The future of... Boarding passes

Sumi Das: Ah, the joys of travel, baggage fees, flight delays, secondary screenings, and of course, trying to keep track of your boarding pass throughout it all. But, there is hope for frustrated flyers. A smarter way to board is waiting in the wings. In the future you can put away the paper and whip out your cell phone.

Music Sumi Das: The key to paperless mobile boarding is this, a 2 dimensional bar code. It was created by the International Air Transport Association and the committee of airlines to enable bar-coded boarding passes, a cheaper, more efficient alternative to magnetic stripe technology. Bar-coded boarding passes can be printed at home. The 2D bar codes can also be sent to a mobile phone or PDA, opening the door for paperless boarding. Passengers would submit their mobile numbers when booking their flights, then before check in the airline would send the mobile boarding pass by e-mail or text. At security and at the boarding gate the bar code is scanned on the display. Passengers could check in anywhere they have Internet access. No need to hunt down a printer. And if they are not checking bags, passengers can head straight to security. Other benefits, it is one less thing to keep track of and the 2D bar code can store information for multiple legs. So, even if it takes three flights to reach your destination, you only need one mobile boarding pass. So what if your phone dies or there is some other snafu? Boarding passes can always be printed at self-service kiosks. To prevent misuse and ensure the traveler is using a boarding pass issued to them, not someone else, the bar code incorporates near military grade encryption. The Transportation Security Administration says the technology increases its ability to detect fraudulent boarding passes. The administration plans to expand the program in the near future. Mobile boarding testing began in 2007 and is now offered at 18 airports in the U.S. by five airlines. With passengers keen to save time, airports and the government eager to bolster security, paperless boarding may take off before long. For Smart Planet, I am Sumi Das.

==== Transcribed by Automatic Sync Technologies ====