Mobile

Passengers have been urged to read up on their airline’s mobile boarding pass requirements

With many youngsters soon breaking up from school for the summer holidays, it won’t be long before families begin making their way to the airport.

However, before loading up the car and wheeling out the luggage, it’s worth brushing up on the rules surrounding mobile boarding passes, as certain airports do not accept them. On top of location-specific restrictions, one budget airline has gone entirely paperless since November 2025. Here’s what you need to know if you’re travelling with easyJet or Ryanair.

What are easyJet’s mobile boarding pass rules?

The airline encourages travellers to use mobile boarding passes, as they allow all travel information to be stored in one secure, easy-to-access location. They also help reduce paper waste by eliminating the need for printed boarding passes.

For added convenience and offline access, you can also save your mobile boarding passes directly to your Apple Wallet or Google Wallet.

Not all airports accept mobile boarding passes. Easyjet explains: “The majority of our airports accept mobile boarding passes, however, the airports listed below do not currently accept mobile boarding passes.”

This includes:

• ADB – Izmir
• AGA – Agadir
• AYT – Antalya
• AQJ – Aqaba
• BEG – Belgrade-Beograd
• DJE – Djerba
• ESU – Essaouira
• EVE- Harstad
• HRG – Hurghada
• JSH – Sitia
• LXR – Luxor
• NBE – Enfidha-Hammamet
• RAK – Marrakech
• RBA – Rabat Sale
• RMF – Marsa Alam
• SCR- Scandinavian Mountains
• SPX – Cairo Sphinx
• SSH – Sharm El Sheikh

It adds: “If you’re flying from an airport that doesn’t currently accept mobile boarding passes, please check in online at www.easyJet.com and print out a paper boarding pass for your flight.

“Many of these airports require all passengers to complete a document check before going to security. If travelling from an affected airport, please make sure you, and anyone you’re travelling with goes to our Bag Drop for a document check before going through security.”

You can find out more online via the easyJet website here.

What are Ryanair’s mobile boarding pass rules?

Ryanair confirmed it has “moved to 100% Digital Boarding Passes (DBP). This means all passengers will receive a DBP to their Ryanair App when they check-in online.”

Passengers simply need to check in online via Ryanair.com or through the Ryanair App before arriving at the airport. Once checked in, your DBP will appear automatically within the Ryanair App.

You should present your DBP at airport security and at the boarding gate for your flight. The airline explains the shift to fully digital means:

• DBP lowers airport costs and fares for all Ryanair passengers.
• Provides a better service (including flight info) for customers on day of travel.
• Improves customer service and re-booking during flight disruptions.
• Better for our environment (gets rid of 300 tonnes of paper annually).

If you have completed online check-in and your smartphone or tablet is lost, stolen, or runs out of battery, you can get a complimentary boarding pass at the airport.

It adds: “If passengers don’t have a smartphone or tablet, as long as they have already checked-in online before arriving at the airport, they will receive a free of charge boarding pass at the airport. However, they will not be able to access real-time flight updates or benefit from enhanced customer service during any flight disruptions.”

If passengers don’t check-in online before arriving at the airport, they will be required to pay the airport check-in fee.

You can find out more online via the Ryanair website here.

Passing “Go” has become especially lucrative for mobile game publisher Scopely.

The Culver City-based Scopely launched “Monopoly Go!” in 2023, betting fans of the classic board game would flock to a mobile version aimed at casual gamers.

By 2025, “Monopoly Go!” had accrued $6 billion in lifetime in-app purchase revenue, becoming the fastest free mobile game to do so, according to app analytics firm Sensor Tower.

This summer, the app is expected to reach $8 billion in lifetime revenue, the company says, solidifying “Monopoly Go!” as Scopely’s biggest game and far surpassing the company’s popular “Pokémon Go.” The company declined to disclose its total profits.

Scopely Co-Chief Executive Javier Ferreira.

As overall downloads in the mobile game market have stagnated and in-app purchases and retention become the main drivers of growth, Scopely has hit on an age-old Hollywood strategy — using known franchises and intellectual property to bring out fans.

“These are incredibly durable and long-lasting games that have really passionate communities and fandom around them,” said Javier Ferreira, co-chief executive of Scopely. “We’re in the business of building people’s favorite thing, and that’s a difficult thing to do. The power of [intellectual property] is that, in some cases, that is already their favorite thing.”

The company’s journey toward “Monopoly Go!” began in 2014, when Scopely formed a partnership with Rhode Island-based toymaker Hasbro. Its first collaboration was a Yahtzee mobile dice game that ultimately drew millions of players worldwide (though it was especially popular in the U.S.) and generated more than $1 billion in lifetime revenue.

After that, Scopely approached Hasbro about taking on the “crown jewel” of its board game empire — Monopoly.

