wlyn28

i bought an airticket - NOT an e-ticket - (London to Kuala Lumpur) through STA UK's website only to be told AFTER my booking that they cannot guarantee that the paper ticket will reach me (I'm in Ireland). Wonder why they are issuing a paper ticket for an online booking at this day and age?

Anyway question is, in the unfortunate event that my paper ticket does not reach me, will I be able to check in with my booking reference?

Otherwise what do I do? thanks!

P_M

I'm going to Israel in 3 weeks and American Airlines gave me a paper ticket. Of course I prefer an e-ticket, but this flight is a code-share with El Al and they told me they do not have an e-ticketing agreement with El Al, that's why it has to be paper. My ticket arrived in the mail within a few days, but every situation is different.

How long until your date of travel? Is there time for it to come through the mail?

I would keep following up with the airline until it comes. If it does not reach you within a week of your trip, call the airline and ask them to send it by overnight service. If worse comes to worse, go to the airport on your travel date and they should be able to print you a new one.

I bet your ticket will come before it's too late.

rkkwan

The airline issuing that ticket can probably reissue you another one if you just report it lost. You'll most likely have to pay a fee, though.

P_M

If it comes down to reporting it lost, be sure to make it very clear you never got it in the first place. Hopefully this will result in waiving any fees.

J62

To answer your question, however, NO, you will not be able to checkin or board a plane with just your booking reference number.

wlyn28

Thanks guys.Hm. I'm travelling on Malaysia Airlines all the way (no codesharing) so I don't understand why they didn't choose to issue me an e-ticket. Do you think they will if I request? Wonder if it is possible.

I'm flying on 25th Jan. Two weeks from now, but I will be very busy till the day I leave so I won't have time to sort out any glitches.

Worst of all, if my ticket doesn't come and STA does indeed have to issue me a new ticket, I'm afraid it might be a bit too late by then. And it definitely is impossible for me to hop over to the UK to collect it personally!

AAFrequentFlyer

Paper tickets are treated like money. You will not be able to check in without having the ticket in your possession. You can buy a new one and after few weeks you can request a refund, as long as the other ticket has not been used and the flight(s) dates have passed.

P_M

I didn't think of this when I posted before, but here's another trip where I had a paper ticket, for a different reason:

Last April I flew from the US to Maderia, Portugal on British Airways. I knew from my London trip on BA that BA have e-tickets, so I asked why I can't get an e-ticket to Maderia. They said the airport in Madeira is not equipped to handle e-tix. I asked if I could have an e-ticket for the flight from the US to London, then a paper ticket only for the LGW-Madeira flights, and they said no, if any portion of the trip requires paper, the entire ticket must be paper.

In any case, call the airline and ask about the procedure if your ticket should not arrive.

rkkwan

There is no reason why a UK agent cannot get tickets to you in time for your flight two weeks away.

Tell the people there to get off their asses, issue the ticket and then mail it overnight to you. You should have your ticket by Wednesday next week.

If they can't, shop for your flight from a local Irish agent and stop the payment to STA.

mrwunrfl

The ticket is bought and in the mail. How long does it usually take for snail mail to get from someplace UK to your place in Ireland? It's their business to send out tickets and vouchers to customers so they probably will get it right. I'd probably call the airline to see if they have a ticketed reservation for me.

jlillberto

Are you talking about STA, the agency that sells student tickets? If so, they have to manually calulate the fare and are probably inhibited from e-ticketing. I've never seen an e-ticket from STA (the student agency).