Qantas Customers Discover Apple Watch Doesn't Fit Under Airline's Boarding Pass Scanners

[tentales]

You could always fly a different airline and then the Apple Watch is useful again.

People complained about 3.5" iPhones, wanting phablets, now they're happy with 1.5" screens as remotes for their 5.5" phones ? smh
I'm not even tempted to try an iWatch on, but if you are, then good for you.

In any case, what's wrong with paper boarding passes ? Less to go wrong.

 

[MrXiro]

People complained about 3.5" iPhones, wanting phablets, now they're happy with 1.5" screens as remotes for their 5.5" phones ? smh
I'm not even tempted to try an iWatch on, but if you are, then good for you.

In any case, what's wrong with paper boarding passes ? Less to go wrong.

If you've never used a smart watch then you just won't understand.

When (if it ever ships) I get my Apple Watch it'll be my 3rd and it'll be better than the Pebble I used last year and the Fitbit Surge I'm using currently. The only thing I'll truly miss is the 7 day battery life and the sleep tracking. I could go through the plethora of reasons how it makes life simpler and easier for me. But you won't get it because you don't live in my skin.

 

[OzFlyGirl]

For domestic flights all people need to to is scan their frequent flyer card with the chip. It will then print out the docket with your details that you show at the aircraft door. This method will work no matter how you checked in eg mobile, online , kiosk etc.

If you're on an international flight customs & immigration want to see a paper boarding pass anyway so having QR codes or barcodes on any electronic device is pointless.

I think it's a little arrogant to expect any airline to have to spend money replacing their scanners or hardware simply to accommodate the latest Apple gimmick.

This is symptomatic of the issue we're seeing with a lot of Apple Watch apps - people are making them for the sake of it, not because they're thought of a good way to solve a problem.

Clearly this is a pretty egregious example - the fact that this passed QA at Quantas is a bit embarrassing for them, but I don't want to bash them too much - everyone makes mistakes, there are multiple components involved, it's sometimes surprisingly easy to miss obvious issues like this.

There is no "U" in Qantas. The acronym stands for Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Service.

 

[C DM]

This is just a bunch of non-sense, As others have pointed out, they could have very well just tested the hardware for its ability to accommodate a wrist + watch. Clearly they are just trying to pass the blame onto Apple rather than the fact that they didn't do their homework very well.

Unless they pointed out that the apple watch is x.x mm thicker than what they had expected on their "field" tests prior to Apple watch launch....then the statement could have been applicable.

Lastly, if they ever went to the Apple headquarters to test their App, I'm sure they could have very well brought along a dummy scanner to further test their "theory"

And really if it's then even a matter of a few mm and here isn't tolerance for something like that built in, that's not all that much better.

----------

For domestic flights all people need to to is scan their frequent flyer card with the chip. It will then print out the docket with your details that you show at the aircraft door. This method will work no matter how you checked in eg mobile, online , kiosk etc.

If you're on an international flight customs & immigration want to see a paper boarding pass anyway so having QR codes or barcodes on any electronic device is pointless.

I think it's a little arrogant to expect any airline to have to spend money replacing their scanners or hardware simply to accommodate the latest Apple gimmick.



There is no "U" in Qantas. The acronym stands for Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Service.

Then why would an airline put out an app for such a device to allow for that kind of functionality when their devices don't support it? Either don't build that functionality and tell people they can use it when they really can't or make sure your devices support it.

 

[rman0726]

All three times I scanned my watch at the airport today the TSA/airline attendants thought it was so cool. The TSA guy had me do it again because he wanted to show the other TSA guy... Lol

No problems with the United scanners.

 

[dave2010]

Just photocopy your wrist in the Qantas lounge and show them the print out.

 

[hagar]

I have never been able to use a Passbook 2,5 years after its launch . In Europe, almost no companies use it. It's not high on their agenda. Not sure why because it would save a lot of paper and plastic.

Cannot imagine a company changing its scanners because your apple watch doesn't fit on it. Maybe by 2025.

 

[jimbo1mcm]

Next time I fly I'm going to try and put my Rolex under the scanner. That way, when I hold up the line, people behind me will think I have the new Iwatch!!

 

[gerwitz]

This is symptomatic of the issue we're seeing with a lot of Apple Watch apps - people are making them for the sake of it, not because they're thought of a good way to solve a problem.

Clearly this is a pretty egregious example - the fact that this passed QA at Quantas is a bit embarrassing for them, but I don't want to bash them too much - everyone makes mistakes, there are multiple components involved, it's sometimes surprisingly easy to miss obvious issues like this.

Agreed on all counts. But forgive me for snickering a bit at a developer who publicly deflects blame to Apple for not providing "the actual device" so he could determine that wrists don't fit under the scanner.

 

[et01267]

No, it really doesn't. It serves as a sort of warning that you shouldn't leave the hard-of-thinking to design end-to-end solutions.

This.

Moreover, it isn't just the numbskull designer: this technology undoubtedly had to go up several levels for approval (and was examined for a good long while) if Qantas is like any other business.

And this company flies AIRPLANES. With people in them.

 

[C DM]

I have never been able to use a Passbook 2,5 years after its launch . In Europe, almost no companies use it. It's not high on their agenda. Not sure why because it would save a lot of paper and plastic.

Cannot imagine a company changing its scanners because your apple watch doesn't fit on it. Maybe by 2025.

And then imagine a company that gets original scanners without much thought of what they might be used like by people in the near future. All these use cases with phones and even watches were fairly foreseeable and known to be coming by quite a few, and not to really consider them is rather poor planning (if it could be called any planning at all).

 

[autrefois]

"-gate" meme, 1972 - 2015
RIP

It was good while it lasted. (Not really, but I feel it would be tacky to say otherwise so soon after its death.)

 

[mazz0]

Agreed on all counts. But forgive me for snickering a bit at a developer who publicly deflects blame to Apple for not providing "the actual device" so he could determine that wrists don't fit under the scanner.

Oh, definitely! It's certainly up their on the list of absurd blame shifting!

Maybe he didn't know it was supposed to be worn on the wrist. He could have been expecting it to go on a strand of hair.

Sarcasm aside, I suppose it's possible somebody was just given a screen size, and not told the nature of the device. Somebody cocked up massively, but we don't necessarily know who.

Edit: pretty sure it was the chief designer though, amongst others - how do you not check that?!