Let Your Phone Be Your Boarding Pass

The list of things you can do with a cell phone keeps growing. In the last six months alone, we’ve covered reports of cell phones acting as payment systems, two-way video devices, and even baseball tickets - now you can also use your cell phone in lieu of an airline boarding pass.

A USA Today report confirms earlier speculation that such a system was in development (which we reported on), and provides details of a Continental Airlines trial that began this week at Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. The system is pretty simple; a bar code displayed on your cell phone’s screen will replace the traditional paper passes scanned by security personnel.

You’ll still need to show photo ID, of course. Basically, this is another example of digital bar codes – stored and displayed on your cell phone – moving into the mainstream, and reducing the amount of paper you’re forced to carry with you while you travel. The Continental test in Houston is expected to last three months before expanding nationwide.

Other airlines, including Delta and US Airways, also expect to launch their own paperless boarding passes in 2008.