My Boarding Pass Collection – The Log of My Travels

I have been flying since I was a pup and that is when I first got a boarding pass.  However, my first time on a plane was around 3 months old though I do not remember it – or the boarding pass 🙂  Thankfully, that will not happen against thanks to my boarding pass collection!

My earliest travels

My first destination was San Juan, Puerto Rico.  I flew again when I was 6 but I do not remember the plane part though I am sure it was exciting for a 6-year old boy to get on a plane (on the flip side, I remember a lot about visiting Disney!).  The first flight I actually remember was when I was 8 years old when I flew alone from San Juan, PR to Miami, FL.  I remember getting on the plane and running into someone who worked with my Mom.  I remember the flight attendant taking care of me.  It was an ADVENTURE!!!!!

Eastern Airlines plane ticket cover circa 1982 travel nostalgia flight
Bring any memories??  I flew Eastern almost exclusively for over 15 years as they dominated the SJU-MIA route.  Loved their L-1011s!

Since then I have flown countless airlines (over 50), to go a multitude of airports (maybe a hundred or so?), and had my fair share of the good, the bad, and the ugly in terms of inflight experience (talking about both airlines AND fellow passengers…).  I have been on airlines that have lasted decades (Delta, Lufthansa, Air France) and on others that disappeared (PanAm, TWA) and on others that are barely a blip in airline history (Kiwi).

Flying has been a part of my life all along and I have the evidence to prove it…  A couple of years after traveling weekly for work, I opened a drawer at home and realized I had been dumping boarding passes in it – and had a good collection.  So I found a box and continued the habit.  To this day.  Here is how a sample of my flights looks like – in boarding passes!

Airline, boarding pass, Alitalia, TWA, Lufthansa, Aerolineas Argentinas, boarding pass collection

Airline, boarding pass, flight, Varig, Emirates, Jet, Kiwi, Lufthansa, Delta, British Airways, Austrian Airlines, Air New Zealand, boarding pass collection
Lots of cool airlines traveled. Notice Kiwi on the top left? No, not in New Zealand – I flew it between Newark and Atlanta.

——————————————————————————————————————-

——————————————————————————————————————-Some of the boarding pass series:

–  Christchurch

–  Dar es Salaam

–  Delta drinks menu

–  Denver

–  Flying TWA

–  Istanbul

–  Las Vegas

–  Little Rock


Do you have any cool boarding passes?   Leave a comment with any that are especially priceless for you!   I especially like those from now-defunct airlines.  I also like them when they are/were colorful.  The boring plain black & white en vogue these days in the name of costs savings really are a big downer for a boarding fan like me.  And even the ink used wears out over time.  While I appreciate technology innovation and what e-boarding passes allow, I still print mine at the airport to keep adding to my collection.  Yep, I live to travel as you have noticed 🙂

I keep mine in wooden boxes that I have bought during my travels or have been given by my Mom from her travels.  Once in a blue moon, it’s fun to open one of those small boxes and remember trips from near and far trips!

————————————————————————————————————

Comments

  1. This is awesome, Raul. I used to keep all of my boarding passes as well, but have done away with most of them.
    Leah Travels recently posted..Two Things to Love about Cabo San Lucas, MexicoMy Profile

    • Hi, Leah! I have been able to keep them in some wooden boxes I have been given as souvenirs over the years so, for now, no harm no foul.

  2. what a cool collection to have, paper proof of travels. are you now using the mobile app for airlines that allows you to have a mobile boarding pass? what will that do to the collection? oh, and one more question – what’s the best seat you’ve ever had?

    • @JR, thanks for visiting and for the questions! I use paper passes still because I don’t trust my phone to NOT crash at the wrong moment (when I walk up to the TSA person)!!!! So I keep getting boarding passes though they are no longer the cute small size… Best seat? After United bumped me from my business class ticket on my way to Buenos Aires in 2000, they did get me on a FIRST class to Sao Paulo – first class international seat rocked (now-a-days, there are better seats but back then, that was GOOD!)

