I am at the Roanoke Airport, on the way to the Rural Telecommunications Congress Annual Conference in Spokane. I have a Delta flight to Cinncinati, then switch to Northwest for the rest of the trip.
Delta can't give me a boarding pass at the check-in counter. I have to go upstairs to the gate. Huh? If they can assign seats at the gate, why can't they do it at the ticket counter? Apparently the Delta electrons, used in their IT system, are tired on Sunday morning and can't make it from the counter to the gate. This is beyond comprehension. It's all one system--if they can assign seats upstairs, they should certainly be able to do it downstairs. It creates twice as much work for Delta.
I then walk over to the Northwest ticket counter and try to check in for my other two flights. They can only give me seats, but cannot check me in. They have no explanation other than "the system won't do that." Huh? If you can assign a seat, why not just print out the bloody boarding pass? Another utter and complete IT failure.
This is particularly irritating because it means I have to start my trip without being checked in. If my Delta flight arrives late in Cinncinati, I could lose my Northwest seats. Nice treatment of customers by Northwest.