Pine trees of the planet rejoice. Your salvation is at hand – sort of.
Digital devices are doing almost everything these days, from mapping out the best route to the airport to getting you on the plane itself. Now comes a prediction from high-tech consultancy Juniper Research that within two years one out of every seven boarding passes on the planet will be digital, delivered by some species of hand-held device. In terms of sheer numbers that equates with 480 mobile digital boarding documents, more than triple the number of 2010.
Howard Wilcox authored the study for Juniper. He says, “Of the 30 airlines, including several flag carriers that we found offering mobile boarding passes, about half also offer mobile ticket booking and purchasing.”
In a world increasing populated by the technologically savvy this matters mightily believes the researcher. “We believe that using your mobile [phone] for booking, passing through security and boarding is [a winner].” Melding frequent flyer information, seat selection, and flight information in a single pocketable device is important.
Juniper’s report, Mobile Ticketing for Transport Markets, contends transportable ticketing has other travel applications too. It “has growing potential across train travel and in suburban metro systems.”
Overall, Juniper Research forecasts one in ten subscribers will be using mobile tickets by 2015 for air, rail, or metro travel. The potential sticking point in all this is “implementation,” says Juniper. Bar code-reading issues could lead to what the firm calls “poor user experience.”
A couple of suggestions from Cheapflights: if you plan to use your cell phone or PDA to board be sure the screen is clean before you swipe the device at the reader. Otherwise there could be problems. Also, make sure the wireless wonder is charged up. You don’t want to get to the gate and discover the PDA is dead.
Story by Jerry Chandler