      • Dear Raul,
        What a great collection that you have. I am a boarding pass collector and I dont just collect my flights. I wanted to tell you if you ever think about giving away some of the boarding passes you have who will care them as much as you do, please dont forget me. I would be really happy to have them and promise take care of them well.
        Regards, Sid.

  3. hello
    I am a collector of boarding pass, and I repeated exchanges, if you want to exchange or repeated someone who sees this blog, please contact replying to the message or arturosegovia95@gmail.com

    thanks

  4. So I’m not the only one that keeps them then!! Great collection, alas mine is barely as impressive.

    Have you ever thought about displaying them? Either in a picture frame as a collage, or under a sheet of glass on a coffee table? That’s what I plan to do with mine one day…

    Thanks for the inspiration, must collect more!

    • I also feel a little bit more comforted knowing I am not alone! It is really a good story of my travel life. I keep finding others stuck in photo albums but not as many. That’s a great idea, I guess I need to think creatively as I don’t have a lot of real estate for display… maybe a blanket?!

  5. Hi Raúl!
    This Eastern Airlines boarding pass bring me beautiful memories of my grandpa. He worked for Eastern for 22 years at San Juan, Luis Muñoz Marín Int Airport. I still remember the aroma of the planes in his clothes.
    Thanks for share it!
    ♥Brelys.

  6. I am a newbie in this field..I love to do this…you have such a huge collection!

  7. Ulf Plate says

    Hi guys,

    I found this interesting and have started a few months back to keep all boarding passes. I am certainly below a huge collection of passes, but was wondering whether anyone here has nice ideas on how to make a bit more out of that, like a picture or a decoration or somethingelse you put on a wall or so?

    Currently, they are in a drawer, but that was not my original idea.

    Thanks for some inspiration.

    Cheers,
    Ulf

    • Ulf, sorry for the delay in responding – I was traveling! I don’t have a great answer. I keep them in small wooden boxes and once a year or so, may open one of them and look. It certainly takes me back to over 30 years of traveling! I think a small framed collage could be a good way to showcase some of the more unique ones. Also, they are similar in size to baseball cards kids collect in the US. Not sure if there would be a card album that would make a good home to store them while being able to look at them better. Another idea is if you have a side table or coffee table at home and could put a glass top on the table and then place the boarding passes under the glass. Could be great conversation topic when people visit. Others have any clever suggestions?

  8. H.E. Joao Gilberto Vaz says

    Dear friends
    I have the largest collection of airline boarding passes in the world ( 3.358 ) flown in 106 different airlines and visited 153 countries. I support the ones that are keen to keep them. It brings memories as well as it is a nice collection to leave for eternity (to your loved ones to remember you )
    Regards
    Joao Gilberto Vaz

    • My loved ones may not appreciate them as much but that is OK – I will treasure them while I have them or live! I do bemoan how boarding passes are now changing. They are not the same when they are boring white pieces of paper, don’t you think?? I like the airline logos and color on the passes.

  9. Adam loves planes says

    What is the best way to preserve them right now they are in ziplock is that good
    From a 11 yr old fan

  10. It is a cool hobby I have been collecting boarding passes pas 10 yrs, its a great ways to connect your memories, I have some odd 400 passes, of mine, , I like the no increasing,

  11. TIMOTHY WILLIAMS says

    My favorite boarding passes were the ones from American Airlines when they first started using the magnetic stripe gate readers. The boarding passes have “teeth marks” in them from being run through the gate reader. I have one that was printed by the gate reader, when you could insert your credit card into the reader when boarding, and it would spit out a small thermal paper boarding pass. Great memories!

    • Boarding passes have had quite the evolution from when the ticket was required to board to now with app boarding passes. I still print mine boarding pass at the kiosks!

  12. I cherish the American Airlines boarding passes from the early days of magnetic stripe gate readers. Some of them even bear “teeth marks” from the reader. I have one printed by the gate reader itself, back when you could use your credit card to get a small thermal paper boarding pass. Fond memories!

Speak Your Mind

*

CommentLuv badge

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: