Would you leave your front door unlocked and wide open? Many people don’t realize that this is exactly like throwing your flight boarding pass away or posting it online. Hackers can easily scan the barcode that is printed on your pass, gaining instant access to your personal information. Take the advice of security experts who are now advising all passengers to not throw out their passes or post pictures of it online.
Recently, travel blogger Steve H. noticed his Facebook friend put a photo of their boarding pass on his timeline. He ran an experiment to see how much information from the photo could be accessed. The Delta pass included his name and booking number. He entered his friend’s booking number into the Delta Airlines website, Steve was able to see his friends’ frequent flyer details, seat numbers, the cost he paid for the flight, and last four digits of their credit card number. were Steve said he could have easily changed the seats, ordered different meals, or even cancel all or part of their trip!
Even posting a photo of your pass and hiding details like your booking number and name is dangerous. Your barcode is basically exactly the same as your ticket in a condensed format. The bar code reveals your boarding and destination cities, name, flight numbers, gate, times, airport, as well as any frequent traveler account number. One scanning of that image can give a hacker all of that information.
The best advice is to not to use a photo and not post your pass on your phone or any social media accounts. It really is like leaving your front door unlocked and wide open.
