A passenger took to social media to share his experience using his mobile boarding pass to share an important message with fellow passengers.
“Call me crazy, but I take that extra step,” the user wrote in the post, titled “Always take a screenshot of your boarding pass from the app.”
The user reported that a flight attendant came up to him upon boarding and told him he had been upgraded.
“Finally get to FC [first class] And settle down, only for another FA [flight attendant] -I’m not making this up- Come and tell me it was a mistake and the upgrade was not available. Annoying but I guess whatever, maybe ga [gate agent] A mistake was made,” the post said.
The Redditor, who claimed to have flown on American Airlines, shared that once they got back to their original seat, a fellow passenger said they were on standby and said it was his seat.
“I looked in the app and sure enough, my boarding pass had changed to an FC seat, which was not available. Good thing I had a screenshot of the original pass and I showed it to him and the FA, who then moved it somewhere in the back,” the post said.
The user added, “Complete nonsense, of course they had no explanation for it, but if I didn’t have that screenshot, it would be me.”
Fox News Digital contacted American Airlines for comment.
Gary Leff, a Virginia-based travel industry expert and author of the blog “View from the Wing,” told Fox News Digital that he always takes a screenshot of his digital boarding pass.
“Just as I’m trying to board, an airline’s system may go down, or the Internet connection may go down. So, I see it as a backup that helps me climb easier,” Leff said.
On a sub-Reddit forum titled “r/AmericanAirlines”, users participated in the discussion over online boarding passes.
“That’s horrible!! Great idea about screenshots,” one user commented.
Another posted, “I often thought about this. “It seems like a lot of seats are changed before takeoff.”
“I also put my seat in the wallet, but if the seat changes it gets updated on the wallet as well. Hence the screenshot,” added one user.
Some people also said that they take screenshots of their passes as an extra precaution.
“I do this every time if my phone or app has connectivity issues at the wrong time.”
Other users expressed frustration with the digital pass.
One said, “It always disappears immediately for me as if it’s trying very hard to avoid me.”
Many Redditors said they prefer physical boarding passes.
“paper boarding pass ftw [for the win]I don’t have to have my phone out for anyone to see,” one user commented.
Another said, “I always get a paper ticket. you never [know] What could happen with electronics.”
One user agreed, saying, “There’s nothing like a paper boarding (pass) document, printed on their paper with all the fancy numbers and barcodes.”
The user further said, “This is a legal document which can be useful in a court case. Electronic boarding passes can disappear from the carrier’s app/website in the blink of an eye. Screen prints are barely a step above that.
“Just print your boarding pass at the kiosk when entering the airport,” one user suggested.
Leff says it is important to keep records of seats in case there are any changes.
“An airline may reallocate your seat for operational reasons, but showing where you previously sat may be persuasive in your case for not being moved,” Leff said.
