Boarding passes: what the barcode gives away

Updated 4 November 2026 · By the FirstHour team

What a boarding pass shows

In print, a pass usually shows your name, the flight, the date, where you are going and your seat. Your pass may also show a booking reference, a short code an airline can use to find your booking.

What the barcode can hold

Two airlines' own pages give an idea. Delta says that your TSA PreCheck eligibility status is embedded in the barcode of the boarding pass. Air Canada says its electronic pass is a 2D barcode that contains all of the same flight details as the boarding pass.

We couldn't find an official page that lists what each airline puts in its barcode. Our advice is to treat any barcode as possibly holding at least what is printed.

Why the booking reference matters

We couldn't read an official page that says what a booking reference lets someone do. So this is our advice, not a finding: treat it like a password. Don't post it, and don't send it to people who don't need it. Your airline's own help page will say what a reference and a surname let someone do with a booking.

Before you post, or after the trip

1. Think about not posting it.
2. If you post it, cover the barcode, the booking reference and your name with solid boxes, then save a new copy. Blur isn't safe for this, as this guide explains. Cover the whole barcode, not part of it.
3. Zoom in on the copy and check for a second barcode on the page.
4. Remove the location from the copy. Here's how, and what else is hidden in a picture.
5. After the trip, delete the screenshot. You rarely need it once you've flown. Here's how to clear old screenshots, and what else a camera roll gives away.
6. Keep the pass in your airline's app or Wallet while you travel, not in your camera roll. That is our advice. More in traveling with sensitive pictures.

If you already posted one

• Delete the post, or edit the picture out of it. Copies may exist on other people's phones, and deleting yours won't remove them.
• If the trip hasn't happened, look at your booking on your airline's own app or website. Use the contact details you find there, not a link sent to you.
• If anything looks changed that you didn't change, contact the airline.
• If the flight is over, delete the picture anyway.

How FirstHour helps

Black out saves a copy of a picture with solid black boxes over the private details, and Share lets you cover details and send a copy. In both you can draw your own boxes, which a barcode needs. The copy has no location or camera details. Before saving or sending, FirstHour reads the copy again and warns you if it can still read a name or number.

Don't count on FirstHour to find a boarding pass. Protect looks for things like card numbers, IDs, backup codes and recovery phrases, and boarding passes aren't on its list, so a pass can sit in your pictures unnoticed. FirstHour also doesn't find faces. It can't tell you what your airline put in a barcode, can't change a booking, and can't remove a post that has already gone out. Add your own boxes over the barcode and the booking reference, and look over the whole copy.

Questions

Sources

• TSA PreCheck Benefits, Delta Air Lines, read 4 November 2026
• Air Canada Mobile: Electronic Boarding Pass, Air Canada, read 4 November 2026