New York/Newark, NJ - EWR
Destination City
Austin, TX - AUS
In this day of " global " travelers and foreign languages ....here is my suggestion in the use of application confirmation numbers used to transact the process of boarding passes and stop many of the delays at pre check in stations.
With all the various fonts & character settings used in personal computers, there is mass confusion as what the character letters are when typing same into the screen at check in, esp. w/ ppl. who don't speak english.
I understand that SWA does NOT use the number zero [ 0 ] or the number one [ 1 ] in confirmation numbers, but who else knows this ? This in itself is VERY confusing when one is trying to enter the characters at the check in podium and secure baggage tags/boarding pass and everything comes to a stop while the, usually foreign or elderly passenger waits for help from an agent, if one is available to help, causing delay. I encounter/observe this problem AND delay on many occasions.
I seem to be the ONLY person aware that in the confirmation configuration of various characters of numerals & letters that SWA does NOT use the number zero [ 0 ] or the numeral one [1].
I see the problem as the number zero [ 0 ] getting confused with the letter [ O ] as well as the number [ 1 ] being confused with the lowercase letter [ L ].
This brings up another problem that is confusing customers as when the letter [ i ] is used in a confirmation number. When this letter [ i ] is printed on a home computer,etc. this often is mistaken for the lowercase letter L [ l ].
It my suggestion to stop all this confusion, mainly with foreigners as well as elderly people who seem to get confused, causing delays at the pre-check-in stations, requiring assistance from a gate agent or some other personnel, including other customers who are in line come to assist.
In summary, SWA should stop the use in the air confirmation the following characters:
one & zero are not used but the letter O is used, causing the confusion.
The letter L should Not be used as is can be confused as a numeral [ 1 ]
when typed in the lowercase, [ l ].
The letter I [ i ] should be eliminated, when typed in upper case it appears to be a lowercase l [ L ]
I think by eliminating the additional following chacters of i, o, and L this will clear up a lot of confusion for those who use the manual check-in podiums nationwide, especially at a large centers like EWR, LGA, and LAX, where is there is a large base of customers who do not speak english as well as senior citizens who are not familiar with any type of keyboard.
I hope you will consider this suggestion seriously as I encounter this problem nationwide causing serious delays at check-in stations.
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