How to Understand a Boarding Pass
- 1). Look at your boarding pass. Notice how it is broken up. There are some variations between the boarding passes of different airlines, but for the most part they are similar in design. Notice how the boarding pass is broken up into two main sections. One section (usually on the left) will be what the airline keeps, and the section on the right will be what you keep. Most information is the same on both halves.
- 2). Look to the left half of the ticket. Most of the information there is replicated on the right side, with exception to the barcode, which is used by the airline companies to scan and verify that you have entered the aircraft. The barcode isn't necessary for the traveler to understand, necessarily--it is just an electronic way to represent all the other information on the pass.
- 3). Look toward the top of the right half of the ticket and find where it says "Name of Passenger." This is the traveler's name that will be flying--usually your name. It normally has your last name first, and then your first name, often separated by a slash. You will need to show your government-issued ID at security for them to make sure that you are the person listed on your boarding pass.
- 4). Look below your name on the right side. You will see a section that says "From." This is where you are flying out of. This is your departure airport. Often on the right, the airport or city will be spelled out. If you look to the left hand side of the ticket, where there is also a "from" section, it will often use the abbreviation of the airport. For example, if on the right, it may say "ORLANDO, FL," the left side may say "MCO," which is Orlando International Airport's abbreviation.
- 5). Look below the "From" section, and you will see the "To" section. This is your destination airport. The same rules normally apply as they do to the "From" section--it will be spelled out on the right, and abbreviated on the left.
- 6). Look below the "To" section on the left--below it will be a list of letters and numbers, usually arranged in two rows. The first group of characters will normally be listed as "company code." This is the airline code of the company you are flying with. V3, for example, is the Carpatair company code.
- 7). Look to the immediate right of the "Company Code" section, and you should find your "Flight Number." This is the flight that you will be boarding on. It will normally be only numbers--437 or 2239, for example.
- 8). Find the Letter right next to the flight number. This letter will tell you the class of the seats that you are in and paid for. If you paid for first class, you will have either an F, P, A, or R, for instance. There are many distinctions in the letters, but it is just the class of seats you paid for.
- 9). Look immediately to the right of your seat class and you will see the date and time of the flight you are supposed to be flying out on. If, for instance, the date says: 16AUG, this means that you will be flying out on August 16. Next to that is the estimated time of your flight. It is normally notated in military time, which means that 0000 would be 12:00 a.m., 0900 would be 9:00 a.m., 1300 would be 1:00 p.m., and 2359 would be 11:59 p.m.
- 10
Find the second row of characters. The first will often be the "Gate" section, which will tell you the gate where your flight is departing. This can get changed from the time that you print your pass and the time that you get to the airport, so check out the constantly changing gate monitors at the airport for an up-to-the-minute schedule of the right gates. - 11
Find the four digit number next to the gate section, and you will have found the "Boarding Hour." This is similar to the departure time, but sooner--it simply tells you when you can begin boarding the aircraft. - 12
Looking immediately next to the boarding time, find your seat number. This will be a two-digit number and a letter-such as 10A. This means you are in row 10, and seat A. This is where you will be sitting during your flight. - 13
Find the final row of numbers and you will have found the number of bags you have checked and the weight in which they are. If you don't check any bags, this will probably not apply to you.
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