Heathrow check in desks

[Evenstar120]

Hi everyone
Has anyone been through heathrow check in for Virgin in the last few days? I was reading on flyertalk that the check in desks have been reduced to 2 for economy and premium and been replaced by self service bag drop kiosks. Hope this isn't the case.

[vampiress88]

We went mid October. Everything was automated which I found weird. We printed tickets then printed the luggage labels and stuck them on once weighed. We were there 4 and bit hours before our flight due to traffic on way down being late but the desk was open. These weren’t bad but the queues for security were ridiculous

[JMGPannal]

There are far more self service bag drop desks than staffed counters.

I quite liked it, the queue moved very quickly and just used our electronic boarding cards on our phones.

Much quicker!

Security was also a breeze.

Bags dropped and through security in no more than 15 minutes.

[YorkshireT]

It’s all like this in T5 for BA, there’s virtually no people desks. It’s cheaper to get the customer doing it themselves.
In fairness I quite like it if they have enough of them like in T5, there’s virtually no wait to check in.
Last time I was at Virgin in Heathrow which I think was December 22 the queues to check in were horrendous it took us about an hour from memory so hopefully this will improve matters.

[lizzie145]

I flew out yesterday afternoon with Delta. I couldn't get it to work to print my boarding card so staff did it. I then had to have a chat with security (loads of questions)
Straight to bag drop which was manned so very easy.

There are plenty of kiosks to do check in and plenty of self serve desks to drop bags off but also staff are there to help.

[traceyt]

I'm flying with virgin hand luggage only - does this mean I can just go straight to security as long as I have my boarding passes on my phone?

[ss520691]

Originally Posted by traceyt

I'm flying with virgin hand luggage only - does this mean I can just go straight to security as long as I have my boarding passes on my phone?

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Yes you can. But you will need to scan your passport at some point. This can be done online with "Fly Ready", at the self-service kiosks in the check-in hall, or when entering the Clubhouse lounge. If you don't do it in one of those places, they will call you up at the gate to do it before boarding.