That’s because PayPal announced on Wednesday that they are partnering with United to introduce PayPal QR Codes as a new form of in-flight payment starting in November.

The online payments company wants you to use its mobile payment app at any retail store, so it plans to use a generated code that is acceptable just about everywhere.

The PayPal app can help you pay for things at stores, farmers markets and just about anywhere else using QR codes. We walk you through how to use it.

Payment Code is a new technology that PayPal is rolling out so that shoppers can pay for goods using apps that generate QR Codes readable by merchants' existing scanning devices.

PayPal also says that its new service will be able to seamlessly bundle special offers and rewards programs into the mix, and that payment codes can be built right into retailers’ own apps as well.

PayPal added QR code payment capabilities to its app just as the pandemic is encouraging consumers to avoid unnecessary contact when making payments.

A new surge in QR code use on restaurant menus is PayPal's big opportunity to take on Square and other rivals in a key retail payments battleground.