Have been doing some more flying as of late.

For the last few years, when I checkin via the UA Mobile App, I always select the option to have a .pdf copy of my boarding pass emailed to me. I like this for 2 reasons. 1)I like having a permanent copy of my boarding passes should I ever need to produce "proof" of a BP. It will always be in my email. And 2)It gives me the option to print my boarding pass if I want.

However, on this past trip I noticed the only option that app now gives me is to "email a mobile boarding pass link." I get an email. OK fine. But no .pdf and no way to print. Clicking on the link brings be back to the mobile app. Or if I click on it on my computer, it opens my web browser and shows me the same mobile boarding pass with no option to print.

I'm not a fan of this change.

Call me "old school", but I generally think printed boarding passes are faster to use at the airport. Even through I always check in via the app and get mobile boarding passes on my phone, I still typically ask an agent to print my boarding passes at the airport to have on hand. They are so much faster to use for the following reasons:
A printed boarding pass....
-Never runs out of batteries
-Never has a display that is too bright/dark
-Never requires me to enter a passcode, navigate to the app, open the app, load the app, all of which takes time.
-Using the "wallet" boarding pass is a bit faster for sure, but still not as fast as paper.

A printed boarding pass is literally scan, beep, go. Easy button.

(The same goes for me for mobile hotel room keys btw. Yes, sometimes I do it to bypass the checkin desk. But a physical key is so much faster than a mobile key. With both Hilton/Marriott you have to open the app. It takes the app 5-10 seconds to "load", going through some uneceessary animations. Then navigate to the key. Then press the "unlock door" button. Then it takes 3-5 seconds to "process." Then the door unlocks. The whole process takes 30-45 seconds. Or I can just scan a physical key and be inside my room in 2 seconds.)