Printed Airline Tickets

This morning I got up and boarded my usual flight to Oakland from Salt Lake City. My son flew with me and we had a nice flight together. As we headed through the airport I noticed a number of differences between our experiences. I always print up a paper ticket after checking in online. My son sent his ticket to his phone and saved on the cost of a sheet of paper. I thought I would comment on the differences seen today.

My son woke up at 7am yesterday and checked in for his flight using his mobile phone. I knew I was going to print my ticket and so I waited until I was near a computer before I checked in. As I fly a lot more than my son, I still had a better boarding position on Southwest because of my "A-List" status. If I needed to check in exactly 24 hours before my flight, I would have used my phone and then had to print a ticket later. Mark this as a win for the ticket on the phone.

We got to the airport this morning and I pulled out my ticket to hand to the TSA representative along with my government issued ID. The security person took my ticket and wrote all over it as she verified my name on both documents. My son had to pull out his phone and hold it so the TSA agent could verify his name with his ID. It actually took a bit longer than my process but not enough to make a difference.

The last and final spot where an airline ticket is needed is when boarding the plane. I just pulled my ticket out, handed it to the gate agent, and boarded the plane without slowing down. My son had to pull out his phone, unlock the screen, find his ticket, hold it just right so the scanner could read the digital code, and then boarded the plane. It is this last process where the paper ticket wins out over the one on the phone.

If I look at the score for each method of presenting an airline ticket, it seems to be a draw. However since I don't rely on checking in at a set time due to my frequent flyer status, the paper ticket has a slight advantage when it comes to boarding the plane. Perhaps I should give the ticket on my phone more of a chance and see if I prefer it though. That is something I will definitely think about.