Many of us are excited to fly in a plane and peep out the window but once the flight is over, we throw away our boarding passes, treating them like just a piece of paper.
But here I make a list of four things you will never, ever throw your boarding passes in the trash. Find out why.
1. Tampering with your personal data
The boarding pass especially consists of the identifiable information which is the name of the passenger, date of travel, seat number and flight number. Now just imagine, if someone wants to play a trick on you, they can provide all your personal information to the airline department and easily change your travel date, cancel your flight or change your desired seat. Her Majesty’s shock?
2. Decode the barcode
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Curious about what that barcode on your boarding pass says? Not a difficult task now! There is a website that can decode all the data stored in a barcode. Usually, it contains:
- date of birth
- Billing address information
- Frequent flyer number
- Arrival and departure destination
- Elite status
- travel class
After extracting the above from the barcode, anyone can withdraw the information and misuse it against you.
3. Reset your Frequent Flyer Number PIN
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A unique number assigned by an airline to a user enrolled in the frequent flyer program to collect points that can later be redeemed for a flight or to earn rewards. To access the account, you have to enter the PIN, and just in case you forget your PIN, answer a secret question whose answer can be found in your social media account such as Facebook and Twitter. An unkind person could reset your traveler account PIN, leaving you stranded somewhere.
4. Take the photo from social media
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Before you show your enthusiasm by posting a photo of your boarding pass on social media, be aware of the risk you face as an evil person can mishandle your personal data.
So, the next time you think about throwing away your boarding pass, keeping it in a journal or placing it in front of your seat, feed your conscious mind the ramifications coming your way. And maybe you can collect all the boarding passes which will take you back to the good old times when you look at it in the future.
