Though nearly the entire pre-flight process has been tweaked to make use of modern technologies, one outdated aspect still lingers: the tickets. Every single time I fly, I find myself checking the location where I put my tickets once every 3-4 minutes. Are they still there? Did I remember to zip up after I last checked? When I pulled my hand out, did the ticket sneak out? I’ve never lost a ticket, yet I consistently fear that I will. It’s just such an abnormal thing in our daily lives – when else are we given something to hang on to for a few hours that is so easy to lose or destroy, yet so significant in the success of our plans? Lose that ticket, and there’s a good chance queues and regulations might just make you miss your flight. Miss your flight, and you’ll be making up for it your entire trip.
Fortunately, the times are changing.
I’ve thought about this a few times – what if they scanned the bar code on your driver’s license and assigned a “ticket” to it? You would then just need to show your ID for security and it will also serve the purpose of your ticket. Your information could be all electronic too and so you don’t need a human to spend time making sure that the name on your license matches the name on the ticket and then look at your face to make sure you have the same hair style on the ID as your face.
Personally, whenever I get a piece of paper to prove something, I consider that to be a bit silly. How hard would it be for someone to print their own ticket that looks identical to some other? A piece of paper proves nothing, especially in a movie theater, but it works for the whole population and so it isn’t an issue. Now I’m rambling about just a movie ticket and so I’ll stop, but my point is that most of all of these daily things that give you a piece of paper to prove something are pretty silly.
Northwest airlines has been doing this for months on flights out of Indy. It’s really convenient. Not sure why news about Northwest hasn’t been out before.