Editing Boarding pass (section)

==Print-at-home boarding passes==
A print-at-home boarding pass is a document that a traveller can print at home, at their office, or anywhere with an Internet connection and printer, giving them permission to board an airplane for a particular flight.

British Airways CitiExpress, the first to pioneer this self-service initiative, piloted it on its [[London City Airport]] routes to minimize queues at check-in desks, in 1999. The [[Civil Aviation Authority (United Kingdom)|Civil Aviation Authority]] (CAA) approved the introduction of the 3D boarding pass in February 2000. Early adoption with passengers was slow, except for Business Travellers. However, the advent of low-cost carriers that charged for not using print-at-home boarding passes was the catalyst to shift consumers away from traditional at-airport check-in functions. This paved the way for British Airways to become the first global airline to deploy self-service boarding passes using this now ubiquitous technology.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mediacentre.britishairways.com/pressrelease/details/86/2015-64/5128|title=MOBILE BOARDING PASSES IS FIVE YEARS OLD|first=British|last=Airways|website=mediacentre.britishairways.com}}</ref>

Many airlines encourage travellers to [[Airport check-in#Online check-in|check in online]] up to a month before their flight and obtain their boarding pass before arriving at the airport. Some carriers offer incentives for doing so (e.g., in 2015, US Airways offered 1000 bonus miles to anyone checking in online<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.independenttraveler.com/travel-tips/europe/the-ups-and-downs-of-online-check-in|title=The Ups and Downs of Online Check-In|access-date=February 10, 2015}}</ref>), while others charge fees for checking in or printing one's boarding pass at the airport.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/9948026/EasyJet-to-close-its-check-in-desks.html|title=EasyJet to close its check-in desks|access-date=February 10, 2015|work=Telegraph}}</ref>

===Benefits===
*Cost efficient for the airline – Passengers who print their own boarding pass reduce airline and airport staff, and infrastructure costs for check-in<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sita.aero/content/Boarding-passes-made-easy|title=Boarding Pass Evolution|access-date=February 10, 2015|archive-date=February 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210171858/http://www.sita.aero/content/Boarding-passes-made-easy|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*Passengers without baggage to drop do not have to drop by the check-in desk or self-service check-in machines at the airport and can go straight to security checks.  Exceptions for this may be international passengers that require document verification (e.g. those that require a visa for their destination).

===Problems===
*Passengers have to remember to check-in in advance of their flight.
*Passengers need to have access to a printer and provide the paper and ink themselves or find printing points that already have them, to avoid being charged to print their boarding passes at the airport.  Affordable access to printers equipped with paper and ink one can use to print one's boarding pass can be difficult to find while travelling away from home or their offices, although some airlines have responded by allowing passengers to check-in further in advance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://support.easyjet.com/case-5894|title=Print the boarding passes for all flights before you leave home|access-date=February 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150211044010/http://support.easyjet.com/case-5894|archive-date=February 11, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ryanair.com/en/terms-and-conditions/article6/|title=General Terms & Conditions of Carriage|access-date=February 10, 2015}}</ref>  Additionally, some hotels have computer terminals that allow passengers to access their airlines' website to print out boarding cards or passengers can email the boarding cards to the hotel's reception which can print it out for them.
*Some kinds of printers such as older dot matrix printers may not print the QR barcode portion legibly enough to be read accurately by the scanners.
*Some budget airlines which have moved towards passengers printing their boarding passes in advance may charge an unexpected hidden fee to print the boarding pass at the airport, often in excess of the cost of the flight itself.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-08-15 |title=Passengers' fury after Ryanair charges them £110 for two boarding passes |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/ryanair-charge-boarding-passes-passengers-b2393203.html |access-date=2023-11-11 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref> This, along with other such hidden costs, has led to allegations of false advertising and [[drip pricing]] being levelled towards the budget airlines in question.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ltd |first=Jacobs Media Group |title=Government confirms plans to tackle 'drip pricing' |url=http://travelweekly.co.uk/news/air/government-confirms-plans-to-tackle-drip-pricing |access-date=2023-11-11 |website=Travel Weekly |language=en}}</ref>

===Print-at-home boarding pass advertising===

In a bid to boost [[ancillary revenue]] from other sources of [[in-flight advertising]], many airlines have turned to [[targeted advertising]] technologies aimed at passengers from their departure city to their destination.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://adage.com/article/news/airlines-stamping-ads-boarding-passes/129637/|title=Boarding Pass Evolution|date=July 15, 2008|access-date=February 10, 2015}}</ref>

Print-at-home boarding passes display adverts chosen specifically for given travellers based on their anonymised passenger information, which does not contain any personally identifiable data. Advertisers are able to target specific demographic information (age range, gender, nationality) and route information (origin and destination of flight). The same technology can also be used to serve advertising on airline booking confirmation emails, itinerary emails, and pre-departure reminders.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ink-global.com/for-advertisers/inflight-travel-document-advertising/|title=Airline Travel Document Advertising|access-date=February 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150211043930/http://www.ink-global.com/for-advertisers/inflight-travel-document-advertising/|archive-date=February 11, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Advantages of print-at-home boarding pass advertising===

*Ability to use targeted advertising technologies to target messaging to relevant demographics and routes – providing travellers with offers that are likely to be relevant and useful
*High engagement level – research by the Global Passenger Survey has shown that on average, travellers look at their boarding pass over four times across 12 keytouch points in their journey<ref>{{cite web|url=https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/151081762475958691/|title=Global Passenger Survey reveals passengers interact with their boarding pass across 12 touch points|access-date=February 10, 2015|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150211063232/https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/151081762475958691/|archive-date=February 11, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*The revenues airlines gain from advertising can help to offset operating costs and reduce ticket price rises for passengers

===Concerns of print-at-home boarding pass advertising===
*Some passengers find the advertising intrusive<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gogreentravelgreen.com/green-travel-news/ads-on-boarding-passes-awesome-or-annoying/|title=Ads on Boarding Passes: Awesome or Annoying?|access-date=February 10, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120427083900/http://gogreentravelgreen.com/green-travel-news/ads-on-boarding-passes-awesome-or-annoying/|archive-date=April 27, 2012}}</ref> 
*The advertising uses additional quantities of the passenger's ink when printing at home