How long do you keep boarding passes?
 

I track my trips in a spreadsheet and keep all boarding passes until the miles have posted. In fact, I've kept all my boarding passes stapled to their corresponding itinneraries since last November. Is there any reason to do this? Can I clean out my files now? :-)

I keep my boarding passes until my miles post online (with the exception of the boarding passes I use for bookmarks; they can linger in my library for a lifetime!).

I keep the whole current year's worth in an envelope and track postings on a spreadsheet. At year's end they join the big boarding-pass collage that surrounds the world map in our kitchen/family room... with push-pins denoting everyone's lifetime movements.

Similar to BearX220, I also throw my BPs into an envelope (which usually tears after several months, so I put the first envelope into a second one, and so on). I begin the process anew at the beginning of each calendar year. Since even thousands of BPs take up little space, and provide potential for future nostalgia (an oxymoron?), I save them in a drawer.

Other than for sentimental reasons, I see no need to keep BPs once the next status year begins (which may be either the beginning of a calendar year, or a membership year). Note that this practice generally maintains BPs beyond the date when miles post because, IME, on occasion status and bonus miles can be deleted from an account - and would then have to be argued with supporting docs - but rarely after the new membership period begins.

I keep them with all my completed itineraries for about a year. So far this year i have flown over a 100 segments so if I put them on a wall... it would just look ugly. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Throw them out after my miles have posted (correctly) AND after I have printed out my latest MP account summary.

I love the boarding pass/wall map idea.

Forever And A Day!

I regret UA's fade away after some time.

UA has used a variety of paper stock through the years, but IME, most seem to hold up reasonably well, although a few have lightened up a bit.

Usually until after the last posting of the year's trips, though on some of my less frequent airlines, I toss them after they've posted when I'm being super-organized.

I keep my boarding passes forever. I use them as wallpaper in my office. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Opps! I guess I'm in the real minority, sometimes I keep them until I see my flight posted on CO's web site, but generally I just leave them in the seat pocket of my flight. I figure if I need proof of my flight (which 'knock wood' I have rarely ever needed), I can get it from my travel agent.

As any businessman should, we keep them for the six years that the IRS can go back to audit. Of course they've never been needed and probably never will, but this procedure makes the accountant comfortable.

Note that I said "boarding passes" not "receipts". I keep the receipts for 7 years according to IRS guidelines.

Once I see the miles post online, I give them to my children. They play games with them such as going on a work trip, going on vacation. One of the more humorous things I overheard was my daughter asking for a seat in front...but that's another story

Word on the street has it that some FT'ers carry a bunch of the recent ones around in their wallets and THEN paste them to their bedroom wall! Talk about a frequent flying fetish!

I keep the interesting ones (like Ansett, SQ, TG, Aeroperu (very old), Indian Airlines) and only the most recent UA / DL etc.

Certain accountants say that you must keep the BP in order to prove that you took the flight (I've got plenty of BPs from flights I ended up not taking but no self respecting bean counter ever lets a fact stand in the way of paperwork.) They usually cite "IRS regulations require..." in much the same way that FAs quote "FAA regulations require..." when they're about to say something particularly nonsensical.

As a result some companies require that you submit them with your expense report.

Bureaucrats will eventually bring down this civilization under the weight of their paperwork...

I tear off the little stubby part and put that in my wallet until it posts, then toss it.

Came in handy just yesterday -- "Um, sir, how did you get here, I don't see that you boarded the outbound flight to get here."
"I stood by on an earlier flight and caught that. Here is the stub."

I usually keep mine until after tax time the following year since I usually have a good number of conferences and work-related trips to write off.
This means that in actuality they have a tendancy to hang around a couple years. The really odd thing is that my brain is so tuned to trivia that I can usually remember the trip by looking at the BP, even if it's something I do a lot like a transcon back east or Sh*ttle up to SEA or LAX.

JD

I keep them in two envelopes. One envelope is for them until they appear on my statement, then they are moved to the other.

The other envelope gets sealed and labeled. I keep it in my travel file.

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"I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own."

If its for work or domestic, I usually keep them for a year. If it was up to my DP, they are kept for an eternity along with bobby sherman tigerbeat magazines and the defranco family paraphenalia http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif.

