Do you still print boarding passes / AirBnB confirmation / train tickets etc?

[rickyrickygrimes]

Random question... currently doing online check-in for some flights and wondering if I really need to print the boarding passes? In theory I can do everything on my phone but... When we last travelled (Christmas) I did print everything and take it with us, but didn't use any of it as everything was available on my phone and it was much easier than faffing around with paper copies.

Do you still print these docs off and carry them with you when you travel?

Yes I do, my DH used to take the biscuit out of me until a hotel "lost" our booking until I presented it on a piece of paper to which they magically found it again along with an upgrade! I think they didn't like the look of us 😂

It's also easier when travelling with kids to have it printed with the auto security gates to beep through on paper then find each code on a phone and get it lined up zero glare etc.

Yes, it's an easy contingency step to take and if you don't need it, a piece of paper in your bag is hardly a hassle. I've had journeys where my phone has run out of battery and I've not been able to charge it, despite carrying a charger. Having a printout of my boarding pass is no effort at all.

I did that. They claimed the ticket wasn’t valid for the journey - it was.

I mostly don't bother to print but I will screenshot or put in my wallet and carry a power pack. I do print if we are travelling as a family as my daughter doesn't have her own phone yet so if there is anywhere you need to show a boarding pass and then go through a gate one by one it doesn't work to have just one phone between us. There are often family lanes available but not always so I'd rather print for family travel.

Yes, always. Technology inevitably fails at some point.

I save our boarding passes in my Apple wallet on my phone. I used to print them out.

We mainly travel with a holiday company so I print out the booking/flight details email from them plus the transfer/hotel documents. I like to be able to look at the info easily, which is much easier when it is a piece of paper.

I use the holiday company app but always have a note of the log in details (as I can never remember them) and the booking ref for the holiday, just in case something happens to our phones.

I also print off airport parking booking documents

No. I manage my whole life through my phone, I do carry a powerbank when travelling though!

Yes. I always like to have a back up.

No, never. everything on my phone.

I do if I'm travelling alone, just in case my phone is lost or broken. In a group I figure I can retrieve it all by logining on a friends phone of necessary.

Yes, train tickets and boarding passes for much as possible. I got caught up in train cancellations recently and having a paper copy the staff could stamp and make notes on instead of having to have tickets re-issued helped a lot.
Hotels not really

I have all confirmations in a Dropbox app and have at least one powerbank and chargers with me all the time travelling as well.

Attraction tickets - after a disaster in Prague i carefully read now the fine print if I have to have a physical copy.

Yes. I'm a nightmare for it. I rely on my phone for everything. I rarely take a handbag out of the house most days as my phone is also my car key and wallet. But for travelling, I like to have paper back ups just in case I'm in an internet free zone or my phone dies. I have a decent printer and plenty of paper and ink so it's no inconvenience.

DH is definitely a 'special folder' type of traveller: I tend to wing it a bit more. I just asked him if we needed to print things out: his response was 'Of course!' 😂So I guess if it keeps him happy...

I do. They all go in my Monarch Airlines fabric travel folder - which I won when I entered a competition in 1990.
Disclaimer: I'm old.

I do because I have zero trust in the apps actually working when I need them.

I also have photos of all our passports stored in a password protected file on my devices, and in a cloud storage location.

No.
I always have a couple of spare power banks that are really small and latch on to the phone.
I also take screen shots if in case there is no WiFi.

I screenshot and share with whoever I'm travelling with (dh /dc) so if one phone gets lost we still have it. Would print some stuff.

I would screenshot everything so I have it without needing an app / Internet

Yes, always, I'm very risk averse though and old

I still print them off, in case of lost/stolen phone, forgot to charge it, etc.
Also because once spent forever waiting to enter theatre because of dh faffing for ages (admittedly unusual) because he couldn’t find tickets on his phone.

I print everything - I'm in IT so maybe a bit more cynical than most!

I have everything on my phone, but never leave home without a tiny phone charger, and a decent capacity power bank. They are so small and lightweight now that it's easy to slip in a bag or pocket

Yes. Too many times I've stood at the train station gateline, behind someone who can't get the reader to recognise the ticket on their phone, holding up a massive queue because they keep trying again and fiddling with their phone. Every time I get a train at a main station there are people having this problem. Printed tickets rarely fail.

Paper is always a sensible backup for boarding passes etc. Otherwise if your phone dies or goes wrong, you have a real problem. It's no use relying on chargers if you're delayed at a foreign airport and have nowhere to plug it in.

I print. A power pack won't help you if your phone is stolen or damaged.

I am someone who worries about over reliance on technology though. Tried to buy something recently but there were issues with the card readers at a cashless shop - so they were just turning people away. My local pub and my gym are all cashless too. Fine when it works (won't derail the thread with that discussion) but as soon as it doesn't, viable businesses don't work. Similarly my local independent coffee shop had a card reader issue but they took cash and gave some drinks on trust.

Twice I've planned to use a lime bike to get somewhere on time and there has been a tech problem that caused me to be late.

Not the end of the world but given we have a printer and some small devoted users of any but scrap paper (aka my kids) I'd always print.
I don't tend to print theatre or concert tickets though but a holiday, I'm taking no chances

We had some people coming from Australia to our cottage in Cornwall. They hadn't downloaded any of the emails from VRBO about their booking/ the directions wed sent them/the address, they didn't have the VRBO app on their phone. They had turned roaming off on their phone.

All they had was the name of the village they were coming to and a photograph of the cottage. Got in the car at Heathrow, drove here then drove round the village in the pitch dark thinking they would 'spot' the cottage. Eventually they stopped in a pub and the landlady did a Google image search and found us.

Guess whose fault this all was in their opinion when they finally turned up at 9pm incandescent with rage? Yep, all my fault.