Electronic BP scanner broken
 

Flying home after Christmas a few days ago I had my BP on my phone, but there was no BP reader at any of the three TRC stations. The checker said they were all broken. I held firm and said they should get them fixed or just go to the closet and get a spare. The clerk said the machines were supplied by the airline and it was an airline issue. Yeah right...

So I had to get out of line and head to a kiosk. Not the end of the world but it cut into my breakfast time.

But how stupid is this? When somebody can still easily photoshop a BP and get through security, yet they would not take my BP on my phone in the AA app (as hard or harder to fake than a photoshopped paper BP) since their machine was "broken."

Farce.

Odd, I have said this too. And considering that our initial training on electronic BP was actually conducted by airline employees and not TSA ... well, maybe you were told the truth? @:-)

Except there are not different scanners for each airline at a check-point, there is simply a BP scanner.

You really showed up without a paper copy in your back pocket just in case? And while I don't know for each scanner out there now, in the initial pilots, the scanners were provided by the airlines. Though in February of 2009 the TSA said they were looking into purchasing 2,300 of them, so there is probably a mix out there of airline owned and TSA owned units

Also yet another case of TSA presuming a threat that is so improbable it is farcical. It's not like evil terrorists are lying in wait at the airport waiting for the BP scanner to break to allow them go get through TSA. This policy makes about as much sense as SSSS-ing everyone when the airlines have to issue handwritten BPs and cannot check the blacklist. Again, there aren't bad guys lying in wait for that scenario.

I've said before and I'll say again, TSA at every checkpoint should let every 10,000th passenger through with no screening whatsoever. The risk would be infinitesimal, and the training in risk assessment and risk management would be priceless.


What's the point in using the electronic BP and printing a paper copy? The whole benefit is avoiding the kiosk or printer. Personally I don't use the electronic BP because I don't like the idea of unlocking my smart phone and putting it that close to a TSA agent's grubby paws. Who knows what unlawful search some BDO might decide to do? But if I were going to use it, I don't think I'd keep paper around.

I'm still using paper
 

I've had a silmilar thing happen in SAN.

I've also had problems connecting on my not so smart Blackberry. Okay maybe it was operator error.

Bolding mine: I always carry a hard copy of my BP's with me for the very reason described by the OP.

Gee, I'm not really sure.

I think it has something to do with should the TSA not be able to scan you through, or should the airline not be able to read your electronic boarding pass because of an issue with the reader or should you drop your blackberry or smartphone and crack the screen while in line you could still get through without getting out of line, going back to a kiosk, and getting back in line.

I could be wrong about that though. :rolleyes:

Then what is the point of an electronic boarding pass, if you always plan to have a paper backup just in case? Why even use a phone boarding pass if you have a paper copy?

Gee, I don't know, I must be a total moron.

But I wouldn't have had to leave the line, go back to the kiosk, get a new boarding pass, and get back in line.

But again, that's probably just me, I have not realized how wasteful I've been through the years having a backup for so many things.

If you choose to believe the only advantage to an electronic boarding pass is so you don't have to carry one extra piece of paper, then there's no advantage to using them if you were to carry the paper as a backup. It's a total burden to print out a boarding the night before and download it to the phone.

I am asking out of curiosity, not out of disdain, as I have never used a phone-based boarding pass.

What, then, are the advantages of a phone-based boarding pass?

To me it's like comparing paper directions from google maps and a GPS.

The GPS can hold multiple maps and routes in it much like a smart phone and boarding passes.

It's one device and that's all you need, much like the smart phone.

Should something change, you can update it on the device instead of getting another paper set of directions, boarding pass, etc.

Like a GPS, they can be faster and easier to use.

That's all well and good when the system is up and functioning. The problem is when there is an issue, either your phone dies, or the scanners aren't working or there's a power outage or whatever. In those cases having a paper backup would make it much easier to get through.

For the vast majority of the time you will leave the paper tucked away in your pocket or carry on or whatever and never touch it. You will scan your phone at the first airport, open the next flight at your connecting city, scan that, etc.

The difference is when you can't do that, then it's much easier for you if you have those papers tucked away. Just like even though you have your GPS, it doesn't hurt to have a set of printed google map directions from the airport to the hotel just in case you can't get a signal in bad weather or something with the GPS. If you have them and don't need them it's no big deal, just throw them out. If you don't have them and need them, that's a totally different story.

+1

There is none, other than having the chance to have your phone dropped or the scanner not work.

In all the scanners I've seen, the passenger holds the phone to the scanner. And that scanner isn't any closer to the TSO's hands than the pocket where I usually have my phone. So I don't see an issue there. I don't use them for technical reasons: in most (perhaps all) cases, the BP doesn't live on the phone, but is downloaded at that time. So it depends on good Internet or WiFi access. And what if I need to do something else important with my phone at the time? Or if it needs a reboot?

I don't see the purpose of electronic and paper either. If you have paper, it's so much easier to use. Certainly, electronic is valuable if you can't get to a printer (e.g., last minute flight change), but I don't get doing both.