The hidden risks of electronic check-in?

Walletpop, a consumer finance Web site, has published an article warning of what appears to be a deliberate effort to confuse travelers by United Airlines.

Anyone using the electronic kiosks to check in for a United Airlines flight now must learn how to navigate three more added fee hurdles. That's because United has rigged its check-in procedure with a onslaught of three pitches to load up more extra costs.

If I had pressed the wrong buttons on a recent cross-county flight I took, I would have accidentally paid another $523.68. How did I know they were the wrong buttons? Simple: They were colored and placed to look like the correct buttons.

As computer-savvy, Western-world citizens, we're used to pressing the highlight, right-hand button in order to proceed smoothly through sign-in sequences. But businesses have caught wise to our bias, and now, Web sites are trying to funnel us into the higher-cost option this way, with a wee little "No, thanks" link in feeble print somewhere off in a lonely left-hand corner of the page where only the intrepid will find it.

. . .

That handsome gold button at the bottom right-hand of the screen, where the "proceed" or "OK" button usually is on your home computer? It sets you up to spend another wad of cash.

One screen sold "Premier Line" access for $49. Another wanted $78 to sell me frequent flier miles. And a third dangled a business-class upgrade for $396.68. Grand total for extra charges I had to sidestep: $523.68. That amount varies by the length of the flight.

Are United's kiosks technically fair? Yes, technically they are, because if you read every word of them and act accordingly, you won't make any purchases you don't want to make.

Are the screens also crafted to trick hasty passengers into stumbling into add-ons they didn't fully realize they were purchasing? Very likely. Passengers who are late for their flights are much less likely to correctly decipher the screens. Older and confused passengers, too, are more likely to hit the "accept" button, mistaking it for "proceed."

At the airport check-in kiosk, too, passengers are used to swiping their credit cards as a form of identification for picking up their tickets, only in this case, being prompted for that swipe could also end up putting them in the hole for more useless stuff.

True, it's their fault for being hasty, and if I was feeling heartless, I'd say it was their fault for getting suckered by something that would be more obvious if they were paying closer attention. But we have to recognize that United comes off looking like it may be trying to take advantage of people who might be inattentive in that bewildering period when they arrive, bags in hand and discombobulated, at an airport.

. . .

United, just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. And in that spirit, I shall continue to ferret our the teeny little "no, thanks" hidden somewhere behind your "fly the friendly skies" motto.

There's more at the link. Recommended reading for air travelers.

What concerns me is that United Airlines is probably not alone in this. I daresay other airlines are, or will be, using similarly 'confusing' displays to try to get their customers to spend more money on unnecessary frills and fripperies. This will bear watching . . . and perhaps complaints to any consumer or Government organization that might be able to fix the problem.

Peter