| How often have you been preparing to go on holiday | | | | Narita Airport uses mobile phones equipped with |
| when disaster strikes and you can't find the super | | | | barcodes as boarding passes, with passengers |
| secret hiding place you put the plane tickets months | | | | registering their fingerprints upon arrival. |
| ago? Many people have experienced this panic and | | | | Mobile Phones are not only being used like this for |
| with new proposals being put forward soon we may | | | | boarding passes but also in other ticket related arenas. |
| be able to cut out this added stress to our pre-holiday | | | | One other such use is tickets for music concerts. |
| regimen. | | | | Earlier this year at London's Hammersmith Apollo, |
| The International Air Transport Association (IATA), a | | | | Nokia sponsored a Guns n' Roses concert and used it |
| trade association representing and the airline industry, | | | | as the perfect platform to launch its TicketRush |
| has agreed on a new method of checking in for flights | | | | venture, where concert-goers order their tickets and |
| where travellers can have a bar code on their mobile | | | | are sent a text message with a unique code to |
| phones scanned upon arrival. | | | | present at the door. |
| Many people currently are able to print out their flight | | | | The scheme was deemed enough of a success that |
| information at home over the internet and bring that to | | | | later in this year other artists are joining Nokia to |
| airport as opposed to the old magnetic strip tickets, but | | | | provide mobile phone ticket allocation for popular |
| with air travel receiving heavy criticism from the "green | | | | artists, with as Kasabian, Rihanna and Queens of The |
| crowd" IATA has clearly seen mobile phones as a | | | | Stone Age all listed as upcoming dates. |
| more eco-friendly method of getting passenger's | | | | The use of this system helps provide a more secure |
| tickets to them. | | | | way for fans to get a ticket, since in the past ticket |
| These plans have already been given the green light | | | | touts would scour the crowds outside venues with |
| and now major airlines are considering implementing | | | | convincing fake tickets to sell at extortionate prices, |
| them. British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have | | | | only for punters to be turned away at the door. |
| expressed their interest whilst Ryanair has dismissed | | | | Another similar use has been at Manchester City |
| the idea. | | | | Football Club, again to provide more security and |
| BA in particular has some concerns, since there is no | | | | convenience to the customer. A spokesman says: |
| universal standard with mobile phones such as screen | | | | "Mobile contactless services will mean the end of |
| size and media messaging capabilities. Some airlines | | | | bulging wallets - there will be no need to carry credit |
| have expressed concerns over the added work | | | | and debit cards, travel cards, loyalty cards and security |
| involved, citing that the whole process benefits the | | | | passes. And, we will still be able to provide the |
| passenger but causes extra trouble for the airlines. | | | | information and match information for football fans on |
| If these concerns are resolved then the scheme could | | | | their mobile phones." |
| be rolled out as early as 2008, with a target for the old | | | | There have even been talks for mobile phones to be |
| paper-based tickets to be obsolete by 2010. If this | | | | used as methods of payment for food outlets and the |
| were to happen then there is a potential saving of | | | | club store at the venue. |
| $500m (about £250m) by adopting the paperless | | | | So it seems that mobile phones are on the brink of |
| system. | | | | gaining a whole new batch of uses, showing there are |
| But as with most technological advances, the Far East | | | | many new and convenient ways of integrating into our |
| is already pioneering these practices and Tokyo's | | | | lives and culture. |