks to print airport boarding passes

December 26, 2004

Detroit Free Press: By summer, some Northwest Airlines passengers staying at Hilton hotels will be able to print boarding passes at a self-service terminal as they check out for the airport.

That's one of several steps the dominant carrier at Detroit Metro Airport is taking to make electronic check-in more convenient, helpful and frequently used.

"We want them (the terminals) to be able to do 100 percent of what an agent can do," says Al Lenza, vice president of distribution and e-commerce. "And we want them to be completely intuitive."

Northwest is pushing the use of electronic check-in for the same reason it encouraged travelers to switch from paper to electronic tickets: to save money. It costs much less for machines to process passengers than a ticket agent.

The airline has 1,015 self-service kiosks in 208 airports, including 132 at its largest hub in Detroit, up from 753 kiosks in 188 stations 14 months ago.

The Egan, Minn.-based carrier would not provide specifics about its arrangement with Hilton. Worldwide, there are more than 500 Hiltons, the flagship brand of Hilton Hotels Corp. Its other brands include Doubletree, Embassy Suites and Hampton Inn.