My wife and I have different opinions about the necessity of printing a boarding pass. I’m satisfied with pulling up the pass on the airline’s app, the digital wallet on my phone or from a text message link, while Sharon prefers printing out our boarding passes before a trip.
Some things aren’t worth fighting about, so I print passes when possible. I’ve even printed a boarding pass for flights I’m taking myself.
When we’re on the road, it’s occasionally a different story.
Most hotels have a business center or at least a computer available for printing out your boarding passes. Courtyard by Marriott, Hilton Garden Inn or Candlewood Suites usually have a PC for guest use.
The only problem is if the printer is out of ink or paper or refuses to connect to the computer. For privacy’s sake, I always wipe the browser cache when I’m done.
When we were staying in London at the Great Northern Hotel, they didn’t have a business center, so the front desk staff helped us check in from their computer, and then they printed the passes for us. This was a little too hands-on for my liking, but I needed to check in.
I had an issue at another hotel that didn’t have a business center. I asked the front desk if they could print a boarding pass. They didn’t but said I could email the document to them, and they would print it for me. That seemed like too much work, and I was unsure how to email a boarding pass. I checked, and there wasn’t an option on my phone. I’d have to get out my laptop. Forget it.
I had apps for the airlines on my phone and could see my pass when I added it to my phone’s wallet. But what about Sharon’s boarding pass? I checked, and she didn’t have all the airline apps on her phone. We’d have to download them and then set up her account, which meant looking up her password, which I didn’t have handy. Or I could do both on my phone, but then we’d be standing at the gate with me swiping one pass and the other.
I could always go to one of the self-service kiosks at the airport to (re)print our boarding passes, but it seemed like a lot of trouble just to have a piece of paper.
I do see the advantage of having a pass printed. What if my phone dies? What if the airline computers have problems or their website or app crashes? Having the pass printed is a good backup plan.
What do you do?
How about you? Are you a luddite who still prints your boarding pass when flying or a techie who scans the boarding pass from your watch when boarding onto the plane?
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