{"id":587513,"date":"2026-04-07T07:06:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T07:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/587513\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T07:06:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T07:06:09","slug":"hotel-mobile-check-in-via-app-is-it-worth-using-and-if-so-when","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/587513\/","title":{"rendered":"Hotel Mobile Check-In Via App: Is It Worth Using, And If So, When?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most major hotel groups, like Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott, offer a mobile check-in option through their apps. The question is, should you use this, and if so, what\u2019s the benefit to doing so? I don\u2019t actually have a terribly strong opinion about this, but a reader asked me, so I\u2019ll share my take, and am curious to hear how others approach this. Maybe it\u2019s an opportunity for me to evolve my stance.<\/p>\n

Hotels encourage you to use mobile check-in<\/p>\n

If you have a confirmed stay with a major hotel group and have their app, chances are that you\u2019ll get a push notification within a couple of days of arrival, inviting you to check-in online. <\/p>\n

We\u2019re used to the concept of checking in online with airlines, for example, as that\u2019s how a vast majority of passengers (at least in the United States) obtain their boarding passes. However, people generally aren\u2019t as enthusiastic about checking in with hotels. Why is that?<\/p>\n

With hotels, it\u2019s much more common for people to want to talk to a front desk agent, either to discuss specific property information, see if any upgrades are available, ask for late check-out, etc.<\/p>\n

When you do mobile check-in with a hotel, you often still have to stop by the front desk to show your ID or payment method, or to activate your mobile keys<\/p>\n

Speaking of mobile keys, while that\u2019s now widely offered (whereby you can use your smartphone to unlock your room), not everyone actually likes using that feature<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re hoping to take advantage of any elite perks, that could become more complicated if you skip the front desk<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also worth emphasizing that mobile check-in doesn\u2019t have the same functionality with all hotel groups. With the Marriott Bonvoy app, mobile check-in just asks you to confirm your arrival time and you push a button stating that you want to check-in, and that\u2019s it. Meanwhile with Hilton Honors, there\u2019s a lot more functionality, including the ability to select your specific room from any available room within your category.<\/p>\n

\"\"Not all hotel mobile apps have the same functionality<\/p>\n

My approach to hotel mobile check-in<\/p>\n

I\u2019m pretty lukewarm on hotel mobile check-in \u2014 sometimes I use it, while other times I don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

I guess the first thing to note is that I don\u2019t remember the last time I actually used the mobile key option, whereby your smartphone can unlock a room. I\u2019m not sure why, exactly, but it\u2019s just something that has never really appealed to me. Maybe I just need to get in the habit of it\u2026 I\u2019m curious if I\u2019m alone in feeling that way?<\/p>\n

Back when hotels first introduced mobile check-in (a decade or so ago), I had tried it several times, and almost always found it to be glitchy. So maybe those memories are why I still don\u2019t use it.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, here are the situations in which I typically do check-in online:<\/p>\n

If I\u2019m happy with the room category that I\u2019m blocked in (it typically shows through the app), factoring in the possibility for elite upgrades<\/a><\/p>\n

If I\u2019m arriving really late, and want to make sure the hotel doesn\u2019t cancel my reservation or walk me<\/p>\n

If I\u2019m just staying at a limited service property, or if I\u2019m on a short stay, where an upgrade is unlikely or not important to me<\/p>\n

When I do mobile check-in, I always still drop by the front desk. However, I find that more often than not it speeds up the check-in process at least marginally, and often the keys are already prepared for me, and are handed over after showing my ID.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile I typically don\u2019t check-in online if:<\/p>\n

My room type doesn\u2019t show as having been upgraded, and I feel like I might have better odds of an upgrade if checking in with a human at the front desk<\/p>\n

I\u2019m heading to a resort or true luxury hotel, where the check-in experience can be helpful, and even pleasant<\/p>\n

So yeah, I\u2019m kind of wondering if most people take a similar approach to me, or if I\u2019m in the minority. I don\u2019t feel passionately one way or the other about this, though mobile check-in has never struck me as a huge time saver, unlike with airlines. But again, maybe I\u2019m just stuck in my old ways.<\/p>\n

\"\"Sometimes there\u2019s value in stopping by the front desk<\/p>\n

Bottom line<\/p>\n

We\u2019re just about all used to checking in online for our flights. While most major hotel groups have this functionality, the benefit just isn\u2019t the same, if you ask me. Personally I use mobile check-in sometimes, but even when I do, I wonder if it\u2019s worth bothering. Meanwhile if I\u2019m hoping for an upgrade beyond what the hotel app shows, I\u2019ll usually hold off on checking in prior to arrival.<\/p>\n

Where do you stand on mobile check-in with hotels?<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Most major hotel groups, like Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott, offer a mobile check-in option through their apps. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":587514,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[49,48,190,61],"class_list":{"0":"post-587513","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-mobile","11":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587513\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/587514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}