Airport Fun!

[doobry]

The apple watch is so much fun in airports! Except when you fly BA, who use a scanner that you can't actually fit your wrist under! However the rest of the time it makes for a few compelling use cases for the watch concept

T3 in Heathrow recently.. Boots (pharmacy) really really pretty Irish store manager working the till I walked up to. Asked to see my boarding card, sure. Swipe, tap, swipe- beep.. Cue her looking at me like I'd just fallen from the sky and saying in her gorgeous voice. Ok, that was cool, what am I missing! Then she told me what I owed and I said "if you think that was cool, wait till you see this.." button button swipe to get to my amex and boom! If I had been 10 years younger and 40lb's lighter, I'd have so had her number!

Sadly because of the BA equipment, I had to get my phone out a few times but to get through into security and other boarding card/payment bits it was just so convenient.. One problem I did discover is when you have a vertical scanner that points upward. When you turn the wrist to let the scanner see the barcode, the watch thinks you've put your hand down and turns off the screen.. Apple need to ensure the screen stays on for 10 seconds at least when you select a passbook barcode, regardless of what you do with your wrist..

It makes travelling just a little less stressful, which in my book is worth a fortune! Especially as I've left my wallet behind in a shop at least twice when in an airport..!

 

[gsmornot]

The apple watch is so much fun in airports! Except when you fly BA, who use a scanner that you can't actually fit your wrist under! However the rest of the time it makes for a few compelling use cases for the watch concept

T3 in Heathrow recently.. Boots (pharmacy) really really pretty Irish store manager working the till I walked up to. Asked to see my boarding card, sure. Swipe, tap, swipe- beep.. Cue her looking at me like I'd just fallen from the sky and saying in her gorgeous voice. Ok, that was cool, what am I missing! Then she told me what I owed and I said "if you think that was cool, wait till you see this.." button button swipe to get to my amex and boom! If I had been 10 years younger and 40lb's lighter, I'd have so had her number!

Sadly because of the BA equipment, I had to get my phone out a few times but to get through into security and other boarding card/payment bits it was just so convenient.. One problem I did discover is when you have a vertical scanner that points upward. When you turn the wrist to let the scanner see the barcode, the watch thinks you've put your hand down and turns off the screen.. Apple need to ensure the screen stays on for 10 seconds at least when you select a passbook barcode, regardless of what you do with your wrist..

It makes travelling just a little less stressful, which in my book is worth a fortune! Especially as I've left my wallet behind in a shop at least twice when in an airport..!

They have you covered in WatchOS 2. When you turn your wrist, the display stays on while using the Wallet app and showing bar codes. I thought mine did this with 1.0.1 as well but I don't recall and I don't have the version any longer to test.

 

[doobry]

They have you covered in WatchOS 2. When you turn your wrist, the display stays on while using the Wallet app and showing bar codes. I thought mine did this with 1.0.1 as well but I don't recall and I don't have the version any longer to test.

Woohoo, good news! I have 1.0.1 and it was still a problem.. Even more reason to look forward to 2.01

Thanks!

 

[testcard]

Was that before or after it was revealed that showing your boarding card is not a legal requirement?

 

[friedmud]

Passbook barcodes always stay on for a long time for me... no matter how I turn my wrist. Are you sure you had the barcode filling the screen?

Here's a trick for scanners that point up... while standing in line quickly turn your Watch over so it's on the underside of your wrist before you need to scan! Makes it so you don't have to do any awkward arm twisting

 

[Zcott]

Here's a trick for scanners that point up... while standing in line quickly turn your Watch over so it's on the underside of your wrist before you need to scan! Makes it so you don't have to do any awkward arm twisting

+1 for this, it's much easier.

Also, on the subject of airports, I flew over the weekend and forgot to take my watch off for the metal detector and it didn't beep, despite wearing the Milanese loop...

 

[friedmud]

+1 for this, it's much easier.

Also, on the subject of airports, I flew over the weekend and forgot to take my watch off for the metal detector and it didn't beep, despite wearing the Milanese loop...

Interesting about the metal detector! I've left mine on for the "body scanners"... but always taken it off for the metal detector.

Maybe I'll try it next time (fly again in 2 days...).

 

[bmore29]

I have 1.0.1 and had no issues with it turning off when I flipped my wrist. I even had my BF check before I got up and there and look stupid.

 

[flur]

Interesting about the metal detector! I've left mine on for the "body scanners"... but always taken it off for the metal detector.

