United Airlines has new bag drop shortcut service

United Airlines announced the introduction of its new bag drop shortcut designed to limit the stress and time associated with the bag check process.

United’s attempt to streamline the process allows travelers to skip the line, check their bag in a minute or less on average and get to their flight. Passengers must check in on the United app and find the free service at select airports.

At the bag drop shortcut location, customers place the bags on the scale and scan their boarding pass at the kiosk before a United employee checks the customer’s ID and applies the bag tag.

“We’re thrilled to be the first to offer this service to all customers who check-in on our award-winning mobile app,” United chief customer officer Toby Enqvist said.

United’s new baggage service is already available at airports in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington D.C., and it plans to expand the option to facilities in dozens of additional airports in 2022.

The bag drop shortcut was initially tested in New York/Newark last summer and was quickly moved into a fully functional service at all seven of United’s hubs within six months. The service was able to reduce wait times for all customers by creating a dedicated area for those who only need to drop their bags.

“Our initial customer data proves this free, simple-to-use process saves our customers time and energy as they get ready for their flight,” Enqvist continued.

On Wednesday, officials from United revealed all flights that enter Russian airspace would be canceled or rerouted due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Spokesperson Leslie Scott said two routes—one between San Francisco and New Delhi and one between Newark and Mumbai—have been canceled for the next several days.