Do boarding passes in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet work offline?

The pass you saved is the pass you show

Google states it directly in its Wallet help: you do not need an internet connection to get your saved boarding passes. On iPhone, a pass added to Wallet is installed on the device, and when you add a boarding pass to Wallet on your iPhone it is also added automatically to the Wallet app on a paired Apple Watch.

The catch is in how updates work. Apple's documentation for the companies that issue passes says updates are not guaranteed to be delivered, because the user may not have a network connection or may have turned updates off for that pass. So with no connection, the pass on your screen is the last version your phone received. The barcode still scans; any change made after you went offline is simply not there yet.

Gate changes and delays: the part that needs data

Google says that supported passes, like boarding passes, can show real-time updates directly on the pass, with gate changes and landing status as examples. On iPhone, a boarding pass in Wallet can also share a Live Activity with your flight status: Apple's help explains how to tap Share Flight Tracker so someone else with an iPhone can follow your flight.

Both of these come over the internet. If you land in a country where your phone has no data, or you leave it in airplane mode on a connecting flight, the pass will not tell you that the gate moved. Check the airport screens, or get online for a minute.

Google adds one more limit: a downloaded pass that you convert into Wallet yourself may have fewer features and may not get updates at all. A pass added from the airline's own button is the one that stays current.

Adding the pass while you still have Wi-Fi

• iPhone: open the airline's email or app and tap Add to Apple Wallet. Apple says that if the option is missing, you should ask the airline whether it supports boarding passes in Wallet.
• Android: tap Add to Google Wallet in the email, app or website that has your boarding pass. If it is in an email, you may need to open the PDF first.
• Pixel phones: Google says any Pixel from the Pixel 3 onwards can turn a screenshot of the barcode into a Wallet pass from the screenshot notification. This needs the Wallet app and an active internet connection.
• Any Android phone with Google Wallet: Add to Wallet, then Photo, lets you save a pass from a clear picture of its barcode.

Whichever route you use, do it after online check-in and before you leave the hotel or home Wi-Fi.

When the airline keeps the pass in its own app

Not every airline sends a pass to Wallet. Ryanair has moved to fully digital boarding passes that you open in the Ryanair app, and says that after online check-in your digital boarding pass is available offline in that app. If your phone is lost or out of battery before security, Ryanair says you get a free boarding pass at the airport; after security, staff assist you at the gate, as long as you checked in online.

Other airlines have their own rules, so the quick check is the same for all of them: once the pass is on your phone, switch on airplane mode and open it. If it appears, it will appear at the gate. If it shows a loading wheel, it depends on a connection, and you know before it matters.

Getting it on screen quickly at the gate

On iPhone, open the pass in Wallet, tap the More button and then Details, and turn on Suggest on Lock Screen. Apple says the pass then appears automatically on the Lock Screen based on time or location, for example a boarding pass near your departure time. You tap the notification, authenticate with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode, and present the code.

On Android, Google's instructions are to unlock the phone and hold it near the reader until a blue check mark appears. If the gate does not have a reader for phones, open the ticket in Google Wallet and show the barcode or QR code to the staff to scan.

Once you land, you will want data again for the next steps: the transfer, the hotel, the onward flight. A data eSIM installed at home only starts counting when it connects at your destination, and our before-you-fly checklist puts the rest in order.