Maybe I'll try it next time (fly again in 2 days...).

I've worn mine through 6 flights this summer and never took it off for the metal detector. Mine is SS with a non-metal strap (I swap straps but none of them are full metal bands).

 

[friedmud]

+1 for this, it's much easier.

Also, on the subject of airports, I flew over the weekend and forgot to take my watch off for the metal detector and it didn't beep, despite wearing the Milanese loop...

Just walked through a metal detector at the airport with my SS Watch on... without issue! Thanks for the tip!

 

[Soordhin]

Seems the metal detectors where i fly are more sensitive. My watch always sets them off if i forget to take it off. SS with milanese loop. I fly somewhere between 3 and 20 times a week.

 

[maflynn]

Seems the metal detectors where i fly are more sensitive. My watch always sets them off if i forget to take it off. SS with milanese loop. I fly somewhere between 3 and 20 times a week.

I'm not a huge travel warrior but when I do, I take my watch off, in fact the TSA is quite clear on making sure you remove the watch

 

[doobry]

I'm not a huge travel warrior but when I do, I take my watch off, in fact the TSA is quite clear on making sure you remove the watch

I always take mine off and make sure it's in the first of [many of*] my trays to go through the x-ray machine.. That way I can be through and waiting for it... Nothing worse than having it go off, have them take your watch back to the X-ray machine and throw it into a tray to be scanned again. Aside from the potential damage to it it's also not in your sight for quite some time.. So just on the off chance the scanner is calibrated wrongly or something... I do it that way..

* (I carry 2x Laptop, iPad, a few other gadgets and all the associated chargers so I basically take all of that out of my bag as when I don't, you can guarantee they search the bag.. In the UK they don't like what they call "busy bags".. I have a nice tumi luggage collection now so I have 3 of their little cable pouches which are perfect for all the wires and chargers I carry.. The TSA might be annoying but they are nowhere near as anal or lazy as their British counterparts who don't bother looking closely at the Xray screen or using the contrast tools they have, they just flag it for a manual search and delay me by 10-15 minutes.. So now I just spend an extra 2 minutes at either end unpacking/repacking it. )

 

[Newtons Apple]

Using the words Airport and Fun seem crazy. I used to enjoy flying but now it seems more like a buss with wings.

 

[Enygmatic]

Interesting about the metal detector! I've left mine on for the "body scanners"... but always taken it off for the metal detector.

Maybe I'll try it next time (fly again in 2 days...).

Passbook barcodes always stay on for a long time for me... no matter how I turn my wrist. Are you sure you had the barcode filling the screen?

Here's a trick for scanners that point up... while standing in line quickly turn your Watch over so it's on the underside of your wrist before you need to scan! Makes it so you don't have to do any awkward arm twisting

We have these scanners at one of our PAX terminals that's about standard doorknob height and facing outward, used for scanning certain items being brought onboard - a perfect location to implement smartwatch compatibility, if traditional airports see this as a potential long term method. Otherwise, when I've flown with the Watch, it's still typically quicker and less awkward to just use my phone.

 

[SisterBlue22]

I'm not a huge travel warrior but when I do, I take my watch off, in fact the TSA is quite clear on making sure you remove the watch

I've flown three times in the last three months with my Apple Watch, and all three times I've been instructed by the TSA to NOT remove my watch to go through the metal detector.

 

[Zcott]

I've flown three times in the last three months with my Apple Watch, and all three times I've been instructed by the TSA to NOT remove my watch to go through the metal detector.

Did they give you any indication why?

 

[parseckadet]

I'm not a huge travel warrior but when I do, I take my watch off, in fact the TSA is quite clear on making sure you remove the watch

I've flown three times in the last three months with my Apple Watch, and all three times I've been instructed by the TSA to NOT remove my watch to go through the metal detector.

Did they give you any indication why?

TSA is known for having different policies at different airports. They claim it's to make things unpredictable. I think it's because they lack the organization required to have a clear, uniform policy for just about anything.

 

[pacmania1982]

While in the US in June, I had my United Airways boarding cards on my iPhone and Apple Watch, but didn't use it on the watch as I felt like an idiot. Loads of people were using the barcode on their phones however and it seemed to work pretty well.

 

[Newtons Apple]

Some how the two words airport and fun are not mixing for me. Used to be flying was fun, today it is lik a greyhound bus with wings and there is little fun at the airport or in the plane.

 

[SisterBlue22]

Did they give you any indication why?

No reason, just that it wasn't necessary.