A frequent flyer has explained why she never relies on her mobile boarding pass, and always opts to bring along a paper ticket when on her travels.
Paper passes were commonplace until recently, when the digital revolution of smartphone wallets and digital passes made paper boarding passes completely redundant.
Nowadays, travellers tent to travel with their plane and train tickets, hotel reservations and everything else they need in digital form - rather than carrying around scraps of paper and card, which can easily become misplaced. It also saves a little extra space in your baggage for other essentials - and saves you digging around endlessly, looking for the right pass as and when it's required.
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Sophie Claire Hoeller however recently told Insider that she always prints off her boarding passes - and for good reason. The Daily Star reports that she firstly detailed that technology, while handy, can also be incredibly unreliable - especially when your phone is out of power or has no signal.
Devices have also been known to glitch and break, with some airports refraining from accepting paperless passes. Sophie explained: "My phone has died at the airport more times than I can count. The app will crash. The battery will die. The Wi-Fi will fail. The page will time out. I'll run out of data.
"Tech is not to be trusted. And yes, I know that I can also take a screenshot of the mobile pass, and usually do, but that only cancels out some of the pitfalls I mention."
The holidaymaker also detailed how third party errors can also lead to disaster. Some airports will not allow punters to use mobile passes, with American Airlines, Air Canada and Lufthansa all having routes where they are not accepted. Sophie went on: "The airport's systems could go down; the scanner could be broken; there could be bad weather, mass cancellations, and long lines when you're already low on battery; you could drop your phone and crack the screen, rendering it un-scannable.”
Overall, Sophie explained that while she does have a digital boarding pass in most cases - she'll always print one out as a backup. She is then able to slap it in her passport, and go on her way knowing that she has two options for boarding should one fail.
Although not everyone owns a printer across the UK, you may have a friend of family member who does. You could also visit a public library to print your documents out, or visit a printing shop on the high street.
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