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Love your mobile ticketing? Many people who show their boarding passes on their smart phones and bypass most face-to-face interaction with airline staff say it makes traveling easier. But there are ways mobile ticketing can complicate your travels.
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Recently, Sophie-Claire Hoeller at Insider explained in an opinion piece why travelers should print their boarding passes.
She wrote,
Talking to a real-life human has helped me avoid seat assignment fees when my husband and I wanted to sit together, get onto a different flight when necessary, and even score the occasional (rare) upgrade.
And while I will send my boarding pass to my phone, I’ll also print it.
If you’re shaking your head at the old-fashioned extra step (I mean, who even still has a printer?), or the unnecessary waste of paper, hear me out.
Relying on your phone, she suggests, is a mistake.
You may run into an issue connecting to wifi, accessing more data or with a dying phone battery. At the airport, computer systems occasionally crash, making scanning your phone impossible. If that happens, a paper ticket will have all your flight information in one place.
You can also hand over your printed boarding pass without worrying about dropping your phone while you juggle your carry-on bags and water bottle.
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She further mentions some airports require a printed boarding pass. The American Airlines website can tell you if your airport (and connecting airports) use mobile ticketing before you travel.
Hoeller believes holding a paper boarding pass has helped her with all types of travel-related situations, including weather systems causing mass airline delays or cancellations. In that case, though, having the airline app on your phone is useful for getting updates and rebooking.
Photo Credit: Grant Wickes
So, do you print or not?
Having a piece of paper on hand won’t prevent annoying delays and other issues that can happen when we fly. And it may be nice to have that extra bit of security folded and tucked into your pocket.
What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments!
