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3 Ways to Print Your American Airlines Boarding Pass (Updated) 

Boarding passes are the documents that enable passengers to get onto their planes. They’re pretty critical, no matter what airline you fly. For example, if you don’t know the processes American Airlines uses to print their boarding pass, you actually can’t get on the plane!

As a result, boarding passes are important documents, particularly since they come with other useful functions, such as informing their holders about their flight numbers as well as both the date and time of their flights. Simply put, you have to know how to print your boarding pass from American Airlines.

Therefore, passengers need to make sure that they know how to print their boarding passes, whether they are flying with American Airlines or any other carrier. In this article, we’ll outline three different methods that you can use to get your American Airlines boarding pass before your trip.

Our Methodology

If you wonder why we know how American Airlines passengers print boarding passes before their flights, it’s because we do a lot of research for each of our articles. It’s important to us to provide accurate and usable data for your needs. As a result, we:

  1. Check with each airline to learn about its different methods
  2. Try out these techniques ourselves to see how they work
  3. Examine review sites to see how customers tried these techniques
  4. Talk with the airline company, if needed, to learn more
  5. Continually upgrade any published article on a subject

We believe that this method helps create accurate and meaningful information that you can use. Just as importantly, it helps you avoid being late for your trips, no matter where you’re going. This makes our article particularly useful for first-time fliers who haven’t booked with American.

The 3 Ways to Print Your American Airlines Boarding Pass

American Airlines passengers can print their boarding passes as soon as they have checked in for their flights through the method of their choosing. This provider allows for at least three different methods, which should help make this process easier for just about anybody.

Please note that said individuals should check in sooner rather than later when checking-in becomes available 24 hours before the flight. In fact, we strongly recommend that you print your pass the moment it becomes available to keep your flight running smoothly.

This is because it can help you avoid missing your plane. While you should have plenty of time to check in, there is a cut-off point that happens at around 30 to 45 minutes before leaving. Remember that scene in “Home Alone” where the family desperately tries to get on the plane?

Yeah, that’s a bit of Hollywood magic and nothing more. That cut-off period means that it will be too late for regrets if someone has forgotten to print out their pass and check in with their plane. Instead, you need to follow at least one of the three processes below to get the best results.

1. Use the AA Website

Typically, most people who want to print their boarding pass for American Airlines head on over to the American Airlines website. You can use their Check Reservations site to see where your flight record is located and use the included information to figure out your boarding pass.

Frankly, this process is the simplest and most straightforward way to print your boarding pass. It’s something you can do at home with minimal difficulty. It’s also fairly easy to handle if you’re not used to flying but do have a strong printer. Here are the steps that you should take here.

How to Print Using the AA Site

The at-home American Airlines boarding pass printing process is fairly simple. Even if you don’t have a lot of experience with computers, it’s something you should be able to handle with relative ease. Here’s what you need to do to print out your boarding pass at home:

  1. Visit the site and input your flight number into the system
  2. Identify your flight and click on it to open up a new screen
  3. Search for your name in the record locator to find your boarding pass
  4. Use your confirmation number or passenger name record to streamline your search
  5. Select your boarding pass and choose “Print” to start the process
  6. Set your printing options to make sure your pass is readable and easy to understand
  7. Print out your boarding pass to see how good it looks before printing any more

Benefits of This Process

This option works best for people who want to plan ahead and have their boarding pass ready for their flight. The whole thing shouldn't take interested individuals more than a few minutes to complete, meaning that it can be done either at home or at work with considerable convenience. Furthermore, you can print multiple boarding passes if you need to get great results.

We particularly suggest this option if you’re a little worried about showing up late to your flight. After all, while you can print at the airport, this step might not work well if your family is perennially late and typically doesn’t get started very well in the morning.

Furthermore, this option is inexpensive if you already have a printer. Even if you don’t, buying a new printer for your home to print your pass is a smart investment. After all, you can always use your printer for other projects, including homework and other steps.

2. Wait Until Arrival at the Airport

Second, interested individuals can wait until they have arrived at the airport before they print off their boarding passes. There are a few reasons you might want to try this step, which we’ll discuss below. Once at the airport, you have a couple of options for handling this step.

