Southwest Airlines Updates iOS App, Enables Mobile Boarding Pass Feature at 28 Airports

[ptb42]

Anyone else "read" the content of the QR code on the boarding pass graphic?

No, but that was pretty funny.

I used to scan my electronic boarding pass with a QR reader to determine in advance whether I was cleared for TSA Pre-check. There is one particular field that has a 3 in it.

But, most of the airlines are adding a Pre-Check icon to the electronic boarding pass. So, I no longer have to decode it myself. And after you mentioned it, I notice the sample boarding pass has the Pre-Check icon.

It's been a while since I flew Southwest, but my last time they didn't support Pre-Check. It's nice to see they have added it, and I can use it at my home airport.

If you fly more than a couple of times a year, I highly recommend enrolling in Pre-Check. It's worth it, especially if you depart from Las Vegas, Orlando, or Dulles during peak periods.

For a bit more money, you can enroll in Global Entry and also avoid the Customs and Immigration lines when returning to the US. However, the Customs and Border Patrol have fewer offices nationwide, and there might not be a convenient one near you.

 

[swordfish5736]

Is this really front page news? On a mobile client the article is taking up lots of space. And I live in the UK

It's in the iOS blog. Doesn't the mobile client squish them all together? I've always just used the full site on my iphone.

 

[KPOM]

I usually fly united and I have had this feature in their app for over a year. And it integrates into the passbook. Seems that southwest is a bit behind rolling this out.

They are and they acknowledge it. They are in the midst of their first major IT upgrade in decades. They started mobile boarding passes with 1 airport earlier this year and two weeks ago expanded to 8, so this is a big deal and they are ramping up quickly. They have 97 destinations in total.

 

[superflush]

No, it doesn't support passbook. It can do a couple of things, one of which I thought was kinda weird.

You can access the boarding pass from within the app, or save the boarding pass to your camera roll and grab it from there.

This is unfortunate and kind of a pain.

... but honestly passbook might save a fraction of a second vs. the camera roll. Not that big a deal when you're dealing with TSA and everything else that goes on in airports these days.

The purpose of Passbook is more than just to go through security. Passbook enables live updates such as the boarding gate and any flight delays. When I save the Southwest boarding pass to my camera roll 24 hours ahead of my flight, it doesn't have the gate, and it provides no way of updating it in the background.

 

[John.B]

The purpose of Passbook is more than just to go through security. Passbook enables live updates such as the boarding gate and any flight delays. When I save the Southwest boarding pass to my camera roll 24 hours ahead of my flight, it doesn't have the gate, and it provides no way of updating it in the background.

Live updates, and also can be configured to show up on the lock screen (assuming location services are turned on).

 

[Klae17]

Is this really front page news? On a mobile client the article is taking up lots of space. And I live in the UK

THEN SCROLL PAST IT. GEEZUS Christ. Also, it isn't front page news.

 

[AmpSkillz]

wow, about time

It's been so much easier when I fly United.

Now they just need to add passbook