Waiting in Line to Check-in: How Long is too Long ? 35 Minutes at RIO.

RIO held the record this trip at about 35 minutes in line to check-in.
( We had never stayed there before, but were impressed with the room.
We were in the "newer" Masquerade tower ).

It only took a few minutes at ENCORE, and about 10 minutes at TI.

It would seem like a very cost effective approach to hire some part
timers to help staff the check-in desk during the peak 1:00 to 5:00
pm times.

Quote: JohnnyQ

RIO held the record this trip at about 35 minutes in line to check-in.
( We had never stayed there before, but were impressed with the room.
We were in the "newer" Masquerade tower ).

It only took a few minutes at ENCORE, and about 10 minutes at TI.

It would seem like a very cost effective approach to hire some part
timers to help staff the check-in desk during the peak 1:00 to 5:00
pm times.

I'm also always surprised how the desks at certain hotels in AC are short-staffed on Friday and Saturday early-evenings. Are they shocked that people are arriving at that time? I'll go by at 1pm and there's 4 agents standing idly, and then at 6pm there's 2 and the line snakes through the ropes. It's very odd.

I waited 45 minutes last october on a sunday around 3pm at TI. I waited 15 min back in February at Luxor. This up coming week I will be at Gold Coast, Harrah's, and the M. I will make a note of my checkin line wait time and the time I check in.

I once waited a solid hour at the Flamingo Hilton in Laughlin, which is now the Aquarius.

business in Vegas is picking up?

Quote: Wizard

I once waited a solid hour at the Flamingo Hilton in Laughlin, which is now the Aquarius.

That's terrible! If I were in your situation I would have said screw it and gone home! (Basically what I do if the line at the coffee shop is too long too!)

Is too long defined as a matter of time or a matter of perceptions?

If the lines are in fact long but there are sufficient staff I would not get as annoyed as if it were a long line and insufficient personnel on duty. At one non-casino hotel in Texas, there were three people on duty and the boss who kept telling the other two people to follow procedures was the worst problem. Everyone was milling about regretting their choice of the hotel. Utter incompetence makes the wait utterly unbearable, particularly when there is already exhaustion from missed or delayed flights.

At the Isle of Capri in Biloxi a few years ago the lines were insufferably long and everyone once finally checked in and given a key was having problems with those key-cards. I don't want to hit the casino so as to allow time for their computer to recognize my key card! Even if I want to hit the casino fairly promptly I want to be in my room and rid of my bags first. The casino personnel at Isle of Capri were lying to those who were checking in, I heard it repeatedly.

At the IP in Biloxi there was temporary post-Katrina construction in the lobby area and there was a narrow choke-point for pedestrians with people milling in one direction but being uncertain whether that was towards or away from the elevators. Well, it gave me a great opportunity to speak to this utterly gorgeous girl and get her entire party turned around but I did get annoyed at insufficient signage though in their post-Katrina suffering I was understandable about it.

I think some hotels provide those Two Free Cocktails in the Lobby Bar just so they don't have a riot on the check-in lines. Drinks make the lines move more slowly I guess, but atleast one feels better about it.
Same thing with lobby seating. If my companion can sit down nearby while I check in that's great.

Actual time is usually under 10 minutes and I don't think its much of an ordeal even if there is a real crowd.

What I don't like at check in is that some casinos politely interrogate you as to what you are in town for. I think it may be part of the rating process and I hate it when my companion mentions the shows she wants to see and I mention that I'm there to win enough at the craps table to buy the casino! The Venetian does this subtle but none too brief interrogation each and every time.

Quote: NicksGamingStuff

That's terrible! If I were in your situation I would have said screw it and gone home! (Basically what I do if the line at the coffee shop is too long too!)

This was when I was still living in Baltimore, so going back home wasn't a practical option. The line was not that long, but everyone in it was elderly. I could overhear them when they did get to the front asking endless questions, as if they, and everyone in line, had all the time in the world.

Quote: JohnnyQ

RIO held the record this trip at about 35 minutes in line to check-in.
( We had never stayed there before, but were impressed with the room.
We were in the "newer" Masquerade tower ).

It only took a few minutes at ENCORE, and about 10 minutes at TI.

It would seem like a very cost effective approach to hire some part
timers to help staff the check-in desk during the peak 1:00 to 5:00
pm times.

Can you say "Harrah's property", boys and girls?

Harrah's business model involves, as a core strategy, cutting costs by reducing customer service personnel. This would seem to be counterproductive, in that it annoys and ultimately drives away customers (and in the case of the check-in lines, keeps them away from the slot machines), but it must be remembered that Harrah's built their collapsing empire on the faulty presumption that their casinos were "destination resorts" that no one would EVER want to leave, even if the customer service and/or the gambling stank.

