Year on Boarding Pass?
Sep 5, 2017 | 5:44 pm
#1
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Year on Boarding Pass?
Why isn't the year printed on boarding passes along with the month and day?
I found a couple of my old BPs in a book yesterday but I can't tell when they are from. The origin and destination are places I fly at least a couple of times a year, but the connecting city is one that is no longer available for that pair.
No big deal - I just wish I could tell what year they are from!
(I searched for a likely FT thread that would answer this question and couldn't find one. I also tried a web search and came up empty.)
I found a couple of my old BPs in a book yesterday but I can't tell when they are from. The origin and destination are places I fly at least a couple of times a year, but the connecting city is one that is no longer available for that pair.
No big deal - I just wish I could tell what year they are from!
(I searched for a likely FT thread that would answer this question and couldn't find one. I also tried a web search and came up empty.)
Sep 5, 2017 | 9:20 pm
#2
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Perhaps when airline systems were written eons ago, memory was so valuable that they decided there was next to zero chance that the same flight/gate/date/time would exist in future years, so they saved space. Y2K-style.
Sep 7, 2017 | 12:13 am
#4
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I do find it interesting that some recent boarding passes lack the year of the flight, but the printed bag tags for the same flight do include the year.
Different programming, maybe?
Sep 28, 2017 | 6:20 am
#10
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Save memory and because airlines do not sell flights more than a year in advance so each date can only exist once in the system. Even if the flight number, departure time and city pair remains the same. And for many airlines it does. LH400 has been flying between JFK and FRA for a long time now.
Last edited by sbm12; Sep 28, 2017 at 6:27 am
Sep 28, 2017 | 6:45 am
#11
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OP has not specified a carrier, so without specifics, you get a general answer.
First, presuming that the carrier uses bar-codes or some other form of coding, anything written on a BP is simply window-dressing. The BP is certainly coded for a specific flight departing a specific airport on a specific date.
Second, few if any carriers issue BP's more than 48 hours in advance. Most no more than 24 hours. Thus, no matter when you purchase a ticket, the BP is good for a gflight in the next 1-2 days.
Last ---- General rule of thumb is to populate only those fields required for the piece of paper (and we're talking about one of those) in question.
First, presuming that the carrier uses bar-codes or some other form of coding, anything written on a BP is simply window-dressing. The BP is certainly coded for a specific flight departing a specific airport on a specific date.
Second, few if any carriers issue BP's more than 48 hours in advance. Most no more than 24 hours. Thus, no matter when you purchase a ticket, the BP is good for a gflight in the next 1-2 days.
Last ---- General rule of thumb is to populate only those fields required for the piece of paper (and we're talking about one of those) in question.