Checking in online with Delta Air Lines

Online check-in with Delta Air Lines opens 24 hours before departure, on delta.com and in the Fly Delta app. Some passengers never have to start it at all: if you’re logged in to the Fly Delta app, you’re checked in automatically 24 hours before your flight.

Below we set out when check-in closes, what you need to open your booking, how the process runs, and what is left to do once you reach the airport.

Online check-in opens 24 hours before departure and is available on delta.com and in the Fly Delta app.

The check-in deadline depends on two things: whether you have a bag to check and whether the flight is domestic or international.

Those deadlines apply at most airports. Some have their own deadlines, which are set out below.

Airports with their own deadlines

Delta Air Lines publishes a table of the airports that work to different deadlines. Within the United States, three of them go past the 45-minute mark. New York JFK and St. Croix (STX) both close 60 minutes before departure if you have a bag to check, and 45 minutes if you do not. St. Thomas (STT) goes further still, at 90 minutes with a bag and 60 minutes without.

Every other U.S. airport in that table sits at 45 minutes whether you have a bag or not, among them Las Vegas, Miami, Honolulu, LaGuardia, Philadelphia and Washington-Reagan.

Delta Air Lines publishes a second table for international departures, where the deadlines fall into three bands. Most of the airports listed are at 75 minutes, Toronto, Frankfurt, Brussels, Dublin and Naples among them. A smaller group sits at 90 minutes, including Providenciales and St. Lucia. Accra and Athens are at 120 minutes. At any airport in that table, you cannot check in after the stated deadline.

Delta Air Lines gives you three ways to pull up a booking, and you pick one from a drop-down before you type anything:

• your confirmation number, six characters;

• your SkyMiles number;

• the credit card number you paid with.

Your confirmation number is in the confirmation or receipt email you were sent when you bought the ticket. Whichever of the three you use, the form also asks for the airport you are flying from.

If you are logged in to the Fly Delta app, you are checked in automatically 24 hours before the flight. If you are not logged in, you can start the check-in process yourself on delta.com or in the app.

How to check in online with Delta Air Lines:

1. Select Check In in the delta.com page header, or go to My Trips.

2. Choose how you want to find the booking: confirmation number, SkyMiles number or credit card number.

3. Enter it along with the airport you are flying from, then select Search.

4. Follow the steps to complete check-in.

5. Print your boarding pass or use an eBoarding Pass on your phone.

You can check in on delta.com or with the Fly Delta app. Here's how each option works, including Today Mode in the app.

With a carry-on only and a boarding pass in hand, you can head for your gate. A checked bag is what brings you to a Delta Air Lines counter, and there are three places to drop it off.

Curbside desks sit at passenger drop-off at most U.S. airports, so you can check a bag without taking it inside. There is no fee for checking in at the curb. Oversized baggage may have to be carried inside to a separate area.

At the kiosks, you can use your SkyMiles, confirmation or eTicket number. From there you can check in, print a boarding pass, add checked bags, change your seat or add a frequent flyer number to your profile.

Check-in desks are staffed, and the area is clearly marked for Delta flights, with a Sky Priority lane for eligible passengers.

How early to get there

Delta Air Lines suggests arriving 2 hours before a domestic flight and 3 hours before an international one. Bags can be added to a booking at check-in, but they are not accepted at the airport more than 6 hours before departure.

You checked in on time, your booking was confirmed, and you were at the gate when you were meant to be. A delay, a cancellation or an overbooked flight can still get in the way of your plans.

What you can claim depends on where the flight starts.

Flights within the United States come under Department of Transportation rules. There is no cash compensation for a delay or a cancellation. You are owed a refund if your flight is canceled or changed significantly and you turn down what is offered in its place. There is compensation if you are denied boarding because the flight was overbooked. Our guide to US air passenger rights sets out the detail.

Flights leaving an airport in the European Union are covered by EC 261, whoever operates them. If the airline is responsible, you may be owed up to $650 per passenger, depending on how far you were due to fly. Delta Air Lines is not a European airline, so the rule runs one way only: Paris to New York is covered, New York to Paris is not.

To find out what your own flight may be worth, start with our Delta Air Lines compensation page.

Keeping track of your Delta Air Lines flight

Online check-in is done, but a flight can still change before departure. Delta Air Lines publishes flight status on delta.com, where you can also sign up for real-time notifications by text or email.

The Fly Delta app offers many of the same features. Its Notifications Center sends flight updates and gate changes, and Track My Bags follows a checked bag from gate to gate.

For another way to keep an eye on your flight, the free AirHelp app can track it and check whether a delay, cancellation or denied boarding may entitle you to compensation.

With the AirHelp app you can:

• receive real-time notifications about delays, cancellations, gate changes and baggage claim;

• scan your boarding pass to add your flight quickly;

• share your flight status with whoever is picking you up;

• find out automatically when you are owed up to $650 in compensation;

• start your claim straight from the app, with no paperwork.

The app is free and available on iOS and Android.