For one United Airlines passenger, a simple habit of screenshotting a boarding pass led to unexpected confusion—and a fellow traveler briefly removed from the plane.
The passenger, posting under the username Conman094455 on Reddit this week, shared how a boarding pass mix-up set off a chain of events just before takeoff.
‘Waving at me’
The original poster (OP) wrote that after boarding the plane and settling into the seat listed on his screenshot, he spotted a, “Middle-aged woman waving at me… says that I am in her seat.”
He double-checked the number and believed he was correct. The flight attendant sided with him after looking at the image, told him to stay put and the woman was escorted off.
Alina Rosanova/iStock/Getty Images Plus
“That’s when I realized I had been using the screen shot picture of my pass and not the app,” the OP told Redditors.
“Starting to feel nervous, I opened the United app and sure enough my seat had been transferred a few rows up. Sure enough, I had just kicked someone off the flight on accident.”
While everything was resolved soon enough—the woman was returned to a vacant seat originally meant for the passenger—comments poured in on Reddit from other travelers sharing their experiences and observations.
Back to the Gate
“Hmm, you’d think they’d check before yanking her off,” an individual said.
“She probably wasn’t deplaned (which I would take to mean kicked off), but rather taken back to the gate to sort out the issue,” a Redditor reassured the OP.
“If she came back that quickly, the gate agent was likely on the bridge and checked her pass there.”
User Conman094455 replied: “Yes, it was very quick, so I assume this is what happened.”
A flyer warned that sudden seat changes do happen, recalling, “While standing in line with the boarding group, one of my family member’s seat assignment was changed.
“We heard the app ping and, like magic, the BP updated.”
Several Redditors urged fellow passengers to “always get the paper pass” while another user advised against screenshotting boarding passes: “Just add it to your mobile wallet.
“It’s accessible without cell service and will automatically update if you do have cell service and there is a change,” the user said.
Designed to Refresh Automatically
According to United Airlines’ Travel Ready Center, boarding passes accessed through the airline’s mobile app, or added to mobile wallets, are indeed designed to refresh automatically with any updates, including changes in seating assignments.
However, screenshots or printed versions naturally do not update if there is a reassignment after check-in, which the airline says can happen due to operational needs, including aircraft swaps, or efforts to seat families together.
As noted by Northwestern University’s study abroad guide, relying solely on a screenshot can cause problems. They also recommend using the airline’s app, or a printed pass because, “Gate changes, seat reassignments or delays may not reflect on a static image.”
Despite the brief chaos, the, “Moral of the story I guess is to make sure your seat hasn’t changed on the app before boarding,” the OP concluded in his post.
‘I was going to tell’
In reply to an invitation to comment from Newsweek via Reddit, user Conman094455 said he didn’t think anyone else noticed what happened on board.
“Also, I was going to tell a flight attendant to not be an a****** [laugh out loud], but the lady was retuned to the plane pretty quickly so I didn’t have to,” the OP continued.
“I also use a screenshot in case I lose service when I board and forget my seat number.”
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