I read an article the other day over in Travel + Leisure titled Why You Should Always Print Your Boarding Pass. Because I’m a sucker for articles like that, I clicked through and it gave a few reasons to print your boarding pass, which I will share here. While I do think the article makes some valid points, I should also mention that in 2025, I almost never print my boarding pass any more, and so I’ll share my reasoning and what I normally do. I’m also curious to hear from readers as to what percentage of the time you print your boarding passes
Why You Should Always Print Your Boarding Pass
Here were the reasons you should always print your boarding pass, from the T+L article:
- Your phone could die
- You could lose service or Wi-Fi
- The airline’s app could glitch
- It has your ticket number on it
Why I Don’t Print My Boarding Pass
As I mentioned, I very rarely print my boarding pass any more, especially if I’m traveling domestically. I generally just take a screenshot of my boarding pass and/or add it to Apple (Google) Wallet. Here are my responses to the 4 reasons from the article:
- Charge your phone and/or bring a battery pack. At the worst case, if you notice your phone is about to die, you can get a printed copy from any gate agent
- That’s why I take a screenshot
- That’s still why I take a screenshot
- This seems like a stretch?
As someone mentioned in the comment section – “The possibility of these “issues” is so remote it approaches 0. The gate agent has access to your reservation if you show them ID. Forget carrying an extra scrap of paper around that you might lose”. It reminds me of the Nationwide Dr. Rick “Old Man Airport Behaviors” commercials.
If I was traveling internationally, especially somewhere where I was unfamiliar or where I was on a visa where I need to show proof of further travel, I would probably print my boarding pass.
The Bottom Line – Do You Print Your Boarding Passes?
Okay – I shared the article saying you SHOULD print your boarding passes and shared what I do (and how I almost never print mine). So now it’s your turn – I’m curious to hear from other readers as to whether they print boarding passes
Do you print your boarding pass or just use an electronic copy – leave your strategy in the comments below
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at
If I am traveling on a partner airline, absolutely — much easier to request credit than with the little digital pass screenshot IMHO.
I always print mine… because I’m always behind someone who takes 1-2 minutes to pull theirs up from their phone and then there’s an error and they pull them to the side….
Always printed…..and EFFFFFF Delta and United for programming their kiosks to make it difficult to get one.