Here is the Orlando Sentinel story posted today:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/busi...9,1,1784567.story?coll=orl-business-headlines
Thousands of tourists staying at Walt Disney World hotels will be able to check luggage and print boarding passes hours before arriving at the airport, Disney said Tuesday, a service the company hopes will free up visitors to spend extra time and money at its theme parks.
The service, slated to begin in May, will be available to passengers on a half-dozen major airlines and includes an optional free shuttle ride to and from Orlando International Airport.
"They can go out and enjoy the parks for that whole day," Walt Disney World President Al Weiss said in an interview. "They don't have to worry about getting to the airport," and waiting in lines to check bags or pick up a boarding pass.
The service also will allow tourists a little more time upon arrival. They can check their bags at their home airports and have the luggage delivered directly to their Disney hotels, skipping the potentially long waits by the baggage carousels.
Disney is not the first local hotelier to offer such a service. But with more than 25,000 hotel rooms -- just under 25 percent of Orlando's supply -- it is certainly the largest. Last year, Orlando-based Baggage Airline Guest Services, or BAGS, began a similar pilot program at the Rosen Centre Hotel on International Drive and has expanded it to a handful of other locations, including the convention center.
"This is the next wave of service in American travel," said BAGS owner Craig Mateer. The company is partnering with Disney to implement its service.
It covers flights on American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Song, United Airlines and Ted, a group Disney hopes will expand.
Under the service, tourists will be able to print out boarding passes and check bags at their hotels before leaving for the airport. Travelers still will need to pass through security checks at Orlando International, but their bags will be delivered ahead of time.
Disney officials said they do not plan to charge for the service for at least the first 18 months.
Federal transportation officials said Disney estimated the service would process between 1 million and 1.5 million bags during the first year. The airport processes about 100,000 bags per day, or 36.5 million bags per year.
It's unclear what the new program will cost Disney, but it could easily run into the millions. At the Rosen Centre, the bags and boarding pass service costs $10 per traveler. Round-trip shuttle service from Disney to the airport costs about $30 per adult through Mears Transportation, a major provider of shuttle services from the airport.
Disney is contracting with Mears to operate its new free shuttle program.
Disney hopes to make its money back by encouraging repeat visitation and, more importantly, freeing up tourists to spend an extra day at its parks.
Direct-to-hotel baggage delivery services were in limited use across the country prior to Sept. 11, 2001, but reviews of airport security after the terrorist attacks halted those programs.
Disney and BAGS officials said they had to work closely with the Transportation Security Administration to sign off on their expanded plans. The private baggage handlers must undergo background checks, officials said.
And trucks delivering bags to the airport are locked with a numbered seal to prevent tampering en route, said Lauren Stover, a TSA spokeswoman in Miami. The process is safe, she said, because the bags are screened like any other bag upon arrival.
Early check-in and delivery would help ease congestion at the airport, she said, by allowing screeners to sort through bags over the course of the day instead of in a last-minute pre-flight crush.
"As long as we can keep the bags secure, we look for any opportunity to improve customer service," she said.
Sean Mussenden can be reached at
smussenden@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5664.
