USA Today reports traditional paper boarding passes will continue to be replaced with scanable bar codes on cell phones and PDAs.

A pilot program launched late last year by the Transportation Security Administration and Continental Airlines at George Bush Intercontinental/Houston Airport is expanding nationwide within the next year, according to the article. Certain airlines already allow paperless boarding at select airports: Delta Airlines at LaGuardia; Alaska Airlines at Seattle-Tacoma; and Continental at Houston and Newark.

For the foreseeable future, passengers who choose to use paper boarding passes will still be able to do so. If you're flying on a carrier from an airport that also uses the scanable, paperless boarding pass, check-in online and elect to have your boarding pass sent to your cell phone or PDA. It will appear on your screen as a bar code and be scanned at security with a " . . . $1,000 handheld device, which displays a passenger's name and flight information for comparison to a passenger ID."

Anyone tried the cell phone / PDA boarding pass yet? Please share your experience in our comments section!