Do mobile boarding passes make any sense?

By: Ben Schlappig

Published: May 13, 2012

68 comments

Yesterday I flew from San Juan to Tampa via Miami on American, and decided to use a mobile boarding pass. The check-in queues were rather long, so I pulled up my mobile boarding pass in a matter of seconds.

After yesterday I was reminded why mobile boarding passes suck. I’m all for saving paper when possible, though this is an area where the savings don’t justify the inefficiency of it all, in my opinion.

First I went to the TSA checkpoint, where the agent didn’t have a mobile boarding pass scanner, so she had to leave the line and go to a scanner on the other side of the checkpoint to verify my boarding pass, which held up the line for about a minute.

Then I got to the Admirals Club, where my mobile boarding pass wouldn’t scan, so my flight information had to be looked up manually.

Then I got to my gate, where once again my boarding pass wouldn’t scan, even though I pulled it up correctly. Then I had to present my ID in addition to my seat number, once again holding up the line.

In Miami I accidentally pushed the wrong button on my phone, and closed my mobile boarding pass. I tried to once again pull it up from the link in the email, and it wouldn’t come up. Fortunately they have a PDF version as well, so I showed the gate agent that for my Miami to Tampa flight, and she manually entered my seat number and said I can go ahead.

Then as the door is about to close from Miami to Tampa the flight attendant comes up to me and asks me for my boarding pass. I show him the PDF copy, and he walks away satisfied. Then the gate agent walks aboard and asks for my ID, which she walks off with. In the meantime I overhear the guy behind me telling his wife that I’m probably trying to sneak into first class. A couple of minutes later the gate agent comes back with my ID and says “I’m sorry about that Mr. Lucky, we had a bit of a mixup.”

Anyway, I just can’t help but think that mobile boarding passes are a massive waste of time/resources. Online check-in is great, but does any frequent flyer actually consistently use mobile boarding passes?

Let me know in the comments section or the poll below!

[poll id=”16″]

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jj Guest

January 27, 2015, 8:05 am

I would like to add that most if not all of the above issues have been rectified.. I used a mobile boarding pass for the first time yesterday and noticed that approximately half the flyers were also using them. For the flight down I had printed passes from home "just in case" but there were no issues. Everyone had scanners and they worked flawlessly. They can text or email a pass so you can open and close it as often as you wish. No problems at all.

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Marie Edwards Guest

August 6, 2014, 3:16 pm

I didn't use my mobile boarding pass at all. The reason? I was a first-time flyer (June 26th, 2014), so I fastidiously read up on everything about it. I didn't want a problem at all. I also didn't trust my mobile network to act properly when I needed it. And, not knowing how my printer would perform, I used a kiosk at the airport to print everything. It was good because of the time I did it (leaving at 6am, so I checked in at 3:30am). I waited 15 minutes for the ticket counter to open, gave them my bag and left for my vacation. The "crowd" arrived after I did, so I didn't have a problem. Boarded from my home airport with no problems, made connection without problems. Returning home, I went to the airport early, printed from the kiosk, went to the counter ... dropped off my bag and viola! Again, no boarding problems. I too am for saving paper, but from your experiences ... I think I'll stick with the kiosk at the airport to PRINT my boarding pass. Besides, I actually kept them as a souvenir. Some people still don't believe I flew to New Jersey and back home since I had a post-9/11 phobia of planes and airports. In addition, if the TSA folks don't have a scanner, as you said ... it holds up the line. So, I wouldn't use a mobile boarding pass at all.

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MrNoway Guest

July 15, 2013, 1:54 pm

I just wonder what happens if your mobile device drops on the ground and its get broken. You dont know your seat nr. nor any other details. Would they still let you get by?

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Qnfauf Guest

November 21, 2012, 11:44 am

I'm a bit late to this post, but I found it on Google. I love it. United automatically checks me in and sends me the boarding pass a day before the flight (they asked my permission to do this once before). Without having to do anything, I go to the airport and use the mobile boarding pass. I really like it because all I need to do is buy a ticket and show up, automatically checked in with a boarding pass.

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lucky OMAAT

May 15, 2012, 6:34 pm

@ question -- Almost always not (with the exception of domestic flights where they have the $2 headphones).

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