Category: Travel

How the IATA travel pass can verify USA or other countries vaccine cards

Paul
Example of a CDC Vaccine Card

Verification of Vaccine Cards

Several countries around the world are wanting people to have a way to verify that people who are coming into their country has gotten the vaccine. There have been a number of news articles of people who have faked the vaccine card for one reason or another usually just because they don’t feel like they need to get the vaccine. Requiring vaccine cards have never been new or original in traveling around the world. There has always been countries that require vaccines like rubella or Hepatitis B vaccine to enter their countries. We’ve seen many countries who would like to proof of vaccine and proven ways to knows that it’s not forged.

Stopping the forgery

Each country is wondering how they can stop the forgeries of vaccine cards. No country wants to have take financial responsibility for someone who might get really sick due to the covid19. This is why countries are really wanting way to provide a way to know that someone has gotten the vaccine. The problem is that some people think they really don’t need the vaccine because of herd immunity, so why are they so worried about it. It’s one way to know that their immune system has been given enough protection from getting the severe version of covid19. I am sure there are other reasons and that is what I always hear.

The IATA Travel Pass Verification

When I say that IATA could verify that each vaccine cards in the USA or other countries to be authentic, is saying something that no other airline could do. If countries are looking to verify that the vaccine cards from countries that don’t want to share their vaccine data due to laws, such as the US. They can at least do some minor things while you register for a vaccine passport on their IATA travel pass app. I’m going to talk in length about this so please be patient and maybe someone will actually implement this in the IATA Travel Pass app.

There are several ways they can verify the picture of the vaccine passport to be authentic. They can have the Iata travel pass do image searches to see if there are images that are unique or close to the same exact type that is being submitted. There are several ways you can do that:

These are only two of several ways they can search the web and find out if it is not authentic or original, from the vaccine card that is being submitted.

Images not on the Internet

What if the criminals are being sneaking and keeping these cards off the internet. What options do the Iata Pass have to verify that it isn’t be used in other countries or accounts on the IATA travel pass? This is where it gets really interesting because there are several ways that can be used to verify that the vaccine card hasn’t been used in the past. They can get the Hash Value of the picture and store it in their servers for later on. Don’t worry, the hash value doesn’t save the picture on the server but keeps a copy of the hash value so they can search for that value and probably even keeps the account that it is associated with it for security reasons.

Imaging Hashing by pyimagesearch

As you can see it’s is really an easy process for phones around the world to hash a picture and send the hash to server to either use it to search for a copy or to record it so no other person can use it. I really suggest you go check out the pyimagesearch site and see all the ways that can be used to search for a duplicate hash. This would be a great resource for people to authenticate if they have a unique vaccine card or not.

Examine the Metadata

Metadata is according to Google “a set of data that describes and gives information about other data.” Basically when you take pictures with your phone, your phone records what type of phone was being used and many different things sometimes including the GPS location of the image being take. So they can examine the metadata and see a lot of stuff from the submitted picture of the vaccine card is coming from and also keep record of that information also in a database for reference for obvious reasons. They can also prevent photos being used if they have been edited before uploaded, for example there is a good little photo editor like Snapseed. It’s a great little app that can be used in Android devices to edit or change a photo.

Once it has been edited the metadata would show that it was edited by snapseed or any other photo editing software and thus should be thrown out for security reasons like that. So if someone is trying to get around the vaccine authentication they probably would have a very hard time in verifying there vaccine card.

This is what I would think should be implemented when making the IATA travel pass to help governments to know that the vaccine cards are as authentic as possible. I won’t say that people will not come up with ways to still submit forgeries, that will always be a problem. It however will make it more difficult for people to do that. It is my hope that we won’t have to use this for very long and this would just be a stop gap way to get travelers back to traveling around the world.

What do you think about this idea? Do you think they did this or do you think they will do this in the future? What’s your experience with the IATA travel pass?

How LDR will change with this Pandemic

Paul

Long distance love

It’s Been over a year Now!

The Pandemic has hit every nation and every country hard the last months.   We’ve seen a new variant to the covid19 and we even seen several companies develop a covid19 vaccine.   It’s been over a year for me personally, it will most likely be 2 years if the Philippines doesn’t open up this fall or winter.  I am in a LDR and I still don’t know what to expect from this government.   Granted I still have to worry about my own government, but it is nothing compared to what I have been seeing from the Philippine government as of late.  I guess this will be a little bit of a rant myself.   I really wish everyone would get there act together and figure out a way for Fiances,GF, or BF to be able to see their loved ones.

Philippines open up already

I suspect that it will eventually open up but it been way to long and way to slow to do what is needed to open up.   I know I am not living in the country or anything like that but I do think I have a right to complain because I have been patiently waiting to see my Fiance for well over a year and half.  There is another petition going around to allow unmarried couples to get into the Philippines to see their loved ones.   I am not against them being cautious or take precautions, in fact they make foreign nationals do a lot of stuff to verify we do not have Covid19.  Let’s just be a little reasonable that’s all I am asking.    We should try to make it where we can have enough time to be with our loved ones.  Some Filipinos can really can get out of country due to family obligations or even because they can’t stop working because there is no way they can take time off.  So I get that and I support them for doing the right thing.

It’s bound to open up sooner or later

I still think the Philippines will open up later this year maybe November or December.   Although this is all speculation on my part and maybe I’ll be totally wrong.   I do see things heading that way and I’ll keep preaching this until it either happens or it doesn’t happen.  I know most of you have your own theories or maybe even might even see that it might be this year.   I am hopeful just like everyone else but it has to open up with economy being like it is will need to open for there people to survive.

