Airlines embrace Mobile Boarding Passes via BlackBerry to help get you to your flight faster.
As the uptake of BlackBerry and other smartphones becomes more popular, many industries are looking to see how they can improve services by using the tech their customers are already carrying. One of the service sectors that has begun to embrace the new mobile revolution is the airline industry. Still a bit in its infancy, many major airlines have begun to launch mobile boarding pass service as an alternative to using paper passes.
The way the program works is, after you book your ticket, you receive an e-mail with an encrypted two-dimensional barcode that stores your flight, seat assignment and gate information. BlackBerry users can then display their barcode to TSA security officers and boarding attendants to quickly move you to your flight. Another great thing about a Mobile Boarding Pass is that it can also store multiple legs of your trip, no matter how many flights it takes to get to your destination. If your BlackBerry battery does die, don’t worry, your boarding pass can be reprinted from a self service kiosk. Also, users can check-in from anywhere directly from their BlackBerry smartphone. For many, the necessity of fumbling around with a paper boarding pass could become a welcome thing of the past. Here is a list of a few US based airlines that currently support mobile boarding pass services:
• United Airlines
• Delta Airlines
• Continental Airlines
• American Airlines
Even the TSA seems to like mobile boarding passes since they offer an enhanced military style encryption to preventing being forged; a common issue with paper boarding passes. The Transportation Security Administration will still require users to show their photo identification so officers can match the name on the boarding pass to the ID.
Now according to Trinity Mobile (one of the leading companies behind mobile boarding passes), 2009 saw an increase in mobile boarding pass usage of 1200%+. Also over 600,000 fliers opted in (voluntarily) for the paper-free boarding option as opposed to the meager ~50,000 from 2008. Trinity has estimated that in 2010 that it will offer over 2 billion mobile boarding passes with that number skyrocketing to over 15 billion by 2014.
So will you be using mobile boarding passes on your next trip? Sound off in the comments and let us know what you think.
