Marriott is installing computers in their lobbies which allow travelers to check in to their flights online and print boarding passes. The free service is available at 32 Marriott and Renaissance hotels now, and will expand to 400 hotels in North America by the end of September.

This is different from the business center computers, which I have used in the past to print out boarding passes. Those computers will remain as they are.

These new computers, which won’t allow e-mail or other services, are a great move, and one which I hope other hotel chains adopt. Travelers gain the convenience of online check-in (sometimes with bonus miles), airlines reduce their check-in related costs, and hotels are the good guys in all this, providing a value-added service. It’s win-win. (Or, win-win-win, actually.)

Unlike automated self check-in kiosks, which Hyatt in particular is pushing their hotel guests to use, just to get the room key, the boarding pass computers are an added convenience, not a way of cutting labor costs. I know many people who find checking yourself into a luxury hotel via a kiosk a little declasse.

Marriott is following Hilton’s lead on this, but is doing it in a bigger way. It’s a welcome move.

(image: D. James, photo of Marriott Atlanta)