Why do I need to get a boarding pass before boarding an American Airlines flight?

Each passenger must have a boarding pass to occupy a seat on the plane, the simple fact of having a plane ticket is not enough to board a plane. The boarding pass is generated during check-in. There are two possibilities to do this:

- By performing an online procedure
Using the online form on the aa.com website, where you must enter the required data and after generating the boarding pass, you must print it out and take it with you to the airport.

- From the check-in counter at the airport

At the American Airlines check-in counter or at the self-service check-in counter; in this case, the boarding pass is printed by the airline employee or by a machine.

Each passenger has a boarding pass completed with a series of data whose scope is determined by the American airline. In addition, the data required may vary depending on the route as it is related to the visa requirements established by the country of arrival.

When checking in, you must indicate the name, type, number and series of the document you are traveling with such as an identity document or passport as well as additional information such as country and date of arrival. issuance and validity of the document.

This is important because the consistency of the data on the boarding pass and the documents is checked during the security check. If the data does not match, the passenger will not be able to pass the security check.
During the check-in operation on the flight, passengers will be asked for the reservation code, email, corresponding names and surnames, date of birth and contact details.
You can choose the seat or keep the one randomly assigned by the airline.

Mobile boarding pass on American Airlines flights

American Airlines gives you the option to register your boarding pass on mobile, and for this you only need to register your flight from the American Airlines mobile application.
You must use the official application of the airline in question.
But even if you use online check-in, at the end of the process AA offers you the possibility to have your mobile boarding pass sent to you, for example by e-mail or sometimes by SMS/MMS).

To take advantage of this service, you must:

- Download the official airline app on your mobile phone;
- Open the app and enter the required information (e.g. name + booking number / e-ticket number);
- Check in via mobile check-in, reserve a seat if needed, then save your mobile boarding pass to your mobile phone;
- If you have an iPhone, it is better to save the mobile boarding pass in the Apple Wallet app, so that you can also access the offline boarding pass.

If you're using an Android device, you can save your boarding pass to Google Pay for offline access later.

What information is displayed on the mobile boarding pass?

You will usually find the following information on the mobile boarding pass:
- QR code (with which we scan your boarding pass)
- First and last name of the passenger
- Reservation and flight number
- Departure airport and destination airport
- Departure terminal
- Seat number

Since the mobile boarding pass usually replaces the printed boarding pass, it should be displayed where it should be. This applies in particular to security checks, passport checks, during shopping in the duty-free shop, and at the boarding gate.

Can the boarding pass be scanned from a PDF file?

If you receive your boarding pass in PDF format, you must print it out, as some airlines do not allow you to scan PDF boarding passes. If you use mobile check-in, you must therefore have a mobile boarding pass.

Priority boarding service is available on American Airlines flights

American Airlines has set up a Priority Boarding service in most of the airports in its network, with the possibility for service customers to take two pieces of hand luggage in the cabin.

The Priority Boarding service is intended to improve the experience of passengers traveling on AA flights during boarding across the entire network. Passengers who have chosen this new Priority Boarding service when booking will now be able to take advantage of it at more than hundred airports around the world. The signage recently displayed at the airport gates will make it easier to distinguish the priority lanes, underlines Volotea in its press release.

The service is only available for certain categories of travellers: Members of the AAdvantage loyalty program with Gold and Executive World Elite status, Oneworld Ruby members, passengers boarding in the Economy Premium cabin.

Buy a priority boarding pass from American Airlines

The service is chargeable for other passengers, the price of which varies between $9 and $74 depending on the flight and the class of travel.

Final Time: When do the boarding gates close?
The doors of aircraft deployed on AA flights open 30 to 50 minutes before the flight and close 15 minutes before departure.

Arriving beyond this time limit deprives you of your right to boarding. You cannot get on a plane, as you cannot pick up your reservation.