Checkin Made Easier

<B> Checkin Made Easier</B>

By Chris Davis

Meeting attendees and business travelers now can step from their meeting room almost directly onto their airplane, due to a pioneering checkin service developed by a new airport hotel.

The two-week-old, $65 million Fairmont Vancouver Airport will allow guests in about 40 of its 392 guest rooms to check in to their Canadian Airlines or Air Canada flights without leaving the room. Travelers in these high-end rooms will have their boarding passes hand-delivered by airline and hotel personnel, after a request is made for the service.

The Fairmont's management said it plans eventually to offer the service in every guest room and on other airlines as well, but there is no timetable for either.

Management at the Fairmont, which has been built atop the International Terminal at Vancouver International Airport, held focus groups with corporate meeting planners and business travelers before designing the first-of-its-kind program.

"Anything that will reduce checkin time is a benefit to the corporate meetings business, because it means their attendees will get to spend more time at the meeting and their senior executives won't have to leave early to catch a flight," said Francis Parkinson, the Fairmont general manager.

The hotel also will allow arriving air travelers to check in at the Fairmont from the baggage claim at Vancouver International, and hotel employees will transport baggage directly to the guest room. This service, which Parkinson said is the first of its kind in Canada, is available to all guests with reservations.

"We wanted to set up services that were unique to airport hotels, and most of our business traveler feedback focused on seamless service," Parkinson said.

The Fairmont's 14 meeting rooms encompass more than 7,000 square feet, and some are equipped with videoconferencing and Internet access.