Domestic

Don’t Toss That Boarding Pass

These days, a boarding pass can do a lot more than just get you on the plane. Check out its new multi-faceted (and sometimes electronic) persona.

Behold the humble boarding pass. It's becoming a star in its own right.

Well, that may be a bit extreme, but it's true that boarding passes are making news these days, in numerous ways.

One way will certainly please any passenger who's had to juggle a boarding pass, driver's license, laptop and carry-on in the security line. Or who, heaven forbid, loses that little slip of paper between check-in and the gate. The news: the elimination of the paper boarding pass.

Instead, several airlines, including American and Continental, offer passengers the option of sending boarding pass information directly to their cell phone or PDA. Data appears on the screen as a jumble of markings. They may make no sense to you, but they speak the language of a scanner used by TSA and gate agents. Hold your device against the scanner, and your identity, flight, seat, gate and other information are revealed. You'll still need to show proof of government-issued ID, however, to match the data on the phone.

One traveler who has tried the system likes it, but also found pitfalls. Gavin Law, of the consultancy User Centric, Inc., learned that he needed a device with both e-mail and Web access to download the coded image. And he had other concerns, including "the possibility my phone might go to sleep or reboot right when I am checking in." His recommendation: print a paper pass as a backup. (The airline can also print one at the airport if needed.)

At present, only passengers traveling alone can use the system, though the airlines are working on making it available for traveling groups.

The Weather, a Broadway Show ... and the Only Proof You Took the Flight

A second change is in the information on your boarding pass. Several airlines have begun adding weather information at your destination, event announcements, and, as American Airlines notes, "promotional announcements specific to your upcoming trip" (i.e. advertising).

Some travelers, however, have concerns about that these "advertisements." "If they're targeting me based on where I'm traveling, fine," says one traveler on the Web site, crankyflier.com, "but if the airline is feeding [the advertiser] age, hometown, and whatever other information I've surrendered to [the airline], then I have issues."

By the way, if you are using paper passes, you may want to hang onto the stub. Several foreign carriers have turned it into a discount ticket for various attractions.

A boarding pass from the Silk Air subsidiary of Singapore Airlines can "get you on the SIA hop-on bus with unlimited rides around Singapore," reports Canada.com. The boarding pass also scores discount show tickets in New York and spa treatments in Bangkok. And an Austrian Airlines pass gains free or low-cost museum admissions in several cities.

Even if you never use your boarding pass for these deals, the pass can help if your frequent flyer miles for the flight aren't logged. "A boarding pass is the only thing loyalty programs will accept as proof that you took the flight," says Pamela Sonier of the Canadian Trek Escapes travel agency. "A ticket receipt is never enough."

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