The first time I flew anywhere, I remember my parents having a big envelope full of plane tickets. Each one was printed on card stock and seemed to be several pages long. Also, flying from Vermont to anywhere generally requires several stops, so it was a pretty good sized stack. These tickets were probably the most important thing to remember on the way to the airport.
More recently, I have checked into flights by swiping my credit card at the now-ubiquitous digital kiosks, which has made the inevitable (at least for me) last-minute scramble out of the door a little less stressful.
Now Apple has been granted a patent that when fully implemented should make travel even more convenient for all of you iDevice users out there. The patent is for a service that Apple calls “iTravel” in the application. Using near-field radio communication (NFC), your iDevice “will store and transmit travel reservations and traveler identifications using a travel management application. Various methods may be employed to acquire the reservation and identification information on the handheld device.”
What this means is that once NFC readers become common at the airport, all you will need to do is wave your iDevice near the reader to check in or board the plane. In the meantime, it seems that this function will be handled by Passbook, which is one of the new features that Apple has announced will be a part of iOS 6 (due to be released this fall).
According to Apple: “With Passbook, you can scan your iPhone or iPod touch to check in for a flight, get into a movie, and redeem a coupon.” Their example image, which I have included with this article, shows that this will be accomplished via a QR code displayed on the screen.