[hayden]

Via CrunchGear: In another huge victory for paperless enthusiasts everywhere, it appears that using your cell phone as a boarding pass is on the horizon. Since December, Continental has been testing a paperless option for flights out of Houston. The boarding pass “is an image of an encrypted bar code displayed on the phone’s screen, which can be scanned by gate agents and security personnel,” according to the New York Times.

Other airlines are waiting for approval from the Transportation Security Administration before launching similar programs. TSA spokesperson Andrea McCauley said, “We definitely see this as the wave of the future,” which is exactly the type of thing you’d expect to hear from a slow-moving, bureaucratic agency that calls the mundane act of scanning an image of a bar code “the wave of the future."

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[VandalDuck]

I read about this on a news forum earlier today. Talk about convenience! But...remember to charge your battery before heading to the airport. It would be a bummer to have your battery dry up while waiting in the terminal.

VandalDuck

[melissaox]

This would be so cool! I am always so paranoid I will lose the paper, but I always know where my BB is.

[Lavagirl]

That's pretty cool. They would have to allow us to carry it through the TSA screening now too. BB would never leave my side NO X-Ray for BB!

[MDavid]

read this earlier on the nytimes. Blackberries are amazing.

[mattdoucet]

I am hoping this gets approved and becomes the norm! Another perk for having a bb!! ~via BB (wap.pinstack.com)~

[StaceyRVC]

this definitely would be a great thing to have

[hchai]

I fly between SFO and IAH frequently and knew this for at least a month. However, always printout the paper one. These TSA guys are not the smartest one and I really don't want to risk my flight

[nateshiner]

Originally Posted by hchai I fly between SFO and IAH frequently and knew this for at least a month. However, always printout the paper one. These TSA guys are not the smartest one and I really don't want to risk my flight

Ditto. I flew out of iah and used this.I chose to have a link to the barcode emailed to me. Unfortunately, I had to access the browser for other things after I passed security but before I boarded the plane.

I retried the emailed link, but it wouldn't work.

So fyi to all: be sure to do select mode and save the picture of the bar code. Otherwise it's easy to lose the barcode as you do work or read articles while waiting to board.

[RemyKirin]

that's pretty awesome, I can't wait, it'll be one less thing I have to worry about.

[bpomeroy]

Both Air Canada and Westjet have been doing this for about 6 months now in Canada. I find it VERY convienient as a frequent traveler. I can even skip the checkin line and do that right from my BB as well, seat selection and everything!

[cookieberry]

It appears that I am going to pessimistic....but here goes...so the pic shows a guy, I guess, holding his BB under a scanner. Uh, hello!?! And they scan for what else, bank info, cc info, all confidential materials, honey please...I would rather input my info online and have the hackers jump through hoops to get my stuff rather than handing it right to the govt.

[Haguilar84]

Originally Posted by cookieberry It appears that I am going to pessimistic....but here goes...so the pic shows a guy, I guess, holding his BB under a scanner. Uh, hello!?! And they scan for what else, bank info, cc info, all confidential materials, honey please...I would rather input my info online and have the hackers jump through hoops to get my stuff rather than handing it right to the govt.

The government already has that info already, before this program came to be. I dont see how you're worried. Thanks Patriot Act!!!

[ntajhn]

I find it this to be great idea.

[Samba]

The gym I go to has barcoded membership cards (the small keychain type cards like at cvs or marsh..). I scanned a picture of the barcode and uploaded it to my pearl. The scanner they use isn't a handheld but more a 'sitting on a desk' variety that you bring your card up to and scan ..
I tried last evening but the scanner refused to recognize the barcode pic off my pearl. To all our tech savvy stackers could help .. should I try enlarging the image? does that make a difference? does it need to be an exact 1:1 image of the barcode (no scaling up or down)? does background light effect it? what exactly is the physics behind it ? anyone have any other suggestions?
has anyone else tried this with other barcodes ?
sorry for all the questions .. i hope its not a repeat post! this does seem like a fun experiment!! cheers!!

[j llama]

I hope this gains ground

(I had to chuckle at the 1st article on CrunchGear today)