Self-service check-in snag

Airport self-service check-in kiosks look great and sound great; unfortunately, they are of no value to someone like me because they cannot verify my age.

My wife and I are seniors and we get great prices on air tickets by using senior discounts. I normally purchase tickets via a phone reservation, then have an electronic ticket with e-mail confirmation. Since, at the airport, the machines cannot satisfy the airlines that we are being truthful about our age, we’re always stuck to wait it out (usually in line) for a “live body” from the airline to check our I.D.s and verify our ages prior to our being given boarding passes.

When they first instituted the kiosks, they didn’t tell me, either when I purchased the discounted ticket or posted on the kiosk, that I couldn’t use the kiosk with a senior discount ticket, so I wasted frustrating time, with other passengers behind me, trying to check in that way.

It’s sort of a bum deal, but I appreciate the senior discount as it’s a big monetary savings, and I can fully understand the airlines’ needing to establish this procedure in order to prevent their being ripped off.

I remember what happened many years ago when the airlines tried to give college kids a break on youth fares by using “space available” and then got burned so badly by young scam artists.

If you have any ideas on how we might be allowed to use kiosks and still get senior fares, I’ll be glad to hear them.

T.L. (Ted) HAVLICEK
Vancouver, WA