Boarding Pass Secrets: This is something you need to know. Now!

More often than not travellers just throw away their boarding pass without properly destroying them first. There is a plethora of information on your boarding pass. And if that data lands in the hand of a hacker or a prankster they can make your journey and life afterwards, for the lack of a better word, hellish.

Here is a list of valuable information your boarding passes may contain:

1. Passenger Name
2. Contact information, i.e. phone number
3. Email Address in case of online booking
4. Information on all connecting flights
5. Seat Number
6. Frequent Flyer Number
7. Flight Number
8. Boarding Gate Number
9. Linked access to your email
10. Linked access to the mode of payments, i.e. credit card or online bank accounts

Yes, that seemingly harmless piece of paper aka the boarding pass holds within it a vault of your personal information just waiting to be exploited.

So, keep in mind these boarding pass secrets before you post photos of your passes online or share them with random people who may use this information to prank you.

7 Boarding Pass Secrets you never took seriously!

1. The easiest information that can be obtained from you boarding passes is your travel dates. Say for example you and your family are leaving for vacation in two weeks; criminals can track this information. They can use this opportunity to plan a home invasion, steal your cars and other valuables without the fear of you coming home unexpectedly.
2. Since boarding passes display your seat numbers, someone can call the airline, pretend to be you and change your seat. Usually, this is not possible once the seat has already been assigned, but if they manage to pull it off, good luck changing the seat at the last minute. And God help you if the flight is full. You can now enjoy a 12-hour plane journey on a non-reclining isle seat next to the lavatory!
3. Since most of your personal information is available on your boarding pass, a prankster can call the airline pretend to be you and cancel your ticket without you ever finding out. Unscrupulous elements might even convince the airline it wasn’t you and get another ticket without paying cancellation fees, but, for a flight that leaves tomorrow because yours already took off. Now, your family is halfway to Hawaii, and you are sipping cool aid at the airport lounge.
4. Similar to changing seats a prankster may even change the date of your journey. Of course, this is hard to pull off since, this may attract a sizable fee, but if they can get away without paying for it, you can be in for a world of pain.
5. Criminals could track your details if you’re travelling together and use your flight details to blackmail you.
6. Your boarding passes often contain your frequent flyer number. This information alone is enough for someone to hack into your online account (hacking these days is a child’s play) with the airlines and could sell your air miles to anyone. Good luck getting your airline to help track this crime as it’s against airline regulations to sell your miles.
7. Although rare, your boarding pass may contain your phone number. Criminals can use this information to duplicate your sim and use it to hijack your text messages. They can then attempt to log in to your social media accounts using the two-factor authentication system. If successful they can hold your accounts hostage for ransom and cause a lot of unnecessary harassment.

While some of these situations listed here are extreme, these options are certainly out there. A harmless photo on social media or carelessness in discarding your boarding pass can give pranksters or criminals a free pass to cause a lot of unpleasantness for the unassuming victim. Please, bear in mind these boarding pass secrets before bragging about your vacation to a tropical paradise.

10 Interesting facts about Aviation & Commercial Flights

1. Pilots eat a different meal

Not only do pilots eat a different meal from the passengers each co-pilot gets a different meal. This is done to safeguard the flight in cases of food cuisine. Sometimes seven the cuisine is different.

2. A Boeing 747 consists of 6 million distinct parts

Boeing 747 is the most commercial aircraft in the world and is referred to as the Jumbo Jet or the Queen of Skies. And is made up of 6 million distinct parts.

3. More than 80 percent of the people are afraid of flying

Acrophobia or fear of heights affects a majority of the human population. In addition to a little old fear of flying (rational or irrational), acrophobia can come in till a variety of fears in people. These include the likes of being away from the ground, climbing ladders and other such things.

4. The individual weight of the Boeing 747 engines in about 9500 pounds

If you thought that aeroplanes are light as a feather, not only does a single engine on the Boeing 747 weighs and approx. 9500 pounds. Each engine costs a whopping 8 million USD to manufacture.

5. Hartsfield- Jackson Airport (ATL), Atlanta is the world’s busiest commercial airport

Atlanta’s International airport is the busiest commercial airport in the world and handles the traffic of about 970,000 planes each year. In the year 2012, nearly 260,000 passengers travelled daily through the airport.

6. The maximum speed of Boeing 747 is 955 km per hour!

Boeing 747 is the most commercial aircraft in the world and is referred to as the Jumbo Jet or the Queen of Skies. The maximum speed of a Boeing 747 is about 955 km/h.

7. How many people have flown in an aeroplane?

Surprisingly in a world of nearly 7.2 human beings, only 5 percent have flown an aeroplane. This is because many regions in the world still lack air connectivity and a majority of the population still cannot afford to travel by aeroplane. Irrespective of how short the distance may be.

8. For how long is a commercial aircraft viable for flying?

Commercial aircraft can be viable for up to 20 years. But depending on the rate and degree of metal fatigue, cracks and damages its can be flown beyond the 20-year age limit.

9. Who is the world’s most frequent flyer?

A man names Tom Stucker is the world’s most frequent flyer. He travelled over one million air miles alone in the year 2012 and that too, all in first class and all on United Airlines. Overall, he has travelled over 13 million miles till date. He is an independent sales trainer and consultant for automobile dealerships.

10. Aeroplane Lavatories can’t be locked

Yes, while you can lock the lavatories onboard an aircraft. They can be locked and unlocked from outside in case of an emergency or suspicious behaviour.