Check-in by voice

Voice check-in through Amazon Alexa, which allows passengers to prepare for their flights through the power of speech, has been introduced by Virgin Australia, which becomes the first airline outside North America to launch the facility.

Starting next week, passengers who have linked their Velocity membership to Alexa can say: “Alexa, ask Virgin Australia to check me in” and will then be sent boarding passes to a nominated mobile number.

Chief information officer Cameron Stone said: “Since Amazon Echo and Alexa-enabled devices launched in Australia, we have been exploring new ways to make it easier for our passengers to travel with us through emerging technology.

“Allowing passengers to check-in with Alexa is an exciting addition to our existing features in the Alexa Skills Store. Using technology to streamline the customer journey is a huge priority for us and we are planning new initiatives in this space in the near future soon.”

In addition to the new voice check-in, the Virgin Australia Alexa skill expands the information available to passengers who link their Velocity accounts with flight departure times, Velocity numbers, flight numbers and booking references are now available.

www.virginaustralia.com/au/en/experience/on-the-move/alexa

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All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 100 words maximum

Barry Graham, Silver Spring

The obvious question is why do you even need to check in at all these days? Checking in is a dinosaur left over from the old days of paper tickets. I'm not alone in this view, IATA has said the same.