First, you can print your boarding passes by visiting one of the kiosks at the airport. Generally speaking, completing this process should be as simple as following the instructions provided by the kiosk (we’ll outline them below to help you understand them more properly).

That said, if you get confused or don’t know how to print, there is no harm in asking one of the staff members for assistance. Alternatively, if someone prefers human assistance from the start, they can head up to the people at the American Airlines counter to ask for help.

How to Print Your American Airlines Pass on a Kiosk

Here’s how you can use an American Airlines kiosk to print boarding passes before your big flight. Note that this service is free and available to you as long as you have a flight confirmation code or have joined the AAdvantage club:

  1. Find an American Airlines kiosk in your airport of choice
  2. Enter your six-character confirmation code or your AAdvantage number
  3. Scroll through your options and find “Print Boarding Pass”
  4. Select this choice and go through the menu to improve your experience
  5. Wait for the boarding pass to print before you head to your check-in area
  6. Print out your baggage tags and attach them to your bags
  7. Handle any other processes here (adding an infant or changing your seat)

These kiosks can also help you take steps like booking an earlier or later flight on the same day, confirming a flight change, buying a day-of-departure upgrade, requesting a 500-mile flight upgrade, buying extra AAdvantage miles, and even requesting a receipt.

Benefits of This Process

This option works best if you forget to print your boarding pass before getting to American Airlines airports but get there with enough time to handle it properly. It’s also a great option if you’re not sure how to print at home or don’t have or want a printer.

Please note that if someone is planning to fly internationally, they are going to need to have their passports with them. They’ll be required to choose whether they choose to go with the kiosk or with the people at the American Airlines counter. So make sure you bring yours alone!

3. Use the App

On a final note, it should be mentioned that you may have another American Airlines print boarding pass option if these two methods don’t feel right for you. Like most airlines, American Airlines provides its fliers with a useful app for a variety of processes.

This American Airlines app provides its users with a number of useful benefits. If you clicked on the link in the previous section, you’ll know that you can use this app to get and print your boarding pass from American Airlines, rebook flights, and even enjoy electronic entertainments.

However, another excellent benefit is the electronic boarding pass. For many people, it is just as easy to secure as a printed version. However, it offers increased convenience because you won’t have to actually print off boarding passes once you have the electronic version.

How to Use The App and Your American Airlines Electronic Boarding Pass

It's fairly easy to use this app to showcase your American Airlines boarding pass. Simply follow these steps to get started:

  1. Download the app for free from either the App or Google Play store
  2. Create a free profile and enter your flight information to get started
  3. Select the “Boarding Pass” option from the included menu on the app
  4. Show this boarding pass before you get on your flight
  5. Select “Print” and sync to a printer if you want a paper version

Benefits of This Process

This option can be particularly useful for people who are interested in protecting the environment because it will let them eliminate needless paper usage. It’s also easily the quickest and cheapest option because you won’t need to buy a printer.

Furthermore, it provides you with a quick and easy-to-access boarding pass that shows off your flight and keeps you ready to go. We strongly recommend this option if you want other benefits, such as early check-in times, quick luggage management, and even inflight entertainment.

It’s also a great tool if you need to rebook your flight due to cancellation or other issues. You can instead instantly rebook your flight without waiting in line. That said, we know some people prefer a paper pass or simply don’t feel comfortable using apps like these.

You Can Use These Steps for Almost All Airlines

Generally speaking, printing boarding passes is much the same for other carriers as well. For example, passengers should be able to find the option on their carrier's website, which should be designed to make printing off a boarding pass a simple and straightforward process.

Likewise, those who don’t print their boarding passes at home or work have the option of printing at the airport itself, whether by visiting one of the kiosks or speaking with any attendants manning the right counter for the right carrier.

Of course, electronic boarding passes are not exactly uncommon, meaning you can try that tool. However, you might not necessarily want to go through the steps needed to get an electronic boarding pass. Some people might find installing an app to be too demanding. In this case, getting the paper version should be far less complicated.

BTW if you're looking to print your own photos you might want to check out Prints4sure

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Garrett Parker

Written by Garrett Parker

Garrett by trade is a personal finance freelance writer and journalist. With over 10 years experience he's covered businesses, CEOs, and investments. However he does like to take on other topics involving some of his personal interests like automobiles, future technologies, and anything else that could change the world.

Read more posts by Garrett Parker

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