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SAS Airlines' New Paperless Boarding Passes Will Help You Shop Duty-Free

October 19, 2009 at 4:03 PM | by | Comments (0)

SAS Airlines has joined the growing list of airlines allowing customers to check in with paperless 2D bar codes stored on their mobile. Passengers can have the boarding passes delivered either by SMS or via the SAS mobile site. The service will be available on domestic flights within Scandinavia and Finland, Intra Scandinavian flights, flights to Europe and Asia, and even some flights back from Europe:

SAS Scandinavian Airlines is now offering its passengers the convenience of mobile boarding passes. This means SAS customers can now travel using only their mobile phone and with an ID card/passport... The mobile boarding pass contains a 2D bar code that can be read electronically at the airport. The 2D bar code can be used to get baggage tags from the SAS Self Service kiosks, at security screening, duty-free shopping, entering SAS lounges and when boarding.

Technically we're talking about two different technologies. The print-from-home 2D boarding passes—or Bar Coded Boarding Passes (BCBP)—long ago began replacing tickets. By 2010 the International Air Transportation Association says its members will be 100% on BCBP's. The newer technology is the one that makes everything paperless by beaming the bar code into your mobile, after which it gets read at security checks and at the gate.

As of last summer there were already seventeen airlines using the paperless 2D boarding passes globally. Only five of them were American companies: American, Alaska, Continental, Delta, and Northwest had all begun making the switch at the various airport they call home. Our hub-and-spoke system being what it is, of course a lot of that growth was uneven. So at O'Hare you can use 2D passes to get through the American line. For Sea-Tac it's Alaska. And so on. Overall there are 30 TSA pilot projects all over the country.

There are still a few hiccups in the system that need to be worked out. Bar codes are apparently delicate things, and each of those tiny little lines has some significance. If your mobile screen is too small to display everything you might end up holding back the line or—worse—have trouble boarding altogether. So remember to have a backup hard copy while you're test driving going paperless. Just on the off chance that using a relatively new technology on a relatively new delivery platform won't be totally smooth sailing.

Have you had a chance to get a 2D bar code scanned off your cell phone? Did you run into any of the same problems—downloading, readability—that other passengers are reporting? Let us know in the comments!

[Photo: Come fly with me / Wiki Commons]

Related Stories:
· SAS launches Mobile Boarding Passes [Asia Travel Tips]
· SAS Airlines Coverage [Jaunted]
· Boarding Passes Coverage [Jaunted]

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