What's in your boarding pass barcode? Every field explained
The barcode on your boarding pass isn't a random pattern or a secret code. It's a short line of plain text in a format every airline shares. Here's what each character means.
The short answer: a boarding pass barcode follows the IATA Bar Coded Boarding Pass (BCBP) standard. It always contains your name, booking reference, flight, date, seat and check-in sequence number. Most passes also carry your ticket number, frequent flyer number, baggage allowance and security flags. The data is not encrypted: any barcode reader can display it.
A decoded example
This is the complete content of the barcode on a typical boarding pass: a fictional passenger, Alex Morgan, flying Lufthansa from Munich to Tokyo Haneda in business class. Spaces are shown as dots, because they matter: every field has a fixed width and is padded with spaces.
Want to decode your own? Paste its barcode text into our free online boarding pass decoder.
Read from left to right, it says: M (standard format), 1 flight, passenger MORGAN/ALEX MR, E-ticket, booking reference K7Q2PX, from MUC to HND on LH 0714, day 281 of the year, booking class C, seat 004K, check-in number 0042, status 1 (checked in). After the size marker 3B come the optional fields: the version, how and when the pass was issued, the ticket number 220-2000332598, frequent flyer number 992004418820613, 2PC baggage allowance and fast track Y.
The BCBP format
Airlines use one shared standard for boarding pass barcodes, published by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) as Resolution 792. IATA member airlines have had to use bar coded boarding passes since the end of 2010. It's why a boarding pass from one airline can be scanned at a gate or security checkpoint run by another.
The standard defines the data, not the look of the barcode. The same text can be printed in different symbologies:
- PDF417, the wide, stacked barcode on most printed and kiosk boarding passes.
- Aztec, the square code with a bullseye in the middle, common in airline apps and Apple Wallet.
- QR code and Data Matrix, also allowed for mobile boarding passes.
Inside the barcode, the data has up to four parts:
- Mandatory fields (60 characters for a single flight): who you are and which flight you're on.
- Optional (conditional) fields: how the pass was issued, ticket number, loyalty number, bags. Their length is announced by a hexadecimal size field, so readers can skip what they don't understand.
- Airline private data: free-form text that each airline can use for its own purposes.
- Security data: an optional digital signature, introduced with
^.
A single barcode can hold up to four flights, for example on a connecting itinerary. The flight-specific fields then repeat for every leg.
Mandatory fields
These fields appear on every IATA boarding pass, always in this order and at these positions (for the first flight).
| Field | Position | Example | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Format code | 1 | M | Always M on modern passes. A legacy single-leg format used S. |
| Number of legs | 2 | 1 | How many flights are encoded, from 1 to 4. |
| Passenger name | 3–22 | MORGAN/ALEX MR | Surname, slash, given names and often a title, as on the ticket. Longer names are cut off after 20 characters. |
| Electronic ticket | 23 | E | E means the pass was issued against an e-ticket. |
| Booking reference (PNR) | 24–30 | K7Q2PX | The record locator of your reservation, usually six letters and digits. |
| From | 31–33 | MUC | Three-letter IATA code of the departure airport. |
| To | 34–36 | HND | Three-letter IATA code of the arrival airport. |
| Operating carrier | 37–39 | LH | The airline actually flying the aircraft. |
| Flight number | 40–44 | 0714 | Four digits, zero-padded, plus an optional suffix letter. |
| Date of flight | 45–47 | 281 | Day of the year, without the year. More below. |
| Compartment code | 48 | C | The booking class letter, which hints at the cabin. See the table. |
| Seat | 49–52 | 004K | Row (zero-padded) and seat letter. Can be blank if no seat is assigned yet. |
| Check-in sequence | 53–57 | 0042 | The order in which you checked in: here, the 42nd passenger. |
| Passenger status | 58 | 1 | Where you are in the process, e.g. checked in. See the table. |
| Size of optional data | 59–60 | 3B | Length of the optional section that follows, in hexadecimal: 3B = 59 characters. |
Optional fields
The optional section starts with a > and the version number of the standard. Some fields describe the whole pass and appear once; others belong to a single flight and repeat for each leg. Airlines may leave out any of them, so not every pass has all of these.
Fields that apply to the whole pass
| Field | Chars | Example | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Version marker | 1 | > | Start of the optional section. |
| Version number | 1 | 6 | Revision of the BCBP standard. Newer revisions added fields, so readers check this first. |
| Size of unique data | 2 | 0B | Hexadecimal length of the fields in this table: 0B = 11. |
| Passenger description | 1 | 1 | Passenger type, such as adult, male, female, child or infant. See the table. |
| Check-in source | 1 | M | Where you checked in: web, kiosk, mobile, airport agent. See the table. |
| Pass issued via | 1 | M | Where the boarding pass itself was produced, using the same codes. |
| Date of issue | 4 | 6274 | Last digit of the year plus day of the year: 6274 = October 1, 2026. |
| Document type | 1 | B | B for boarding pass, I for itinerary receipt. |
| Pass issuer | 3 | LH | The airline that issued the boarding pass. |
| Baggage tag numbers | 13 each | 0220123456002 | Up to three bag tag "license plates": tag type, airline code, six-digit serial and how many consecutive tags follow. Often missing, since bags are usually checked after the pass is issued. |
Fields repeated for each flight
| Field | Chars | Example | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Size of repeated data | 2 | 2A | Hexadecimal length of this flight's fields: 2A = 42. |
| Airline numeric code | 3 | 220 | The airline's three-digit accounting code (220 is Lufthansa). It's the first part of your ticket number. |
| Document serial number | 10 | 2000332598 | The other ten digits of your 13-digit e-ticket number: 220-2000332598. |
| Selectee indicator | 1 | 0 | US security flag: 1 means selected for extra screening ("SSSS"), 0 means not. |
| Document verification | 1 | 0 | Whether your passport or visa still needs checking: 0 not required, 1 required, 2 done. |
| Marketing carrier | 3 | LH | The airline that sold the flight. On a codeshare it differs from the operating carrier. |
| Frequent flyer airline | 3 | LH | The loyalty program your number belongs to. |
| Frequent flyer number | 16 | 992004418820613 | Your loyalty program membership number. |
| ID/AD indicator | 1 | | Marks airline staff and industry discount tickets. Blank for regular fares. |
| Free baggage allowance | 3 | 2PC | Checked bags included: 2PC = 2 pieces, 23K = 23 kg, 50L = 50 lb. |
| Fast track | 1 | Y | Y if you may use the fast track security lane, N if not. |
How the date works
The flight date takes only three characters because it's stored as the day of the year (sometimes called a Julian date): 001 is January 1, 032 is February 1, and 365 is December 31, or December 30 in a leap year.