Monopoly’s massive global popularity was an obvious draw. But adapting an hours-long real estate transaction game for a casual, mobile audience proved challenging.

Development of what would become “Monopoly Go!” ultimately took seven years, two of which were spent trying to make movement around the board more fun. In that time, the company scrapped two versions of the game; one deemed too competitive, and one that was too complex, Ferreira said.

Developers wanted to capture the “roller coaster feel” of the board game’s highs and lows, while also having simple rules and ensuring a strong social element, he said.

“We couldn’t just copy,” Ferreira said. “We had to reinvent it and re-imagine it, and that’s a complicated, creative endeavor.”

Today, “Monopoly Go!” brings in more than $2 billion in annual revenue and has been downloaded across the globe more than 300 million times.

Now with “Pokémon Go,” which the company owns after acquiring maker Niantic’s game business last year, “Scopely has gone from a successful publisher to one of the defining companies in mobile gaming,” Randy Nelson, head of insights at Appfigures, a mobile app analytics firm.

“The company cracked the code on licensed games years ago,” he wrote in an email. “Its biggest hits work because they’re great games first and recognizable brands second.”

Though the company’s overall game downloads have slowed, its gross revenue has largely increased every year since 2020, according to Appfigures data.

Shortly after Scopely released “Monopoly Go!,” the company was acquired by Savvy Games Group, which is owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, for $4.9 billion.

In a statement about the deal, Savvy Games Group Chief Executive Brian Ward touted the success of “Monopoly Go!” as “indicative of Scopely’s ongoing position at the forefront of the global games sector.”

Representatives of the Saudi investment fund are part of Savvy Game Group’s board and do sometimes give some feedback on company initiatives, though Ferreira said the company has remained “very independent.”

The proposed acquisition of gaming giant Electronic Arts by the Saudi Public Investment Fund is not expected to affect Scopely since EA largely focuses on high-budget console and computer games, he said.

As Scopely, now 3,000 employees strong, looks to the future, it has embarked on a number of entertainment partnerships with studios to add franchises such as “The Simpsons,” “Hello Kitty” and Marvel to its mobile game ecosystem.

“They give us access to these universes that millions of people love and are really invested in,” Ferreira said. “We see this as a very strategic part of our business.”

SIX in ten Brits say free roaming is their top priority when choosing a phone plan – with a third being stung by additional fees.

A study of 2,000 adults revealed of the 34 per cent who had been charged, 22 per cent had to fork out £50 or more extra from a single trip – with 1.5 million travellers facing bills of over £100.

Nearly a quarter (24 per cent) admitted they had no idea different charges applied to varying countries in Europe.

Almost half (48 per cent) who were hit with surprise additional costs due to roaming said it had negatively affected their holiday as a result.

The research was commissioned by iD Mobile, which has teamed up with the former King of the Jungle and I’m a Celebrity… South Africa returnee, Harry Redknapp, to beat the sting of holiday bill shock.

A spokesperson for the network provider, which offers inclusive roaming as standard in 50 European destinations, said: “Being hit with a huge roaming bill when you return home is genuinely frustrating.

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“Our research shows just how many people are unsure about roaming charges, how they work, and where they apply.”

The study also found, of those who have been charged with unexpected roaming fees, 90 per cent were shocked by the amount.

Meanwhile 54 per cent said they do not understand how such charges are calculated on their current mobile phone plan, including what they are charged for calls, texts and data when abroad.

Over a quarter (28 per cent) said they did not understand what mobile roaming is and how the charges would work when travelling abroad.

When using their phone abroad, 42 per cent said it left them feeling anxious, regularly checking their usage (29 per cent) or actively limiting what they do to avoid unexpected costs (13 per cent).

Tactics to avoid unexpected fees included switching off mobile data entirely (40 per cent) and not sending photos or videos to family and friends (20 per cent).

The study also found 30 per cent felt disconnected from friends and family while on holiday abroad, according to OnePoll.com figures.

In a bid to stay connected, for 21 per cent, finding Wi-Fi would be the first thing they would do.

ATM withdrawal or foreign transaction card fees were the most unexpected costs (25 per cent), as well as hotel extras for pool towels, Wi-Fi and safe hire (16 per cent).

A spokesperson for iD Mobile, which partnered with Harry Redknapp for a campaign video which features the football star fighting the sting of roaming bills with his ‘Roaming Sting Repellent’, added: “People feel it when it comes to using their phones abroad.

“Many travellers don’t know what’s included in their phone plan, or when charges might apply, until they’re already away.

“That confusion is clearly influencing how people behave on holiday, with some cutting back on phone use entirely to avoid the risk of unexpected costs.

“No one should have to worry about being stung by their phone bill while trying to enjoy a well-earned break.”