Protect your travel: Don't share those photos online

People heading for their long-awaited vacation often post photos on social media revealing details of their trip. Some are unaware that sharing a photo of their boarding pass online can have unpleasant consequences.

When traveling by plane, we must remember two key documents: a passport or ID card and a boarding pass. Without them, we won’t be able to pass through airport security, shop, or board the plane. The boarding pass includes our personal information, flight details, and seat number, making it very important to keep it with you.

Excited travelers often want to share their trip on social media. However, they do not know that posting this document can bring them a lot of misfortune. After all, the boarding pass includes not only our personal data, destination, and seat number but also a QR code that unauthorized persons can exploit.

The inconspicuous code on the boarding pass contains sensitive data, which is visible once airport staff scans it. When the staff at check-in scans the QR code, they see the passport number, the payment details for the trip, and the card number used to pay for the flight.

It may seem that only airport computers can read the data from the boarding pass, but the truth is different. Dozens of online barcode readers provide information based on a submitted photo. Access to all this information is much easier than it might seem, but posting uncensored images of boarding passes carries significant risk.

Steve Hui, a travel expert, demonstrated the results of an experiment on Instagram. He showed how easy it is to exploit a photo of a boarding pass shared on social media. All it took was to scan the QR code from someone's image to gain access to the travel details and even the person's credit card information.

This data can not only be used for identity theft but also cause severe financial losses if someone uses this method to take control of the traveler’s account. By sharing boarding pass data, we risk someone taking over our reservation. Without additional security measures, a scammer can cancel our flight, change travel dates, and even seat another passenger in our place.