Quote: Wizard

This was when I was still living in Baltimore, so going back home wasn't a practical option. The line was not that long, but everyone in it was elderly. I could overhear them when they did get to the front asking endless questions, as if they, and everyone in line, had all the time in the world.

When I become emperor, such people will be rounded up and vaporized. You're standing there patiently (or not) with your bags, and Ferd and Thelma are interrogating the clerk about the best vantage point from which to watch the Bellagio fountains, or (I've seen this) showing him pictures of their grandchildren.

Oh, and vaguely related, when I am emperor, it will be perfectly legal to draw your .38 and empty a clip into the trunk of the person in front of you at the drive-up ATM who, after getting her money, does NOT pull forward a few feet so you can get to the ATM, but instead, spends three minutes rearranging her purse and ironing her hair.

Quote: mkl654321

When I become emperor, such people will be rounded up and vaporized...

I'm of course not suggesting anything so drastic. Life for everybody would be so much better if we considered the cost to others of the selfish actions of our own.

Here is another example. You're sitting half way down the aisle of a full airplane. The plane lands, the passengers in front of you get off, and the aisle is clear for you to get up and leave. You have a bulky bag in the overhead bin. Your choices are:

1. Get up now, and delay the other half of the plane by a minute as you struggle to get your bag out of the bin.

2. Wait until you're not inconveniencing anybody to get your bag, when the only people behind you are like yourself, needing extra time to get off.

Most people of course choose #1, which is why it takes much more time to get off an airplane as it should.

Quote: mkl654321

Can you say "Harrah's property", boys and girls?

At IP it took me less than three minutes to check in. At the Rio it was close to seven minutes.

What's your point?

Quote: Nareed

At IP it took me less than three minutes to check in. At the Rio it was close to seven minutes.

What's your point?

Reread my post.

What's yours?

Quote: Wizard

I'm of course not suggesting anything so drastic. Life for everybody would be so much better if we considered the cost to others of the selfish actions of our own.

I actually strive to consider every action I take in that light, moreover, PRIMARILY in that light, not because I'm noble or wonderful, but because somewhere in my upbringing I acquired the sense that to do so was simply common decency. This is not to say that I always manage to conform to that standard, but I'd like to think that when I fail to do so, it is inadvertently rather than deliberately.

I have also wondered why it should take 10+ minutes for everybody to get on or off a plane, and yes, if those who were going to consume thirty seconds to manhandle their crates of live chickens or their bowling balls into or out of the overhead bins would step aside to let other people get by, then the process would be MUCH faster.

Actually, rather than vaporization, my solution will be to identify such people, purchase Baffin Island from Canada and convert it into a penal colony (renaming it Asshole Island), and ship all those people there, where their ultimate hell on earth will be TO COPE WITH EACH OTHER for the rest of their lives. Bwa ha ha ha haaaaaaaa.

Quote: Wizard

You have a bulky bag in the overhead bin...which is why it takes much more time to get off an airplane as it should.

(Yes, I edited the Wizard's comment and might have distorted his point slightly.)

My thought on airline baggage is that the airlines are doing it exactly wrong. In order to enhance their revenues, most airlines are now charging an additional fee for checked baggage, except for certain passengers. This encourages passengers not to check bags but to try to get by on the trip with what they can carry on board. It seems that many passengers are carrying aboard their entire personal belongings and that whatever restrictions the airline announces for number and size of bags goes pretty much ignored by both passengers and gate agents. Turning the passenger cabin into a freight compartment greatly slows down both boarding and deboarding of the aircraft. This not only inconveniences passengers, it also may impact aircraft turnaround times, thereby hurting the airline.

I think things would work better if, instead, the airlines made checked baggage free and charged for carry-on items other than those truly needed in flight. With the incentives reversed in this way, many more people would check their baggage, and boarding and deboarding would go much quicker. At least in the boarding/deboarding process, everyone would experience less inconvenience and delay. The increased burden on the passengers would come in the form of (1) having to wait for your baggage to reach the claim area and/or (2) paying for what you choose to carry on. This would have the greatest impact on the people whose time is quite valuable -- they have to get somewhere right away for business purposes -- and those people would be most likely to be able/willing to pay some modest charge for their carry-on items in exchange for not wasting time getting on and off the aircraft.

I am in the opposite category. I am a cheapskate, and I have lots of time on my hands. I don't mind checking bags. In fact, I often check bags that I could probably carry on, because I don't want the hassle of wrangling them through the airport.

Does that make any sense to anyone? Any way an airline would start thinking that way?

I hate checking bags because the airlines damage you luggage, steal your stuff, and it takes forever for them to come out of the carousel. When I fly I take what will fit in a carry on sized item and thats what I live with. For me I have never had to travel for a long period of time, but I would imagine if I was going on a long trip I would have my clothes laundered as to avoid checking luggage.