Ryanair to scrap paper boarding passes - passengers will need to use their phone

[cakeorwine]

Are print off Ryanair boarding passes really being scrapped? - Which? News

40% of people still use paper boarding passes. I am one of those people. I do have it on my phone but I do have a worry / what if with phone power, losing phone etc - where as having a paper copy is a good back up.

What happens if your phone dies?

Ryanair hasn’t yet answered this question fully. Though it has said that it can print boarding passes on the gate if necessary, based on passport information, it did not clarify what would happen if a traveller’s phone dies before they are able to pass through security in an airport where Ryanair has removed the check-in desks.
We contacted Ryanair to check if there are plans to introduce any fees for boarding passes printed at the gate, but the airline did not respond.

Flown with Ryanair a bit recently - it's fine. I can see issues at airports for people who may have phone issues, especially power - and after a flight delay. Power can go down quickly.

This is just the natural progression and was obviously going to happen. Lots of entertainment venues have already gone fully paperless, i.e. some football stadia, some pop music festivals, etc. The last time we flew was 2019, we were sat on the front row, and even back then, we were surprised to see so many passengers showing their boarding pass on their phones to the plane welcome staff - must have easily been over half, and that was six years ago!

Ryanair will have statistics as to how many passengers use phones compared with how many use paper boarding passes, so I can only presume that the numbers have now passed the "critical mass" where they're happy to go paperless and accept a minority of passengers won't book with them.

They'll have contingency plans in place for a minority whose phone battery has died, but nowadays you can charge a phone anywhere, so people should be able to charge their phones enough in the airport bars/cafes etc if they get caught out.

I don't like this kind of thing. I have an older smartphone that runs out of battery quite quickly so I find it stressful thinking that might happen, so we'll be penalised for wanting a paper boarding pass. My phone can't download apps well either for some reason so I can't use QR codes with it. It also randomly zooms up what's on the screen massively in size then freezes (with an orange box around the screen, in case anyone has similar and knows what it is).

I'm regularly behind people using their phones to enter/exit the train station, pay for a bus ticket and they're slower. I want to use technology for my benefit not for other people's.

Ryanair might be doing it to get rid of the people on the desk perhaps.

We were at a venue recently where the paper passes scanned much better than the ones on the phone.

I also forgot to download the actual ticket and we struggled to get mobile phone reception.

If your nervous about battery you can buy apiwer pack quite cheaply which is also handy for travelling in general.

@cakeorwine

I also forgot to download the actual ticket and we struggled to get mobile phone reception.

That's a life lesson you'll learn from, though, isn't it? I.e. remember to download or take a screenshot of the ticket! No one wakes up one morning and is 100% competent and confident with anything new. It's takes experience and practice. The more you use something, the more confident you'll be. Avoiding things will never get you up to speed.

Yup, the smallest and cheapest cost less than a tenner. Why wouldn't you?

What if you don't have a smartphone? My father has a very simple flip phone and wouldn't be able to put a boarding pass on it. I hope they have something in place for older passengers who can't use modern technology.

I don’t understand how it’s advantageous to Ryanair to remove this? Aren’t all boarding passes printed at home and same scanner used for phone or paper - so how does it save them money/hassle?

How often do you lose your phone?
How often do you let the battery drain all the way to 0% ? and would you really be on the way to catch a flight with a low battery that this could happen? and not be carrying a charging cable cos there's usb ports everywhere in airports these days

Trainline boasts 90%+ tickets are now etickets. Its not so much of stretch for plane tickets to go the same way.

I still like paper tickets for trains as well.

I think it’s fine. I wouldn’t ever travel relying on my phone to just have enough battery, I always have charger and battery pack in handluggage incase of delay or needing to look up any details.

It’s better environmentally than a million bits of paper going in the bin. And ink to print. And saves them having printers at every desk etc

My autistic adult DS does not use a phone at all, not even a flip phone. How is he meant to fly in future?

How much will Ryanair charge to print your boarding card when there's a problem with your phone?

A portable battery pack is well worth buying. Not expensive and for travel they are brilliant

Because "home" printed boarding passes are often unreadable by the machines due to poor quality printing, mis-aligned ink cartridges, folding/tearing across the bar/qr code, getting lost, faded writing due to ink running out, etc.

Probably more than the cost of a new phone

I always take a screen shot and load into my wallet, take a power bank too

They won't

I prefer paper. The kids are old enough to go through the gate with one to scan and I prefer handing it to them than making sure that everyone has the tickets on their phone and ready. Also, my phone is nearly full with stuff I want on it and it annoys me to have to eg download four parking apps (and counting) etc etc.

It also has poor battery and yes, I can plug it in to a portable power pack if needed, but paper has none of those problems.

If he's travelling with other people, his boarding pass can be on their phone. I presume someone has booked his seat for him on the internet, so "someone" has access to the internet.

When I travelled with OH and our son, I had all our boarding passes on my phone, just swipe from one to another to scan in. Same as I used to do with train tickets on my phone, football stadia tickets, etc. We also had them on each other's phones just in case, but it was easier just to swipe/scan for everyone in one go.

Why can't passports be used to "store" tickets under? So they scan your passport and it comes up you've booked flights on X dates and this is proof?

What if you don’t have a smart phone?

How does he book and pay for a Ryanair flight at the moment? Don't you have to do it online?

It's fine with flights. It's really annoying on trains though when you have multiple kids. Had train tickets on my phone and we were in a bit of a rush. At bham new street the women insisted we scan all 4 tickets seperatly to get through. It was a real pain having to give her my phone.

Thanks. It is something I'd do travelling abroad but day to day when out and about on public transport it is one more thing to carry in my handbag, which is small anyway.