BLOG: Airline Do-It-Yourself Bag Tagging
By Jim Donovan: You may want to get ready to add another responsibility to your "to-do" list when flying. In addition to checking yourself in and getting your seat assignment at an airport kiosk, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is in talks with several airlines to test a new program that will let air travelers tag their own checked bags.
American and Delta are among the carriers that may try this out. The thought is that self-tagging will help speed customers through check-in. Since an airline agent would still have to scan the bag tag bar code and check your ID, I really don't know how much time self-tagging is supposed to save. Maybe I am missing something here.
While tagging your own bag is common at foreign airports, up until now it isn't something we've done in the U.S. Boston has been named as one possible test site. No word whether Philly would try this out.
By the way, even self-tagged bags will still have to be screened by TSA for security purposes.
