Over the past few years, we have seen airlines expanding the ways by which customers can check-in. Of course, there are the options that people know and love, like Cathay Pacific’s in-town check-in, which allows you drop your bags at a city center train station before heading to the airport. Turkish Airlines’ “Miniport” service allow passengers to leave their bags at affiliated hotels, which will then be transported to the airport.
Emirates today announced a new service, called “Emirates Home Check-In.” This service is exclusive to those departing from Dubai, and is available to passengers in all classes of service.
The Home Check-In service does a little more than just bag drop, since Emirates will essentially bring the check-in desk at the airport to you. The airline will send an agent to your door, issue boarding passes, perform document checks, and finally tag and check your bags. However, also unlike other services I mentioned earlier in this article, this Home Check-In service isn’t free—it costs AED 350 (~$95).
Emirates Home Check-In will send an agent to your house to check you in and tag your bags. Source: Emirates
Passengers can reserve the service as soon as you book your tickets on Emirates.com, or up to 12 hours before departure time. You can then designate a time for the agent to meet you—between 48 hours and 7 hours before departure. The cost covers up to 7 pieces of baggage, and each additional bag will cost AED 35 (~$10).
I suppose this is basically a bag drop service with a small added convenience of being able to complete the check-in process. However, with the prevalence of mobile boarding passes, I don’t really see myself ever paying $100 to basically not have to carry my bags. For the same price, you can almost book a van that can handle all that luggage and also take you to the airport.
There will probably be a niche population that might benefit from a service like this. Perhaps large families with lots of bags that want to take overnight trip somewhere else the day before departure from Dubai? Very specific, I know.
Would you consider using Emirates Home Check-In if you fly Emirates out of Dubai?
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