The year isn't stored at all. Gate systems don't need it, because a boarding pass is only valid around the day of the flight. The date of issue adds one digit of the year (6 for 2026), which is enough for an app to work out the full date.
Code tables
Several fields hold a single code letter or digit. These are the values defined by the standard. For the abbreviations printed on a pass, such as SSSS, SEQ or ZONE, see boarding pass codes explained.
Passenger status
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
0 | Ticketed, not checked in |
1 | Checked in |
2 | Bags checked, passenger not checked in |
3 | Bags checked, passenger checked in |
4 | Passed security |
5 | Passed the boarding gate |
6 | Transit |
7 | Standby |
8 | Boarding data revalidated |
9 | Original boarding line used at ticketing |
A | Up- or downgrade required at close out |
Passenger description
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
0 | Adult |
1 | Male |
2 | Female |
3 | Child |
4 | Infant |
5 | No passenger (seat booked for cabin baggage) |
6 | Adult travelling with an infant |
7 | Unaccompanied minor |
Check-in source and pass issued via
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
W | Web |
M | Mobile device (airline app or mobile site) |
K | Airport kiosk |
X | Transfer kiosk (pass issued via only) |
R | Remote or off-site kiosk |
O | Airport agent |
T | Town agent (e.g. a city ticket office) |
V | Third-party vendor |
Compartment code (booking class)
The compartment code is the fare class letter of your booking. Each airline assigns these letters itself, so treat this as the common convention, not a rule.
| Letters | Usually means |
|---|---|
F P A | First class (A often discounted) |
J C D I Z | Business class (D, I, Z often discounted) |
W | Premium economy |
Y S | Full-fare economy |
B M H K L Q T V … | Discounted economy |
Airline data and digital signature
After the standard fields, airlines may add private data in any format they like. It's often used for internal flags such as priority boarding, lounge access, status tier or security programs, but the meaning is not published and differs from airline to airline.
At the very end there can be a security section, starting with ^: a type code, a length and a cryptographic signature. It lets airlines and airports check that the pass wasn't edited or forged. It doesn't hide anything: the data before it stays readable.
What your barcode gives away
Think twice before posting your boarding pass.
Blurring your name on a photo doesn't help if the barcode is visible. Anyone who scans it gets your full name, booking reference and often your frequent flyer and ticket numbers.
On many airline websites, the booking reference and surname are all it takes to open a booking, see your contact details, change seats or cancel the flight. Throw away paper passes carefully, and remove old passes from Apple Wallet once you've landed. More on posting your boarding pass safely.
What the standard does not include: your passport number, date of birth, address, phone number or payment details. Airline private data could in principle contain more, which is a good reason to check your own pass.
How to read your own boarding pass
Any barcode scanner app shows the raw text, but you'll then have to count characters by hand, or paste it into our online decoder. YourCheck-In does it all in one step: point your iPhone's camera at a boarding pass, or import it from Apple Wallet, a screenshot or a PDF, and it explains every field in plain language, including airline and airport names, the full flight date and your route on a map. It works offline and the data never leaves your phone.
FAQ
Is the barcode on a boarding pass encrypted?
No. The data is plain text that any barcode reader can display. Some airlines add a digital signature so they can detect forged passes, but the signature does not hide the content.
Does a boarding pass barcode contain my passport number?
Not as part of the standard. The IATA format has no field for passport, date of birth, address or phone number. Airlines can add their own free-form data at the end, so it is worth checking what your own pass contains.
What does SSSS mean on a boarding pass?
SSSS stands for Secondary Security Screening Selection, used on flights to or within the United States. In the barcode it is the selectee indicator: 1 means the passenger is selected for additional screening, 0 means not selected.
Why does the date look like a three-digit number?
The flight date is stored as the day of the year, from 001 for January 1 to 366. 281 is October 8 in a non-leap year. The year is not encoded; the date of issue only carries its last digit.
What is the sequence number on a boarding pass?
The check-in sequence number shows in which order you checked in for the flight. 0042 means you were the 42nd passenger to check in. Airlines use it to reconcile passengers and bags.
Is it safe to post a photo of my boarding pass?
Better not. The barcode holds your full name and booking reference, and often your frequent flyer number. On many airline websites the booking reference and surname are enough to view or change a booking.
See what's on your pass
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