Why You Should Never Instagram Your Boarding Pass

Why You Should Never Instagram Your Boarding Pass

Or Facebook, or tweet, or post a picture of it on any other social media site. Boarding pass has a lot of traveler’s personal details on it. All of it contained within the pass’s barcode. By using technology (there are even websites that will decode it for you) to read that barcode, someone can get access to your full name, future flight information, frequent flier number, address, and more.

You shouldn’t put pictures of it on the internet. That’s true even after the flight itself has taken place since a lot of personal detail is still extractable.

The information on your boarding pass can provide access to other confidential information, and it can allow someone else to cancel your booking. Steve Hui decided to demonstrate how easy it can be to access a stranger’s information by using a photo of a boarding pass. The traveler who posted the photo was flying on Delta Airlines, so Hui headed to the “Manage My Booking” section of Delta’s website. All the site required was the passenger’s name and the booking reference or ticket number, which was printed right on the boarding pass. Using this information, Hui was able to see all of the passenger’s details, including their travel itinerary, frequent flyer details, and the last four digits of their credit card number.

With this information, an unscrupulous person can change future flights’ seats, cancel the flights altogether and even reset the airline account so that the original account holder is no longer able to access it.

How to protect your Boarding Pass data
» Check your credit card and bank statements. You should be checking those on regular basis anyhow
» Make sure that you don’t simply crumple and throw away your boarding passes, either shred or tear them in a way that the barcode is unreadable
» Do Not Post Online

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