No Boarding Pass? Try Your Cell Phone

Imagine this: instead of taking a paper ticket to the airport or stopping at an automated kiosk, you’d just skip the lines and head right to security, cell phone in hand.

Blogger Chris Null has already written about Air Canada's test program that lets passengers use a cell phone as their boarding pass, and now USA Today reports that a similar pilot program kicked off yesterday in Houston.

For the three-month test, passengers flying out of Bush Intercontinental Airport on Continental (the airline that's participating in the program) will receive a bar code on their phones before their flights; once they get to the airport, fliers simply display the bar code to TSA officials and gate attendants, who swipe the code using a hand-held scanner and send them on their way.

It's a pretty cool idea, especially for those of us who have a hard time hanging onto that paper ticket. In my case, I'm always losing track of my boarding pass (is it in my shirt pocket? Or tucked in a magazine?), and on a recent trip to California, I almost tossed it into the trash along with my empty Starbucks cup. Oops. Luckily, I have yet to lose my cell phone in an airport terminal (although I've probably just jinxed myself).

Of course, the pilot program still has some hurdles to clear. For now, the system only works for individual passengers; Continental is working on a fix so that a family can travel under one bar code. It also sounds like you'll need a smartphone such as a BlackBerry, a Treo, or an iPhone to receive the bar code (although more and more standard phones are capable of receiving e-mail messages). Oh, and what happens if your phone goes dead? No problem—just go back to the kiosks or head to the counter.

Would you feel comfortable using your cell phone as a boarding pass? Or would you rather hang on to those scraps of paper the airline gives you?

Related:
Cellphone could be boarding pass, too [USA Today]