Virgin Australia mobile check-in goes paperless

Mobile check-in is now paperless on all Virgin Australia domestic flights, with digital boarding passes all that’s needed to step on board.

Previously, electronic boarding passes from mobile check-in were scanned at the gate, although a printed boarding pass had to be produced by the ground crew for presentation at the aircraft door.

Under the new arrangements, travellers will present their phone at the gate for scanning, but also on board the aircraft – removing the need for a hard copy, and extra clutter in the carry-on of frequent travellers.

Here’s what the airline’s mobile boarding passes look like when imported into the Passbook app on the iPhone:

All of the important details are still there – the boarding time is made quite clear, as is the flight origin and destination.

While frequent flyer status isn’t shown in text form, the colouring of the background is adjusted accordingly – making priority boarding hassle-free for those who are eligible.

The paperless system is now available on all domestic flights – including those to regional destinations and where aerobridges aren’t used for boarding – although printed boarding passes are still required for international flights.

As passengers are traditionally asked to switch their phones off when on the tarmac, we asked a Virgin Australia spokeswoman how this would actually work in practice. Here’s what we were told:

“Civil Aviation Safety Authority regulations state that guests’ mobile devices can remain switched on whilst transiting on the tarmac, however cannot be in use.”

Between the gate and the aircraft door, passengers must have the phone “stowed within their personal belongings”, before being unlocked and presented to the crew on board.

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Chris C.

Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.