TECHNOLOGY:YOU MIGHT HAVE noticed techie types swiping their mobile phones at airport gates recently. We are now beginning to see the introduction of the use of boarding cards on smart phones. Aer Lingus now has an iPhone app which allows you to check in from your device and have your "boarding card" delivered to your mobile phone.
This is essentially a barcode that you scan once you reach the gate. You don’t need a printer and you can check in anywhere, including rushing to the airport on a bus or taxi.
However there are drawbacks. iPhone has a notoriously poor battery life and you can’t check in with a dead phone. Also, we’d advise that when you do get your boarding pass on your phone, take a screen grab of it. On an iPhone you press the top button and the main “Home” button simultaneously. This takes a picture of the screen and saves it in your photo library and means that you don’t need to worry about keeping this page open and avoiding roaming charges when abroad.