They were doing this at Love Field on Friday when we checked into our flight. We were about to get into the normal line, but at the line entrance there was a SWA agent who mentioned the express bag drop off and pointed us over to some kiosks to print our boarding passes so we could use it. (We normally don't print our boarding passes at home)
We printed our passes and came back and didn't have to wait AT ALL! The regular check-in line was probably a 5-10 minute wait but absolutely nobody was in the express drop off line. Dropped off our bags and were on our way. Makes me wonder why anyone was in the regular line. I assume that since it's so new, most people don't know what it is. If they did we probably wouldn't have been able to get through so fast. The representative still checks the weight, gives you claim tags and checks your IDs.
It worked great for us because no one was using it, but I don't know how much time it would actually save once more customers start using it. I don't really see much of a long-term benefit unless it allows SWA to install additional kiosks due to a reduced cost, or perhaps it would require less employees to operate than the traditional ones.
Short Term = Great
Long Term = ????
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