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.

🙄If only we had thought to have that conversation with him! What idiots we are!

He has a core social communication deficit which is literally his disability. He will not use any phone.

You might just as well say "I know he has severe cerebral palsy but he just has to learn that walking is important in today's society".

Or, hear me out, maybe we could live in a world that enables adaptations for disabled people, I dunno?

The sad thing is, that he would literally choose never to fly again if the alternative meant he had to carry and use a smartphone. That's not right.

I use my Smartphone for loads of things.

I just like paper tickets.

How are they going to enforce this?
You get a QR code, print it off and scan it to get through security, or just scan it straight from your phone.

I always just use my phone BTW but don't see the difference, scan a piece of paper or scan your phone, why would RA care if you did some printing.

Unless this is some ploy to change people for not using their phone.

Travelling by plane is for many people a very stressful experience. Aside from those who have a fear of flying, for many people it is the only time where they have to be on time where it's not just a 'sorry I'm late' but they miss their holiday. Then for anyone who is not a frequent flyer or going to a country for the first time, what if there is no signal for their phone.

That's just for people who are neurotypical.

If it was me, then I would make it a condition of landing slots in the UK that a paper printed boarding pass is acceptable.

And what about people who don't have mobile phones at all? My husband only got his first mobile phone a couple of years ago and very rarely uses it - not because he can't but because he doesn't need it. We have a landline and he has his computer, so a mobile wasn't necessary, and he only bought one once so many public phones started disappearing.

No one's stopping you liking it. You'll have alternatives.

Pay a fee and they'll print it out for you.
Don't use Ryanair, choose a different airline.
If eventually all airlines ditch paper tickets, then you either comply or don't fly.

Not complicated, really.

It’s taken me long enough to teach her to WhatsApp and take photos on it!

she phones when messages come up on her phone about settings eg iCloud full or Google updates.

So...

I need to use the app to get on the plane and to act as a boarding pass.
If I don't have the app, then they will physicallly print out a boarding pass at the airport so I can then use it as a boarding pass at the airport.
They will charge for that.

But I won't be able to print out my own boarding pass to use as a boarding pass at the airport.

That’s perfectly feasible yes. If the boarding pass is only available on the app.

They could use a similar approach to ticketmaster where the code isn’t static.

Keep a charged up small powerbank in your handbag.

Has anyone mentioned the option of having a power bank????

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgkjjkjy4p8o

I saw that

Yes they need to make reasonable adjustments for disability (but not age).

Perfectly sensible idea as long as it is optional. I will certainly make use of it because I don't always have my purse and driving licence with me, but I nearly always have my phone.

But it should always be an either/or.

Same applies to car parks - app payment OR card/cash. Not just app.

And why on earth do you need an app to charge an electric car, when you don't need one to fill the car with petrol?

I wonder if some of this is about tracking people - ie even more than they are being tracked already. Although you can track people through an airport and onto a plane with a paper boarding pass as well.

They are quite expensive though - and obviously can also run out. I have to keep checking mine has some power in it. I only bought one when there was a load of scaremongering about power being cut off a couple of winters ago. I've rarely used it.

No they're not, you can get them for less than a tenner.

I was just joking as about 1000 people have posted on the thread to get a power bank.

I can’t be arsed to carry one but I do bring a charger with me so can plug in phone at airport.

And why on earth do you need an app to charge an electric car, when you don't need one to fill the car with petrol?

To pay for the electricity. Lots of chargers are just on the street, e.g. at a lamppost. There’s no other way to pay whereas all petrol is sold at petrol stations.

My shell app is great though - keeps giving me free coffee

Multiple times. However, it's still relying on the single point of failure that is your phone.

A power bank won't help you if you drop your phone, smash the screen and the code won't scan. Nor if it's stolen or if there's an outage with a provider.

There's also likely to be problems if a flight is delayed and people's phones have gone flat - many airports won't have enough charging points for more than a few people.

Also, whatever people say, it takes a lot longer to scan phones because half the time it won't scan, or the screen has timed out and needs to be unlocked again, it's not downloaded, it can't be found in the phone etc etc.

Whereas the people with paper boarding passes just fold them up, put them in their passports and wave it at the scanner. I usually have my boarding pass in my phone, but that's the back up. It's far easier to use a print out and then revert to the phone if something happens to the paper copy, not the other way around.

Interestingly, at some overseas airports Singapore Airlines will print off a paper boarding pass if you only have it on your phone.

I can’t see Ryanair being able to cut back on desk staff through just having phone passes though, they will still need to be cross checked at the desk. Airlines get heavily fined if they carry the “wrong” passenger.

@StarlightLady

I can’t see Ryanair being able to cut back on desk staff through just having phone passes though, they will still need to be cross checked at the desk.

Regardless of paper or phone that cross check can be done without anyone at the gate itself (think of a physical setup similar to passport e-gates).

I know at least one airline at LHR has run trials of supposedly self service gates, not sure what the status of that system is now - whether it made it into routine service or not….however during trials there were humans around to monitor/ do visa checks prior to the actual gates being opened up for boarding so I’m not sure self service was going to result in much in the way of savings.

I’m in agreement with @Bjorkdidit though that with the phone there’s much higher a risk of single point failure than with a piece of paper and like them I carry a paper boarding pass as well as one on my mobile.

Thanks for this, there were trials at Heathrow T1 over 10 years ago with passport type gates at the gate itself, this involved people scanning at least 2 documents, 3 in the case of a visa. I understand this was “successful” but costly. I can’t see it being adopted by Ryanair at smaller airports though. They have a reputation of objecting to airport refurbishments as frivolous.

Looking at passengers negotiating e passport gates, with passports upside down, people with hats on etc, l honestly can’t see this making boarding quicker.

It’s interesting this has been announced around the same time as driving licences on your phone though.

@StarlightLady

there were trials at Heathrow T1 over 10 years ago with passport type gates at the gate itself

Yep, there was similar at T5 just pre-Covid but as you say it could be a right faff….

I’ve been through T5 and other LHR terminals a bit since the Covid era and haven’t seen a self service gate recently.

That’s a daft way to put it. All those insisting they can’t/wont use boarding passes on their phones are also relying on single point of failure. You could easily lose a slip of paper, particularly if it’s just tucked in your passport. Probably more easily than you’d lose a phone these days.

I tend to use my phone these days and the paper is a backup. When I just use paper it tends to get scrunched into a mess by the time i get to gate as I’m always trying to put it away quickly and flapping a bit doing so!