Tickets

I suspect that tickets will start to get more expensive as more countries open up.   I even suspect that when the Philippines open up the air fare will start to go up.   So I will be constantly looking to find those cheap tickets anywhere and everywhere I can think of.  Even then I will probably be paying for the time these airlines are trying to make up for the lost revenue they had before this pandemic even started.   I am sure we will see a steady spike of prices in all international travel as the air fare will be increased.   Some other ways to save money is quite simply knowing when to buy and how to plan your trips.   Even then it will still probably be higher than you used to get them, I can pretty much see that happening.

Finally

When each country starts to open up, you can bet there will be a rush of people to get into the country as quick as they can so they prices for tickets will be increased also.   Higher demand will ultimately increase the price of the tickets on planes.   So once you know, you really shouldn’t wait to find the best tickets but rather buy the cheapest one as quickly as possible or else you might be paying 3 times as much when you finally do decide to buy those plane tickets.

 

Philippines will probably open up Late this year!

Paul
Dallas/Ft Worth International Airport Photo By Paul Sylvester
All Rights Reserved!

When’s the borders going to open up

This will be a speculative post about when I expect the Philippines to start allowing tourist into the country.   I’ve been seeing some stuff that I wanted to talk about.   I know this might not come true but I wanted to give people some hope in this evolving situation.   I’ve been talking to a few people left these last few days about this possibility.   Take what I say as you wish but who knows.

I’ve found some interesting stuff!

Now onto why I think it will be opening up in the coming months.   I predict it might be early fall to  fall.   I wouldn’t be surprised if it isn’t close to the Christmas season.   I’ve found flights that I haven’t seen before going into the country.   I’ve found Direct Flights going into the country from other areas other than Manilla.

These types of flights make me think that it will open up in the fall but they have yet to post any new flights to their flight timetable.   Even though these are just the summer schedules, I would love to see the fall or winter timetables and know what they are planning.

Twitter People

I seems that someone is asking the question we are all wondering about.  When do you expect the Philippines to open up to allow foreigners to come into their country.  I agree it is probably going to be later this year.   I however wanted to allow you the chance to see the results and or vote for when you think it will be available:

I really don’t see the Philippines opening up until November or December at the latest because of how the Government is handling the problem at hand.   I however could be wrong but I still wanted to share with you my thoughts on the matter.

Cebu to Open up?

There have been talk about Cebu opening up in the coming weeks to anyone who has a 9a existing visa.   This is something that also makes me really think if it will actually happen in the coming months.  Cebu also seems to be trying to make it easier to get into the country by not requiring you to do the 7 days in quarantine.   The Mayor even seeks to allow entry into cebu if your were vaccinated, I’ve not heard much else about this but the Cebu opening up might be just that.

Vaccinations

According to what I’ve heard they will have mass vaccinations in the 3rd Quarter.   So this means that they will potentially open up in November or December.   These are the reasons that I think the philippines will open up late this year.  I expect the IATA pass to start either just before this or just about the same time.    I just hope they start to open up the app so you can download and register with them so you can get your information in the system for that flight that you might be taking in the coming future.

I know this is just a little bit of the evidence that I think we see more flights and more chances of people getting into the philippines.   What’s your thoughts? Will it be open this year?  Do you think it will open sooner?

 

Some common question about the IATA Travel Pass!

Paul
The Iata Travel Pass

The Travel Pass

We are hearing more and more about IATA Travel pass and airlines adopting it.   I am sure there are so many questions people are asking and or want to ask.  I figured I’d answer the ones that are most common and try to give you some information that I have learned over time about the IATA travel pass.   I am no expert or am I affiliated with IATA in anyway but I am going to share my views and my thoughts on some of the most common questions people seem to have when it comes to the IATA travel pass.

Who’s going to be paying for it?

This seems to be a common question because most people are worried it will cost them to use the app for their flight.  It very well could cost you a little money in the future but for right now, I am sure the aviation industry is flipping the bill to encourage people to travel again and to try to get the public support on this.   So they may not require us to pay anything more than the cost of the ticket.   I seriously doubt it will cost much when it finally gets going around the world.   If by chance airline companies start charging for the use of this.   I can only imagine it being very small amount of money per flight because it will help reduce the load of having to verify peoples papers at the gate.

Who’s eligible for the Travel Pass?

I’m going to take a guess anyone and everyone who is of legal age and or adult.   That doesn’t mean kids won’t be bleto use that because I am sure if you have kids with you and you use the travel pass they will also be on the travel pass also to show to the gate personnel.  The reason I say this is that they want to test it out as broadly as possible so they will not limit who will be able to use this app.   The only condition right now is that you have to be invited into the process but that only means you have to buy a ticket for the flights that they are doing the travel pass on.

How can I know which flights are using the Travel Pass?

For right now, the only way to find out which flights are going to use the travel pass on any given airline is to try to find out through the airlines website and or calling them.   I am sure they will be more than glad to tell you.   I did try to go to a few airline websites that are doing the trials and it can be quite hard to find out which flights are doing the trials of the Travel pass on.  If you really want to know and be on those flights, I suggest calling the airlines that are doing these trials and ask for the flight numbers and booking your flights on those flight numbers.

I am sure even more airlines are going to jump on board in the coming months or weeks and you should see an increase of airline travels for international and even domestic flights.   I am hopeful that most places will open up this summer because they will see the value of this and the economy can begin to heal.