I seem to find a lot of boarding passes on the ground for flights leaving within the next hour, after security, and no one around (or at least no one looking for anything). What is the best thing to do with these? Take them to the appropriate gate? Is there a desk who might have access to the person's cell phone number? Can gate agents let people through without their boarding pass? I have considered leaving them in case someone retraces their steps, but they are often getting kicked around and rolled over and likely to end up stuck to someone's suitcase.

Well you cant lose anything so I guess if I lose my boarding pass after security I just go to the appropiate gate and get issued a new one.

Ooooh, this happened to me once, at GVA.

I was headed back to the US and had a paper ticket on LX. I got to the airport on time, I checked my bag, got my boarding pass, then went to the RELAY convenience mart to spend my last few francs on candy.

I then got in the security line and... could not find my boarding pass! I retraced my steps all the way back to the ticketing counter with no luck. I went back to the same agent who had just checked my in and explained my situation. She said that since it was a paper ticket, I could not get a new BP. She would have to charge $250 for a re-ticketing. (Or euros? Point was, no small fee! )

I ran back upstairs to again retrace my steps, desperately looking all over the floor of RELAY and rifling through the garbage cans. A young woman who was emptying the trash bins asked me if I needed help and I explained (in my rudimentary French) what happened. She sprang into action. She helped me poke through the trash bins and found it unjust that it would be $250 to re-ticket. We went back to the ticketing counter and she argued with the ticketing agent in French, but the LX ticketing agent wouldn't budge.

Then the young woman said, "Follow me, my friend is the police supervisor." So we went down to the police HQ of the airport and she explained the situation. They didn't have my ticket and said there was nothing they could do about LX rules. Realizing time was getting short for me to catch my flight, I thanked the woman and the police and decided that I would have to fork over the $250.

I went back to the check-in area and with just about 30 min till take-off, I defeatedly told the agent I was in a huge hurry and needed a new BP. I had my credit card out, but to my surprise, see handed me the BP and told me to hurry to the gate. No payment needed!

So, happy ending but I will never do that again!

I mean, if you have the time and the airport isn't so spread out or you're going to that concourse anyway, I'd just take it to the gate. They may not even realize it until its time to board and then it's hard for an agent to do so.

That is why we love e-tickets. An e-ticket cannot be lost or anything like that. That is why as I mentioned above that I will just talk to an agent if I lose my boarding pass. They have my name in the system, so no problem issuing a new one. Actually sometimes my boarding pass has been refuses at the gate. In those cases the gate agent reissued them.

I've never managed to lose one yet but that is one of the reasons I always print at least two copies one of which goes into my carry on bag.

Glad it worked out.^

I assume its paper ticketing only with the BPs.. and the e-tickets don't require this..

Oddly enough.. up until last year when travelling with an infant.. the entire party had to be issued paper tickets on a AE rewards redemption.. no kidding..

Seems so archaic when everyone else is on e-ticket.. and we were on paper.. losing one means.. ka-ching@!

You should not under any circumstances handle the boarding pass. In some jurisdictions, a printed boarding pass is considered a controlled document and unauthorised possession of that boarding pass could be considered a crime. Better to leave the pass where it is and notify the nearest airline representative of its location.

As long as there's not an associated paper ticket (which should be very rare these days), losing a boarding pass is not an issue.

Back in the old days, either the agent would take the paper ticket in exchange for a boarding pass, or staple it to the BP and you'd turn both in at the gate. In either case, don't lose it.

Amtrak still uses paper tickets for most of its routes, and there have been a few people bitten by this -- they lose their ticket, and assume it can just be reprinted like a boarding pass. Nope.

If losing a paper pass has been so common..

maybe that's why 1 out of 5 legs when we fly, people are sitting in our seats.. or maybe they think the seats are empty.. but we're often the last ones on the plane.. so people start gravitating to those empty seats towards departure..

You could always use it to fly coast to coast on the flight the next day

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