For my first post here (hello!), I thought I should discuss something that has been bothering me for quite some time: baggage tags. Yep, those barcode-sporting, omnipresent identifiers whose little siblings have been staining the back of my passport and now its cover for longer than I desire.

Now we know that mobile boarding passes are nothing new for major airlines. They had smartphone apps that display boarding passes for the past few years. Technology permitting, iOS users can now take advantage of arguably more enhanced boarding passes with PassBook. What puzzles is why haven't airlines come up with a way to integrate the baggage reclaim tags into their apps? From what I have been able to dig up, baggage tag format has been standardised amongst IATA, airlines and airports. Apart from the number plate, they have the name of destination airport, departure time, IATA code of the destination airport, airline code and flight number and passenger's name + surname.

I can't speak for all airlines, but for those I have flown on (BA, United, Iberia, AA, Delta, KLM currently spring to mind), specifying whether I am checking in any baggage is part of normal check-in process. As such, at least theoretically, if I do have bags to check in, it should be possible for the electronic version of the tag to be generated in advance. It can be downloaded to my phone at the same time as the boarding pass. Then, when I am dropping the bag(s) off at the airport, the paper version is printed and affixed.

Recently, I heard of an airport that allows you to pre-print your baggage tags at home before showing up at the airport. So my idea isn't so crazy after all. I also seem to recall Delta having a feature in their mobile app that lets you track your bags while you fly. However, to go so still requires a passenger to scan in their paper baggage reclaim stub, so it falls short of what I envisage. Likewise, in the present day and age where the vast majority (subject to correction here) of people resort to paper boarding passes, it is unlikely that an airline will invest in R&D to make mobile boarding tags happen any time soon. I do not expect it to ever be a key differentiator between airlines. But getting over this hurdle is a substantial step towards paper-free travel, which is the direction I believe the airline industry, as a whole, is moving in.

Sorry if this was the most boring thing since the last time you watched paint dry, but it's a topic that is rarely discussed, so giving it a bit more limelight is a good thing. You never know what things may lead to...