Marriott’s boarding passes

Question: what does a hotel do with all of those unused telephone banks, now that everyone has a cell phone?

If you’re smart, you repurpose some of that surplus space.

I’ve just learned that selected Marriott and Renaissance properties are about to begin installing dedicated lobby computer stations with printers, so guests can check in to their airline flights and print out their boarding passes before they leave for the airport.

Some of the new PCs will be installed inside those rarely-used phone alcoves.

A Marriott source says the company expects to add the terminals to 400 hotels by September.

Don’t look for those phone banks to disappear entirely. Most of these PCs will be in the lobby — and besides, some people still use those old phones.

Either way, the computers promise to address one of the most vexing problems for business travelers — actually, any traveler — which is: how do you get a boarding pass without inconveniencing the concierge or running up an annoying bill at the business center.

Marriott isn’t the first hotel chain to install lobby PCs. But as far as I can tell, it is the first to figure out what to do with its old payphones.

As long as Marriott makes these lobby computers free (and keeps at least a few phones) I think this is going to be good for customers.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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