SAS Smart Pass - working properly?
 

Does anyone ever have any luck with their Smart Pass?

I often manage to print baggage tags and get through the gate to security control using the smart-pass but when I come to actually board the plane, I can't remember the last time it worked.

Does anyone know what might be happening for my Smart Pass to be working sometimes but not always? Or is it their system? Yesterday was no problem until I hit the gate, but then it flashed red instead of green and I ended up holding up the queue!

It rarely works at gates in my experience. It works in the lounge and security. Based on talking to gate agents, and a bit of IT insight, there is a bug in the implementation of the reader. It disconnects and suspends after some timeout. At the gates, the reader is used rarely, perhaps every hour or so, during the boarding process, so it manages to disconnect. At the fast-track and in the lounge, the readers are used continuously so they work fine (do not time out).

Now it has been so ever since they introduced this gimmick, and it surprises me that they have been unable to force the vendor to fix it... I suppose that they don't make the system themselves ...

I was always creating a line behind me when boarding with my Smart Pass because it never worked. Now I've thrown it out, and I swipe my credit card instead. Works perfectly.

I have used it once recently, after forgetting my boarding pass in the lounge and standing at gate B10 in CPH. It actually worked for me. I guess I was lucky then. :)

After a long period with very bad results (worse at the gate than at fast track/lounge) I had almost stopping using it.

But recently it has improved quite a lot. Last week: worked at security/lounge/gate in CPH. And at fast track/lounge in GOT. And yesterday at security/lounge/gate again in CPH. And today at security/gate at AAL.

I never use it - what is the point actually? Is it any better than swiping the card or scanning the BP (either the mobile or printed)?

The only thing I see, is that it shows "You're Gold - since you got the tag". ;)

I was skeptical initially, exactly as you say. But the truth is that the card I need to pull out of my wallet, which is often hidden much deeper than my phone. A phone is really an improvement, especially if you drag a roller-bag behind you, and have no free second hand to operate the wallet.

Arguably, this is not much ...

Another advantage is to avoid taking your credit card needlessly (if you are using a combined card), and that without suffering one more card in the wallet.

However none of these really deserves humiliation at the gate, when boarding and the thing does not work.

I never travel without credit cards anyway... my primary form of payment - I agree that it doesn't make it easier to pull the card out of the wallet but the SAS app with the mobile boarding pass is never a problem.

I still plan to read the tag into the phone memory... need to find some time. :)

:D I am seeing quite a few people in meetings who like to have their phones upside down on meeting table

I would have used the smart pass if it wasn't a free SAS ad on my phone. The idea is good, but it draws too much attention...

It actually has some advantages compared to the visual BP on a phone. The NFC chip works even when the phone is down (my lousy iPhone can run out of power in the afternoon), and it is easier to use at checkpoints where everybody in is a hurry, and you carry luggage in both hands. Often I have to wake up the phone, put in my pincode and then find the Passbook app again.

I won’t bet on a bright future for the NFC, though.

Personally I love th Passbook BPs on my iPhone, and I can't recognize your issues with having to unlock the phone. My BP simply shows up on the lock screen few hours before departure, and you only have to swipe the notification itself in order to have th BP show up on screen. No need for pin or fingerprint.

Brgds
llunow

I agree - works the same way on my phone!

I think this is how the real passbook works (on an iphone). Neither SAS app, nor passbook clones (that I know), do that on Android phones. Plus you still need to have your phone charged for this to work.

(if there is a good passbook clone for android that I missed, please let me know)

Indeed, it does! Thanks.

I have of course noticed the symbol on the front page, when the phone was sleepy, but never thought that it gave direct access to the Passbook. But it does!