In a brief launching ceremony yesterday, Continental Airlines- Guam passenger service manager Sylvia Crafton demonstrated how passengers can receive boarding passes electronically on their cell phones or PDAs.
The mobile boarding pass eliminates the need for paper boarding passes, and provides heightened security at the same time.
“The special, two dimensional barcode provides more security and convenience than the paper boarding pass which can be manipulated or duplicated,” Crafton said.
Travelers can check in online, or through mobile or voice applications.
“You have to provide an email address of the mobile device that you would like the mobile boarding pass to be sent to then retrieve the mobile boarding pass via a link that is contained in the email,” Crafton said.
Upon entering the gate, a traveler will simply have to present identification to the Transportation Security Administration personnel and scan the mobile boarding pass barcode at a checkpoint scanner.
Passengers can also present the mobile boarding pass to the flight attendant upon boarding the aircraft, if required.
Rella Kretzers, Continental Micronesia manager for Saipan, yesterday said they were very pleased that Saipan had been added to the growing list of airports that use mobile boarding passes.
“I am confident that this additional service will give our customers a more hassle-free air travel experience, and this is further evidence of our strong commitment to providing our customers on Saipan, Guam and Micronesia with more added value and higher level of customer service,” Kretzers said.
Federal Security Director for the NMI Mike Conley said “the mobile boarding pass would mean more convenience to Saipan’s passengers during departure.”
Continental Airlines is the first carrier to offer paperless boarding passes in the United States in a pilot program with the TSA in December 2007. It was launched on Guam in March this year.
For more information, visit http://www.continental.com/web/en-us/content/travel/wireless/default.aspx.
