To online check in or not to online check in

AS I write this piece, I am at the Los Angeles "Tom Bradley Terminal B" International Airport. Notice that the whole airport is called Los Angeles International Airport or LAX for short, and only the international terminal B is named in memory of Tom Bradley.

Yes, that is a swipe at our airport naming convention where we call our whole Manila International Airport after a person and the terminals are mere numbers. But it is what it is; so much for that.

What I really wanted to talk about is the incapability of Philippine Airlines to allow online check-in for its flights departing from the United States. I asked the gentle young lady at the check-in counter why we cannot check-in via the PAL application or even their website, and I was told it was because they had to physically ask, inspect and weigh the baggage of every passenger flying into Manila.

When I asked if this was an airline policy, a Philippine government policy, or a US policy, the young lady said she did not know. She only knew they were advised of the fact.

Now, why am I so piqued about not being able to check in online? Because checking into your flight from a computer at home 24 hours before you leave is actually a huge convenience.

Although there are still lines to go through at the airport when you drop off your bags and get your boarding pass, having checked in online reduces the pain by at least 50 percent.

Once you get to the airport, you simply need to line up at the baggage drop counter, leave your bags, get your boarding pass (if you have not saved it on your mobile phone earlier) and off you go to your boarding gate or duty-free shopping.

The thing that gets to me is that almost all other airlines allow their passengers to check in online and even encourage it to simplify the process and make it easier and faster for the airline, the airport and the passenger.

Meanwhile, our flag carrier makes the process quite difficult for its passengers, both flying in and out of the country. Just the issue of travel taxes that complicate the boarding process at our local airport already consumes some 30 minutes of our check in time.

Now, by not allowing passengers to check in online because they have to personally check the baggage and identities of their passengers, it sounds like either the airline does not trust its Filipino passengers or that PAL does not have the trust of major airports.

Either way, it is a bit insulting, inconvenient, exasperating, tiring and time-consuming for us not to be able to make use of a technology almost all airlines in the world use, not only for their convenience (the airlines), but also for the airport and passengers.

Or is it another case of "only in the Philippines."