For fun foreign trips, I usually put the ticket stuff, bp, record locator, etc, in a zip-lock bag with the rest of the receipts, train tickets and little odds and ends we picked up. I should label the outside (Paris-Mar 2001) so then I could refer to the bag for the name of the restaurant we ate etc.

I'm not sure about the wallpapering using boarding passes, but i can guarantee you that martha stewart will come up with a way to make lampshades out of boarding passes soon enough. its a good thing.

lala

That is interesting. I usually keep them in my wallet until I make sure they post and then I will tape them to a wall.

They also make excellent book marks. So you can figure out when I was last reading any book I haven't finished by flipping to the boarding pass.

Someone suggested that you keep a few boarding passes for use under certain circumstances while renting a car.

Say you flew in on Juniper Air but want a mileage bonus on Oak Air when you rent your car. Just display an Oak Air boarding pass in your pocket when you get your rental car, so the counter attendant won't bother to ask for proof you flew in on Oak.

I do not vouch for this method, do not even know if it is ever needed...I just read about it some time back in some forum on FT.

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Middle_Seat

[This message has been edited by Middle_Seat (edited 08-21-2001).]

I have over 1000 of them, and have them all in a huge frame in my living room with nice lights above them... Coming to think of it, it's pretty sad isn't it http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Well, my employer requires original boarding passes to accompany my expense claim each month, so I don't keep them long at all. But then again, QF points are posted online before I am off the plane anyway. Then again, an AA trip 10 days ago has not appeared yet.

I usually don't keep them for long. After I get back from a trip I throw the boarding passes on my desk. The first Saturday after my trip (I do all the cleaning on Saturdays) I clean my desk and that's when I throw them out.

I've thought about putting them in a box and collecting every boarding pass, but I've already threw so many away that my collection wouldn't ever be complete.

Happy Day to All! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Magdalena

Wow. I guess I try to keep them until the miles have posted. That is, if I can keep track of them that long. It seems there are so many more important things to think about than those little peaces of paper. With this statement I joined the anti-FF movement http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

No, seriously though, I do keep them until the miles post and then I tend to get rid of them... I guess I would enjoy a postcard-wall better than a boarding-pass wall, so does this make me a less worthy FlyerTalker? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I keep boarding passes until the miles post. Then, I keep one pass indicating the final destination from every trip. I also keep ticket stubs from events, metro passes, museums, etc.

I never keep the boarding pass, unless I use it as a bookmark.

Then again, I never monitor my frequent flyer miles, or hotel miles, too closely. Hell, I don't even balance my checkbook, I'm lucky if I glance at the statement and make sure nothing out of the ordinary is there.

I'm pretty irresponsible, though.

You crack me up, lalala!

If only I'd kept my David Cassidy posters ... I'd be a rich woman today!!!

David Cassidy ess???

I would have pegged you as a Leif Garrett fan, fer shure...

I've kept most of my boarding passes over the past couple of years. I guess I've just held them until I was sure the miles (with any associated bonuses) posted and never bothered to throw them away.

After reading this thread I was inspired to scatter a bunch of them on my scanner and scan them. Now my computer has some pretty cool-looking wallpaper!

[This message has been edited by Frequent Freak (edited 08-27-2001).]

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[This message has been edited by Frequent Freak (edited 08-27-2001).]

Forever. My girlfriend hates it, but I still have nearly every boarding pass from my adult flying years.

I like the wall-map idea, though. Would be great for a future den or office.

I think one year or so (10 to 16 flights per month).

As soon as the miles post, I can 'em.

Wish I hadn't done so now/continue to do so now, because I'd love to look at the tickets/boarding passes from the early 80's, from airlines that no longer exist---Eastern, Republic, etc.

But my wife STILL finds them all over the house and she would tell you that I am a packrat in this regard.

FWIW...

I keep them forever, until I lose them.

WOW, I've found my twin. However, I do monitor my FF and Hotel miles. But my checkbook, credit card statements.. I leave in the hands of the banking establishments.
I'm not big on keeping anything paper, everything is electronic for me.