What is the IATA Travel Pass, and what does it mean for frequent travellers?

With the news that now more than 25 airlines are included in their pilot program and many countries announcing vaccination certificates, the IATA travel pass is becoming increasingly discussed by frequent travellers.

The IATA travel pass is intended to be an app that acts as a digital portfolio for important travel documents. It will include secure, digital copies of passports and vaccination documents, and aims to get ahead of a future where "contactless travel" becomes standard. Here's the video that the IATA recently released to explain their travel pass initiative:

To many it makes sense, as having a digital copy of your passport is something that has already been talked about for years. But the addition of being able to have both passport and digital vaccination certificates in one place makes these first public trials particularly interesting to watch. Numerous countries have now announced trials of some form of "vaccination certificate", and it's only a matter of time before keeping track of everything in separate apps becomes a hassle for frequent fliers.

Depending on your line of work and areas you travel to, you may already be familiar with vaccination requirements and the extra paperwork it means travelling with. For many it's simply a routine part of travel, and perhaps for a majority of frequent fliers digitising these documents seems like a logical, convenient step. After all - e-tickets for flights have become the norm in a relatively short amount of time, and a smartphone is already considered a necessity when travelling.

But phones can have issues or lose charge, and for others maybe  the idea of adding yet another app to their phone seems like just an additional layer to the hassle of getting through an airport. Whether the IATA Travel Pass will become the de facto standard for travellers across the globe remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure - we can expect some changes in the way we travel after this pandemic.

We'd love for you to join the conversation and hear your thoughts - would you apply for an additional travel pass like IATA's? Let us know in our one-question poll below: