Airline Can Now Take Baggage Straight From the Seaport to the Airport
DALLAS — Florida’s busy cruise season is approaching, and Southwest Airlines is launching a new service that will make getting cruise-goers‘ baggage from the seaport to the airport easier than ever.
Through a partnership with a company called Bags To Go Enterprises, and in cooperation with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Southwest Airlines Customers can now check their bags and obtain their boarding pass at the port where their cruise ship docks.
The new service will allow Customers to explore and enjoy the city in which they disembark — without having to lug their bags around — until it’s time to head to the airport. Once at the airport, Customers can head straight to their departure gate, allowing them to bypass lines at the Skycap and main ticket counter.
How does it work?
-- Upon disembarking from their cruise ship, Customers simply hand their
baggage over to the Bags To Go agent stationed at the cruise port.
-- The Bags To Go agent checks the Customer's luggage and issues the
Southwest Airlines boarding pass using AirIT's CHECKport(TM).
-- The luggage is then shipped to the airport in a secure vehicle,
screened by the TSA, and loaded onto the Customer's Southwest Airlines
flight.
„The Bags To Go service is all about convenience for our Customers,“ says Southwest Airlines Director of Central Baggage Services, Laura Adams. „The service has the added benefit of shortening airport lines and improving baggage operations behind-the-scenes.“
Cruise-going Customers can arrange for the baggage service upon their arrival at the airport or when they disembark from their cruise ship. Bags must be presented three hours prior to departure and are only accepted on flights departing after 12:00 noon. The service costs $20 per person and allows up to three checked bags.
Southwest Airlines is launching the new service at the Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport for Customers disembarking at the Port of Miami and Port Everglades. The airline also offers the Bags To Go service at several locations in Las Vegas, including the Venetian and Luxor hotels, The Las Vegas Convention Center, and the Las Vegas McCarran Rent-A-Car Center.
„Off-site check-in is a growing trend in the airline industry,“ says Adams, „and we hope to expand this convenience to every Southwest destination where it will make sense for our Customers. „
Southwest Airlines
After 36 years of service, Southwest Airlines continues to offer the best value in airline travel, allowing Customers the opportunity to travel nonstop throughout the country at a very low fare. Southwest offers a comfortable ride with premium leather seats and plenty of legroom. Southwest does not charge change fees and Customers enjoy complimentary pillows, blankets, snacks, juice, soda, and water on all flights. Since 1987, the airline has maintained the fewest overall Customer complaints as published in the Department of Transportation’s Air Travel Consumer Report. Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV), the nation’s largest carrier in terms of domestic passengers enplaned, currently serves 64 cities in 32 states. Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,300 flights a day and has more than 33,000 Employees systemwide.
Bags To Go
Serving as an agent for participating airlines, Bags To Go operates off-airport check-in locations to process customers away from the airport environment. Bags To Go convenient services allow for customers to check-in their baggage and receive their boarding pass. The baggage is securely transported to an access controlled facility at the airport to be screened by TSA personnel. Once screened, the bags are delivered to the airline to be loaded on the customer’s flight. You claim your luggage at your destination. Rather than rushing to the airport to check your luggage, customers will have additional time to enjoy local attractions.
AirIT
Air-Transport IT Services, Inc., with corporate offices in Orlando, Florida, offers airlines and airport IT systems that enable them to deliver, display, manage and employ information that improves operations, customer satisfaction, and revenue generation. The company’s airport operational and revenue management solutions are the most comprehensive offering available to the global air transportation industry. AirIT solutions are based on open systems and run in a client/server and web based environment. In addition to its product offerings, AirIT also provides consulting services, networking and installation, and 24 X 7 support.
