TidBITS:
I still don’t enjoy airline travel, but I’ve done it enough that it no longer stresses me out to the same extent, even as dealing with invasive and unpleasant security requirements has gotten far worse. Plus, thanks to the Internet and the iPhone, the logistics have become vastly simpler. Being able to buy tickets, check in, and print boarding passes online was the first step, and the next major improvement came when Apple released the Passbook app, since renamed Wallet.
I’ve been using Passbook/Wallet as long as has been possible — it took smaller airports like Ithaca a while to get the necessary scanners — but as much as I liked eliminating the need for paper, there were many problems early on.
I don’t fly enough anymore to have been able to use the “new” Wallet (nee Passbook) but I remember when I did many years ago, it was a PITA. Has it gotten better, as Engst says in this article?
For at least 2 years it’s worked pretty much the way he described for me. The main disadvantage is encountering a smaller airport that doesn’t support it.
MUCH better! The only time I’ve had issues with using passbook are on international flights that they aren’t very informative as to why you have to have a printed out boarding pass, but at least IME they require paper boarding passes on the international flights I’ve taken in the last 5 years.
Didn’t realize how convenient this was, until I have to try and find a printer for my boarding pass when I was traveling back from the Virgin Islands recently.
For airlines linked to the App, it is excellent. I recently chose my seats & baggage check-in online. There was a link in the confirmatory email which allowed me to easily add the info to Wallet. No more looking for gates, or trying to learn about delays – it is all with on the phone. I still print a paper boarding pass at the entrance to the airport, but just tuck it away in my case. I attach my baggage receipt to the paper boarding pass, just in case…….
After a recent experience of misplacing a paper boarding pass, I’ll never travel without a backup again.
I don’t know — if you have to read a 2400 word article to understand and use it, I’d argue that there are still some improvements needed. I haven’t ever had any issues with Passbook/Wallet myself, but I just use it as a backup for a paper pass. If I’m at home or at work, it takes seconds to print a pass after checking in. Hotels often have a computer terminal set up to do the same. If all else fails, it takes less than a minute to print a boarding pass at a kiosk when I get to the airport. In short, I don’t think the tiny time savings of using Wallet is worth it vs. potentially having to wait in a security line twice if something goes wrong with my electronic pass.
Now, I do use Apple Pay wherever possible — it’s noticeably faster than the new chip cards and often doesn’t require a signature — so I do use Wallet all the time. Just not for boarding passes.
I’ve been using it for years on both United and Delta and haven’t printed a paper ticket in over five years.
I don’t fly as much as I used to but I’m a million miler on United and I’ve used it a lot there. The United app isn’t great but once I have a boarding pass there it’s simple to get it into Wallet. That step should happen automatically: Wallet should be aware of compatible apps and find boarding passes as they become available but the process is easy once you’ve done it a few times.
silly argument. iPad has scores of books published about it for users, but you dont need to read them to start using an iPad. if lack of documentation is your metric for being ready to use then about the only thing ready to use is a box of tissues.
I only end up with a printed ticket if for some reason I can’t check in online and have to do it at a counter/kiosk. The Also, don’t forget that they display on your Apple Watch as well. The only bummer is the gate scanners don’t have enough clearance for my wrist and Watch, or it’d be perfect. I read some airlines are already working on that.
Fair enough, but you have to recognize that it’s a silly comparison you’re making too. An iPad is a general purpose computer that can be used to do millions of things, many of which are not obvious just by looking at the thing. What we’re talking about here is a single feature of a single iOS app. All it can do is store and display boarding pass information!
I was using it almost from day 1 and had very few problems. Nowadays, “it just works.”
Never read a single thing to use it.
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It works okay on Southwest Airlines. That’s been my limited usage of it lately.