How to Add an Airline Boarding Pass to Google Pay Digital Wallet

Add Plane Tickets to Google Pay Wallet – How to Set Up and Use Airline Boarding Passes in Google Pay Digital Wallet

Adding an airline boarding pass to Google Pay digital wallet is a safe and convenient way to flight information on your phone. You won’t need to worry about printing boarding passes or in the case of some deep discount airlines, paying for a boarding pass. Google Pay and some other popular digital wallets now let you store boarding passes for flights and other public transportation.

What is an Electronic Wallet?

A digital wallet is an app installed on a mobile device and used to pay for purchases. Digital wallet apps store credit cards, debit cards, and other forms of payment that can be used to shop online, in stores, and within other apps. Wallets use near field communication (NFC) and phone security features to protect data and money. Some electronic wallets cam also stores airline boarding passes, train tickets, store loyalty cards, event tickets, and driver’s licenses.

Widely used electronic wallets include Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Venmo, and PayPal. Some retailers like Starbucks offer their own electronic wallets that can only be used in their stores.

Using an electronic wallet safeguards users’ payment information because the full card numbers are never shared with the retailer. Purchases are authorized with a payment token. When a plane ticket is added to Google Pay, the app will also give yo ustatus updates and flight delay information.

RELATED ELECTRONIC WALLET INFO

• Electronic Wallets Advantages and Disadvantages
• What is a Mobile Wallet?
• Apple Pay Mobile Wallet – How to Add a Card
• How to Set Up Apple Mobile Wallet iPhone
• How to Unlink a Payment Method from Android Wallet

Are Electronic Wallets Safe to Use?

Electronic wallets, also called e- wallets, mobile wallets, or digital wallets are a secure way to shop online and in retail stores. Electronic wallets encrypt and store payment cards and accounts. Electronic wallet users upload a snapshot of a bank card or enter in card numbers to save the payment information in the wallet. The cards are encrypted and protected. Most electronic wallets require that the consumer enter a passcode or use biometric login like facial recognition a fingerprint to securely authorize transactions.

How do I Add a Boarding Pass to my Wallet?

There are a few ways to get your sirlines boarding pass into a digital wallet. In this exmaple, I’m adding a United Airlines bording pass as an exmaple, but this works for many airlines. If you’re using Google Pay, then you may find that your boarding pass was automatically added to Google Pay if your airline reservation was made using your Gmail account. Google products such as Chrome web browser, YouTube, Google Maps, Google Calendar all share information under the guise of making your tasks easier and convenient. What’s really going on is that Google is tracking everything you do and purchase and use that data to sell advertising space.

Google Pay is no exception. If you purchased an airline ticket using your Gmail account, Google Pay will add your boarding pass to Google Pay. The app does not request your permission and a notification is not sent. When I experimented with Google Pay to write this post, I saw that several of my train and airline tickets had been stored in the electronic wallet.

All android phones have the Google Pay wallet preinstalled. You’ll be able to log into your electronic wallet from any device that uses a synced Gmail account.

How to Add Boarding Pass To Google Pay Digital Wallet from an Airline App

1. Download yor airline’s app from Google Play app store. Note, that s Google Play NOT Pay
2. Log into your airline loyalty account
3. Check in for your flight using the airline app
4. Use the airline app to get a mobile boarding pass
5. Tap the option to view your boarding pass in the airline app
6. Tap add to your boarding pass to Google Pay
7. Open Google Pay wallet to confirm your boarding pass is saved

How Do I Get My Boarding Pass on My Android Phone?

You don’t need to use the United Airlines mobile app to save boarding passes to Google Pay. Passengers can save United boarding passes straight from Gmail and a web browser. Storing a boarding is automatic when you purchase your United flight using the same Gmail account that is connected to the Gmail used for your Google Pay electronic wallet.

1. When you purchase your United Airlines ticket, use your Gmail account that is associated with your electronic wallet
2. When it’s time for your flight, check in online and have your boarding passes sent to your Gmail account
3. Google Pay should automatically add your boarding passes to your electronic wallet

If you have already purchased an airline ticket using a non-Google email forward the reservation confirmation and emailed boarding pass to your Gmail account. Google Calendar and Google Pay may read the contents and add the trip to your calendar and electronic wallet. It doesn’t always work, but often it does.

What is Google Pay?

Google Pay is an electronic wallet developed by Google. The mobile wallet comes preinstalled on all Android devices and cannot be uninstalled unless you rootkit your smartphone. Google Pay electronic wallet can be used to store payment information like credit cards, debit cards, and PayPal credentials. Mobile wallet users can pay in stores and online without having to swipe or dip their physical payment cards at a point-of-sale (POS) terminal.

How to Use a Google Pay Boarding Pass at the Airport

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Transportation Security Agency (TSA) staff has been accepting mobile boarding passes for several years. So, using an airline boarding pass that was saved to Google Pay is straightforward and accepted at all airports.

1. Open Google Pay
2. Select Passes
3. Tap the boarding pass for your flight to open it
4. Hold your phone, screen down, over the reader at the TSA checkpoint

To open an airline boarding pass using your Google Assistant touch and hold the Home button or say “OK Google.” Then say a command like “show me my flight.”

You’ll still need to show identification along with your boarding pass.

Michelle Dvorak

Michelle writes about cyber security, data privacy focusing on social media privacy as well as how to protect your IoT devices. She has worked in internet technology for over 20 years and owns METRONY, LLC. Michelle earned a B.S. in Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Michelle published a guide to Cyber Security for Business Travelers