How to Scan a Boarding Pass Barcode (Aztec & PDF417)

Every boarding pass, whether it prints out at a kiosk or lives on your phone's lock screen, carries a barcode built to one worldwide standard. That barcode is not just a picture the gate agent's scanner recognizes. It's a compact, structured text record you can decode yourself with the right tool, and understanding it explains why some scanners read it instantly while others do nothing at all.

Here's how to scan a boarding pass barcode, which format you're actually looking at, and what data sits inside it.

How do I scan a boarding pass barcode?

Use a scanner built for 2D formats and point it at the barcode, whether it's printed on paper or displayed on a phone screen. The process is the same for either version:

1. Open barcodescanner.online in your phone or desktop browser
2. Point the camera at the barcode, or tap Upload Image and choose a photo of it
3. Hold steady until the code locks on and decodes
4. Read the raw BCBP data in the result, then copy what you need

Everything decodes locally in your browser, so nothing about your flight or your name is sent to a server. That's worth knowing given how much personal data a boarding pass barcode actually holds, which we'll get to below.

What barcode is used on a boarding pass?

Printed boarding passes almost always carry a PDF417 barcode, while mobile boarding passes in a phone wallet typically use Aztec Code. Both are 2D formats defined under the same IATA Bar Coded Boarding Pass (BCBP) standard, so a single scanner engine can read either one.

The split exists for practical reasons. PDF417 is a stacked linear symbol that prints cleanly at low resolution on thermal kiosk paper, which is why airlines settled on it for physical passes decades ago. Aztec Code, by contrast, is a matrix symbol that stays readable even when compressed onto a small, sometimes dimly lit phone screen, which made it the default choice as mobile boarding rolled out. The BCBP standard also permits Data Matrix and QR Code for mobile passes, though Aztec is what you'll see from most major carriers and both major mobile wallets.

If you want the mechanics of either symbology, our guides to PDF417 and Aztec Code cover how each one structures and error-corrects its data.

What data is stored in a boarding pass barcode?

A boarding pass barcode encodes the IATA BCBP data string: passenger name, record locator (PNR), operating carrier, flight number, date of flight, origin and destination airports, cabin, seat, and a sequence number, plus optional fields like frequent flyer number and a security data block.

Every BCBP barcode starts with a format code (M1 for a single leg) followed by fixed-length fields in a set order, which is why any compliant reader worldwide decodes the same layout regardless of which airline issued the pass. A gate scanner uses this to pull the flight and seat instantly instead of a human reading it off the page.

One important detail: most of this data is plain, unencrypted text. Some airlines add a digital signature so a scanner can verify a pass hasn't been altered, but the passenger and flight details themselves are usually readable by any decoder, including a free one online. That has real privacy implications, which is why security researchers have repeatedly warned against posting boarding pass photos publicly. A University of Texas at Dallas researcher noted that extracting the data doesn't take a hacker, just a free barcode reader app, and reporting has documented cases where a leaked barcode photo let a stranger pull up someone's full airline account (see Sources).

Can I scan a mobile boarding pass barcode?

Yes. A mobile pass in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet shows an Aztec or QR code on screen that scans the same way a printed pass does, whether by a phone camera scanner, a handheld gate reader, or a fixed security-lane scanner.

A few adjustments make mobile passes scan more reliably than paper:

• Turn up screen brightness. A dim screen behind glass or a plastic phone case can wash out the code under airport lighting.
• Hold the phone flat. Tilting the screen relative to the scanner introduces the same kind of distortion a curled paper pass does.
• Keep a screenshot as backup. If your wallet app needs a connection to refresh the pass, a saved screenshot still scans fine and works without signal.
• Turn off auto-lock delay. A screen that dims or locks mid-scan is the most common reason a mobile pass fails at the gate.

For general phone-camera scanning behavior and why some default camera apps only recognize QR codes, see how to scan a barcode on your phone.

Are boarding pass barcodes a privacy risk?

Yes, more than most people expect. Because the data is unencrypted and follows a public standard, anyone with a basic barcode scanner app can pull your name, record locator, and flight details from a photo, which is enough in some cases to log into your airline account.

This is why cybersecurity researchers consistently advise against sharing photos of boarding passes on social media, even with the visible text blurred out, since the barcode itself still carries the readable data (see the McAfee and CBS News sources below). If you scan your own pass to check what it contains, use a tool that processes the image on your device rather than uploading it to an unknown server, and treat old boarding passes the same way you'd treat a document with your name and travel history on it: shred it or delete the screenshot once the trip is over.

Sources

• IATA Bar Coded Boarding Pass (BCBP) Implementation Guide - the official IATA standard defining the BCBP data layout and approved barcode symbologies.
• Use your boarding pass in Apple Wallet - Apple's official guide to adding and scanning a mobile boarding pass.
• Selfies with Boarding Passes: A Silent Cybersecurity Risk - McAfee's overview of the data exposed by a boarding pass barcode photo.
• Hidden Data On Boarding Passes Pose Personal Security Risk - CBS News reporting on how easily boarding pass barcode data can be extracted and misused.