Beeping Ticket Reader
May 7, 2005 | 9:24 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: IND
Programs: CO Plat, *wood Plat
Posts: 90
Beeping Ticket Reader
Just curious: when passing through the boarding pass, do the beeps coming from the gate ticket readers have any significance(elite level, class of seating, etc)? I've never paid much attention but it seems like some passengers have earned "more beeps" than others... 
May 7, 2005 | 1:46 pm
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Bay Area, CA
Programs: UA Plat 2MM; AS MVP Gold 75K
Posts: 35,092
It's to alert the GA of something -- whether it's a paper ticket that needs to be collected (or if you're ticket's out of sync, it will beep). Or if your seat assignment has changed (e.g., you've been upgraded).
May 7, 2005 | 7:47 pm
#3
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: EWR-N.Haledon NJ
Programs: CO Platinum
Posts: 1,136
Or that you've been bumped off of the flight by a less than attentive PC agent who was trying to get you on an earlier flight. Which recently happened to me.
May 8, 2005 | 8:41 am
#4
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: New York / Hawaii
Programs: UA Global Services, HH Diamond
Posts: 5,206
Cool Device
I like the device --it'll print little boarding passes with new seat assignments at the gate rather than deal with battleground upgrades on the plane. ^
May 8, 2005 | 10:34 am
#5
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: NYC, LON
Programs: *
Posts: 3,173
Mine has beeped quite a number of times and I certainly never had any of those gate upgrades. I find the beeps more when I use OLCI
May 11, 2005 | 7:42 am
#6
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 253
LOL, the fact that you guys noticed (and wrote about) ticket machine beeps amazes me! You really do know your stuff and notice everything that happens!
May 11, 2005 | 8:36 am
#7
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: CLE
Posts: 9,816
I believe one of the beeps indicates a successful read of the bar code found on the boarding pass. A different beep and a red light indicates an issue that needs to be addressed.
May 11, 2005 | 9:12 am
#8
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 253
Yeah, at the grocery store a lower beep means that the UPC code scanned wrong and they have to manually check the price. (Tongue-in-cheek). Who cares!
May 11, 2005 | 10:44 am
#9
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: NYC
Programs: UA 1K, SPG Platinum, UA Million Miler
Posts: 2,596
Originally Posted by nycnnj
LOL, the fact that you guys noticed (and wrote about) ticket machine beeps amazes me! You really do know your stuff and notice everything that happens!
May 11, 2005 | 12:27 pm
#10
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: SAN
Programs: AS, Silver, AA Gold, DL Platinum
Posts: 1,272
Originally Posted by BigPoppaCO
You could ask a question about the different types of beverage carts CO uses and someone on here would be able to answer it. It's really amazing actually...
May 11, 2005 | 12:31 pm
#11
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: CLE
Posts: 9,816
Originally Posted by tdb27
And yet nobody can figure out how to make them profitable.
May 11, 2005 | 12:52 pm
#12
Join Date: Jul 2004
Programs: CO Gold; SPG Gold***; AvisFirst;
Posts: 3,970
Originally Posted by tdb27
And yet nobody can figure out how to make them profitable.
I've been told at times to travel an extra hour on the ground - a $100+ cab ride each way - to save $80 on a ticket from NYC to SFO. [I argued successfully against that... but you get the point.]
So -to make an airline profitable requires one of the following:
a) lower cost
b) marketing/product differentiation good enough to get people to pay a premium*
c) reduction in supply.
* seems like some airlines have managed to convince people that they're less expensive even if they're not.
May 14, 2005 | 11:21 pm
#13
In Memoriam
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: EWR (Wayne Township, NJ) and PHX
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Posts: 4,810
Originally Posted by Russell745
Or that you've been bumped off of the flight by a less than attentive PC agent who was trying to get you on an earlier flight. Which recently happened to me.
HA HA HA thats just great...
-Vincent