This is really interesting to me, an old patent application from 2008 for a travel app for what looks to be an iPhone. As MacRumors points out this is particularly interesting given the Apple Passbook app in iOS 6.

To me, paperless travel and booking is a much more desirable tool than paying for things with my iPhone, but it’s also much harder to accomplish in the U.S. The main reason travel is so much harder: both Airlines and the TSA don’t particularly give a crap about what is easiest for travelers. Actually I always feel like both kinda hate their customers.

Passbook will work because small stores and big stores are all looking for ways to make it easier for you to hand over your money, so they are naturally inclined to adopt any such tool that helps with that. Prime examples: Square and Credit Cards.

This travel app will have a much harder fight, because after they convince airlines (shouldn’t be hard) they will have to convince the TSA. That may be the most futile fight.