How self-service travel became another unpaid job for travelers

Judy Williams' recent flight from Seattle to Billings, Montana, was a painful lesson in self-service fatigue. She stood in two lines at the airport to drop a single checked bag. Then the machine rejected it - again and again.

The insult wasn't the glitchy kiosk. It was the three employees nearby who ignored her.

"They were engaged in a personal conversation and hugging," said Williams, an attorney from Billings.

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That's the reality of DIY travel: You do the unpaid work. When the system fails, you're on your own.

Williams finally got the machine to ingest her luggage. She complained.

"They apologized," she said. "Big deal."

But it is a big deal.

The emotional labor of DIY travel

"Self-service technology was never meant to replace human support," said Mario Matulich, president of the Customer Management Practice, a consulting firm. "It was meant to enhance it. But in travel, we're seeing a widening gap between the intention and the reality."

Matulich said that when you are already stressed by delays and weather, every extra task becomes emotional labor.

"Failed, insufficient, or ineffective self-service causes fatigue," Matulich told me. "At a certain point, that convenience starts to feel like abandonment."

As travel gets more stressful, "our cognitive load can easily become overwhelmed," said Thomas Plante, a psychology professor at Santa Clara University.

When the app freezes, you're stranded

If the technology works, fine. But when it fails, and no human is there to save you, you're out of luck.

Joachim Rodriguez Romero recently downloaded his airline's app to check in early. But when he tried, the screen froze.

"It gave me a non-specific error message," said Romero, an artist who lives in Passau, Germany. "I lost the ability to secure a suitable seat, and I was afraid I might not be able to board."

His fears weren't entirely unjustified. His airline allowed him to board - after he paid a $35 fee for using a human to check in.

"The staff did not respond to my claim that the mobile app had a glitch," he said.

Justin Robbins, a customer experience analyst, recently hit a similar wall with a ridesharing app. After finding a duplicate tip charge, he tried to resolve it on the app.

"The help center looped endlessly," he said. "When the self-service broke, the system transferred responsibility without providing a solution."

The company eventually told him it couldn't connect him to a human.

One task encapsulates this new world of unpaid labor: the self-service baggage tag.

Forget the existential dread of a canceled flight; nothing prepares you for the cognitive load of a thin, adhesive strip of paper. You stand in the terminal, the clock ticking, staring at a paper-folding puzzle. Which end peels? Which side faces out? Why is the bar code sticking to my thumb?

It's a moment of low-stakes panic that raises your blood pressure. A process meant for efficiency has outsourced a five-second human task into two minutes of uncompensated agony.

Why are they doing this to us?

If travelers hate this, why do companies keep pushing the "DIY" button?

"Money. Always follow the money," said Christine Landis, a former financial-technology CEO and frequent traveler. "People are the most expensive line item on a P&L. Cut your reliance on people, and you typically make more money."

It is a margin play. But experts warn that companies are trading long-term loyalty for short-term savings.

"The risk isn't just fatigue," said Geoff Ryskamp, an executive advisor for hospitality at the customer experience systems company Medallia. "It's losing customers. Forty percent of customers who encounter an issue on a website or app that they can't resolve during a purchase will just switch to a competitor."

It isn't always greed. When I checked into a Fiji resort, a cheerful associate directed me to download the hotel's app. I installed it and never used it. Why does a hotel need an app when its keys are attached to large river rocks?

Later, I checked into a rival resort on the other side of the island. It also had an app, but there, everything was automated – a DIY arms race.

How to beat self-service fatigue

• Hire a pro. Pay a travel advisor. As Amy Siegal noted, "you want to be a passenger, not a planner." An agent can help you bypass at least some of the DIY nonsense.
• Refuse to play. Do what Patricia Haubner of Vermont does: Refuse to use the apps. Go to the counter. Make a human check you in. (It may cost extra, but it might be worth it.)
• Vote with your wallet. Walk away from bad self-service. Switch to full-service airlines like Emirates or fly Southwest for human interaction without the price tag.

"I think self-service fatigue from the traveler comes back to one key point," said Jacqueline Dobson, President of The Vacation Group. "As much as convenience in travel is key, people ultimately want to be served by a real person."

Fine, make us do it ourselves, but …

Here's the deal: If you force me to download an app and check my own luggage, you're asking me to do your job. So pay me. If I save the airline an employee's salary, give me a cheaper ticket.

Until then, I'll be the guy standing at the counter, waiting for a human. And if I see them hugging instead of helping, you can bet I'll have something to say about it.

Christopher Elliott is an author, consumer advocate, and journalist. He founded Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that helps solve consumer problems. He publishes Elliott Confidential, a travel newsletter, and the Elliott Report, a news site about customer service. If you need help with a consumer problem, you can reach him here or email him at chris@elliott.org.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How self-service travel became another unpaid job for travelers

Reporting by Christopher Elliott, Special to USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect

This story was originally published July 10, 2026 at 1:00 AM.