Apple's latest mobile operating system iOS 6, seems to be a real blessing for travelers and other consumers due to its Passbook, a feature that stores boarding passes, retail coupons, movie tickets, and others such. Airlines and retailers are reportedly gearing up already to get on board.

The preparation comes just days ahead of Apple's big product launch scheduled for Sept. 12, when it is expected to unveil its next-generation iPhone sporting the new iOS 6. One of the most exciting features of the new mobile OS is this Passbook feature. Passbook stores boarding passes, retail coupons, movie tickets, and loyalty cards all in one place, then pushes relevant notifications depending on the user's location at the time. Basically, when you arrive at the airport Passbook will detect your location and push your boarding pass directly to the lock screen.

According to travel Web site Skift, Delta Airlines and American Airlines are gearing up to integrate with Passbook, while United airlines has already been included in Apple's promotional materials. "A spokesperson for American Airlines reveals it will be 'rolling out an app update in the coming weeks in support of Passbook. In the meantime, customers can still access their mobile boarding passes in the current version of American's mobile app," Skift reported. "And, Delta is known to be actively working on supporting Passbook's functionality for mobile boarding passes, although the airline wouldn't talk about it publicly."

Moreover, 9to5Mac reported that Virgin Australia's Web site already supports Passbook, as noticed by someone running a developer preview edition of iOS 6.

While travelers already had the option of pulling up QR codes on their smartphones to gain entry at the airport, the new Apple feature makes it far easier: instead of having to browse through emails or phone data to find the boarding pass, the new feature will zap the pass directly to the lock screen when they arrive there. If the gate or the timing of the flight changes, the announcements will also be pushed front and center on the iOS device.

In addition, Passbook can also detect if you are heading over to Starbucks to get a coffee while you wait, and automatically pull up a virtual store card so you can pay for your purchase simply by scanning your phone at the POS. Your receipts are stored electronically within the Passbook app, and merchants can also tack perks and rewards onto Passbook purchases.