And Another Thing

about my recent trip to ATL (apparently I just can't stop talking about it).

I used an eBoarding Pass for the flight.

I'm sure this isn't new technology to people who fly quite a bit - but it was new to me.

When I checked in on-line with Delta I could select to print a boarding pass or to use an eBoarding pass. I selected the eBoarding pass option - I hate having to print at home and I think we are out of paper anyway. In just a few minutes I received a text message with my flight, seat, gate, and boarding zone information and a curious box with a strange pattern at the very top.

As it turns out, this box is what is scanned by TSA before going in to security and the flight crew at boarding time. I just handed them my device and it went under a scanner and as soon as the information was read I was on my way.

Of course the first time I used it at LGA I was sure it wasn't going to work. I went to the check-in counter first just to make sure all I needed to do was show TSA my Blackberry. They said it should work but they printed me a boarding pass just in case there was a problem. They were pretty funny - they said "show them your Blackberry first to see if it works, only pull out the paper boarding pass if they try to send you back to the counter". They wanted to see if the system was working.

I got up to the front the security line where they check your ID and Blackberry - I handed the TSA agent my Blackberry and ID. She didn't even bat an eye. She scanned my device, checked my ID and that was that. When I boarded the plane they held my device under the bar code reader and again no problem.

What a great way to travel, so easy plus it made me feel oh so tech savvy!