Don’t Miss Your Flight: United Airlines Quietly Doubles Check-In Time Requirements – View from the Wing

United Airlines has updated its ‘contract of carriage‘ to double the amount of time you have to show up in advance at the airport, though they aren’t enforcing this yet.

As Live and Let’s Fly reported,

For domestic flights (with or without checked bags) passengers must check-in at least 60 minutes prior to departure. This is increased from 30 minutes – a literal doubling.
For international flights (with or without checked bags) passengers must check-in at least 75 minutes prior to departure departure. This is increased from 60 minutes.

Some specific airports have different check-in requirements.

According to United, they are not enforcing this but might in the future. United.com hasn’t been updated to reflect any changes.

We’ve updated our Contract of Carriage to allow for possible future changes. However, at this time there has been no change to the check-in times on united.com. Any changes in check-in times will be posted there before they go into effect at the airport.

Matthew Klint suggests that the airline needs to update its Contract of Carriage now, since tickets they sell today may be for travel at the end of May 2025 (and the Contract of Carriage in place at the time of purchase applies to those tickets). He speculates that United could make this change as soon as June 2025.

Basic economy customers aren’t even allowed to check-in online or using the airline’s mobile app. That means anyone traveling basic economy must arrive at the airport early enough to make it to the front of the line an hour before departure. And however long that takes depends on United’s staff, how many tickets they sell, and how many kiosks they provide at a given airport. You won’t know in advance!

Sometimes online check-in fails for certain itineraries. Or lines to check bags are long. United is working to be a premium carrier, and cater to customers with a high opportunity cost of their time – people who show up at the airport later because they’re busy. They’re working.

This is a move that certainly works for the convenience of the airline, but is customer-unfriendly. Good leads the way? Good for whom?