Why do I need to show a boarding pass when buying a magazine at the airport?

Back to Forum
Viewing 15 posts - 211 through 225 (of 423 total)

  • SimonS1
    Participant

    Lizzy – lucky she used a quiet voice, I dont think the govt has worked out what’s happening yet 🙂


    simonjames
    Participant

    A boarding overtake will permit you to proceed past the security ascertain point, and up on the plane. The FAA will not permit an airline to issue a boarding pass until 24 hours before a air travel. This is to double-check people are not just buying a ticket to get into the aerodrome.


    GudFella
    Participant

    @ Capetonianm: my reference was to airside purchases, not before security. thought that was implied in the question and response.


    Traveller900
    Participant

    When at WHS, and refusing to show my pass, stating it was just for data collection, the lady serving agreed, and put my purchase through.

    When doing the same at Boots, the server was stroppy, and declined my purchase

    The solution….buy as many small bits and bobs you can, and when they decline, tell them to put them back…..as many folk as possible do this, and they will soon tire of blatant data collection.


    LuganoPirate
    Participant

    I wonder what they do when you have your boarding pass as an MMS on your phone? I don’t think they can scan that.

    I always wonder anyway why everyone wants to collect data on what we do, where we go, what we buy etc.


    MartynSinclair
    Participant

    The data can be entered manually.

    If you can’t find b pass and u are so inclined, just think of a destination or 3 numbers, it works.


    canucklad
    Participant

    Well LP,

    Our personal information = Data = Cash
    So much so that when I flew out to HKG with Turkish earlier this year when I checked in at EDI the clerk asked me to sign up to their FFP. This was after I had asked to make sure my Aeroplan details were already in the system.

    She still tried to convince me of the benefits, because she was being very nice I agreed, she smiled, and I asked how much she was being incentivised? She didn’t let the exact figure out the bag, but admitted she was being paid a bonus per individual signed up!!

    And a word of warning, your mobile phone sends out data to be collected by ,god knows who, without you even realizing it ! Part of the T&C’s when you sign up to specific apps…. : (


    MrMichael
    Participant

    The reason they scan your boarding card is for weight reasons. Each item you purchase the retailer knows the weight of. This info is then sent in realtime to the airline. The airline then know the weight of purchased items that will be boarding each flight. For instance on my Madrid commute, with say 150 pax each purchasing 2 x mags and bottle of water this could save a few quid in fuel for the journey, lets say for example a fuel saving of £10. This added to the average weight of the pax, the weighed baggage and any freight gives the flight crew an accurate take off weight, and thus the amount of fuel required for the flight. Then take each plane, say four sectors a day thats £40 per day. Times that by 364 days and a fleet of 100 aircraft and you have a saving there of close to £1.5M. For Ryanair with an average of 5 sectors a day and a fleet over 300 your getting close to £4m.

    I was only joking by the way….only joking!


    LuganoPirate
    Participant

    I really wrote that tongue in cheek Canucklad. I know the data gets sold to all sorts but it still amazes me someone is willing to pay for the knowledge that 120 people travelling to Paris yesterday bought a bag of Jelly Baby’s! ;-),


    MarcusGB
    Participant

    At LHR if they ask for a mere newspaper or magazine, i just say “unless it is tax free which has been abolished, it is not a requirement” and say where i am travelling too. That seems to fix it.
    Schiphol say it is just for tracking movements of passengers through the terminals to assist them in future planning. Their re-building happening now, has taken this data into account.


    Charles-P
    Participant

    People need to be aware of how much data is being collected about them. My nephew who works in the marketing department of a car manufacturer told me of how after they had received a presentation from one of the major social media companies everybody present deleted their account with them that day because they were shocked at what details were being sold.

    Greetings Fellow Travellers!

    FYI: You MUST protect your passport and other persona info. It is meant for border/government use ONLY. It is not, repeat NOT, mandatory to show ANY personal info- passport, etc.- to airport merchants- or any other merchant for that matter. The companies will gladly take your info and sell it to who knows who for millions WITHOUT your prior knowledge nor permission nor any compensation to you PROVIDED you simply and mindlessly “go along”. Like any unethical practice, it’s up to us to challenge it. If anyone tells you otherwise, have them show you the legal statute. They will not be able to because none such exist. Put it bluntly, here is my payment for my purchases or simply leave the goods on the counter and walk away.


    LadyLlondon
    Participant

    Not if you’re just buying a newspaper or a magazine, they don’t. Those items are not charged VAT anywhere.


    LadyLlondon
    Participant

    I think everything FormerlyDos is saying is bang on. Personal data is being collected here without our permission. Even if some regulation does permit this without our permission, don’t we have the right to request copy of the data held on us from the holder under the UK Data Protection Act?

    I’ve left stuff on the counter before when this got onerous. Bad enough trying to open your wallet securely, balance bag and luggage, balance the item you are buying, take card and change…. and then have to dig out your boarding card!!! toooooo much just for a newspaper or even a magazine.


    railwayman1
    Participant

    i have just found this thread so apologies if i am covering old ground, but as a regular traveler through Stansted airport i have grown so peeved off by this practice that earlier this year after several arguments with staff at boots i eventually wrote to the airport to complain.
    My main complaint was that as they said they only needed the flight number then a verbal or visual presenting of the boarding pass should suffice as the bar code contains passport data which they have no right to access.
    If you recall Ryanair used to show the Passport details of passengers on their boarding cards up to a few years ago however they have since had to remove this as discarded slips could fall into the wrong hands and they would be liable for a breach of data protection. Anyway the airport passed my complaint to Boots public relations dept whose manager wrote back to me to apologize. She stated that under no circumstances should the staff demand that i present my boarding pass and that it was just a request. She also stated that staff had been re-briefed about this and that i should not have any further problems. She was vague on the subject of what the information was being used for and i was none the wiser.
    I found that things improved for about a month before it returned to the same old arguments to the extent now that i refuse to purchase anything at the airport except a tea and a sandwich at Pret (one of the few shops left that don’t have this policy).
    over the last 8 years i have probably spent in the region of £2000 per year on small gifts and sundries etc. However that has now dropped to just a few hundred now. and on top of that my airport experience has diminished to a level whereby i look at the shops there with contempt as i feel that it is a nasty way to treat your customers effectively stealing your shopping habits to profile you against your wishes. I hope that more and more regular travelers boycott these establishments there so that perhaps they will realise that the customer should be treated with respect.
    PS as i generally get the same flight each week i did think about getting a T-shirt printed with my flight no. in big font on the front and a statement on the top saying ” Attention Stansted retailer my flight number is xxxxxxx. then go into Boots again and see what they would say. However knowing my luck i would probably be arrested for a breach of the peace or protesting without a licence and find myself banned from the airport.

Viewing 15 posts - 211 through 225 (of 423 total)
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Business Traveller March 2024 edition
Business Traveller March 2024 edition
Be up-to-date
Magazine Subscription
To see our latest subscription offers for Business Traveller editions worldwide, click on the Subscribe & Save link below
Polls