ETickets or Paper Tickets!?
 

I just received my Lufthansa tickets from a consolidator and they are E Tickets! Eeek!

I don't know how to use them, are they complicated? I don't have that long between planes to worry about stamping them or whatever you do?

Help me?

No difference to paper ones, present yourself at checkin as per routine. All they require is I.D. this will be your passport, which presumably you are travelling with, thus this is not a problem.

chardonnay-

You are not the only person who doesn't know how to use the Lufthansa E-tickets. When I was in Frankfurt airport in Sept 03, apparently the Lufthansa ground crew didn't know either! Hopefully they are better now.

E-ticket means that your ticket is stored in Lufthansa's computer system. When you check-in, all you need to do is show your ID and the gate agent should be able to pull your ticket up from the computer. Lufthansa also has E-ticket kiosks in some airports, which makes it easier. All you need is slide your credit card into the kiosk and the computer will be able to pull up your ticket.

If both your flights are Lufthansa, you should be able to get boarding passes for both flights when you check-in for your 1st flight.

Lufthansa's website also offers web check-in for certain flights on the night before. Go to their website and check it out.

I actually prefer them..I am leaving myself open to abuse here!...nothing to worry about just have ID and sometimes the CC card you charged them to!

I know all the stories about if your flight is cancelled or delayed or whatever disaster someone wants to predict or imagine or obsess about you might have a problem..but I've used then since they were first available with no problems.

BTW...the time between flights has no connection wth your E Ticcket...you check in at your point of departure...you don't have to check in for connecting flights...you get your seat and just change planes.

Thanks for the information, do I have to take my credit card that the tickets are on? My gosh, they should tell you these things, I wasn't planning on that, I am so glad I posted about it.

Is this what is meant by stamping in my tickets?

If they are just like regular tickets that will be a load off of my mind.

The Lufthansa staff at the London Paddington check-in for Star Alliance (Air Canada, Lufthansa, etc.) needed the printout of the e-ticket before they could or would check us in. I don't know if this is universal policy for Lufthansa, but I suggest taking the printout along as well as your ID. Other than that e-tix worked fine for us.

You only need a credit card if you intend to use a self-service check in. Treat them as your normal tickets, stop making a fuss, it's no big deal, really it isn't!

United was always pretty picky about seeing the credit card the e-ticket was purchased with when I fly them a lot in the late 90's. I don't know about Lufthansa.

In some ways e-tickets are better. For one you can't lose them. It's a printed receipt so if they're lost or stolen nothing happens. You go to the airport and check in anyway.

In some ways they're worse. If you need to change carriers, many times you have to get a paper ticket printed to take to another airlines. I've not had this problem because I've never switched carriers from my planned flight.

They just require a form of ID after all you are logged into their computer system as a passenger on that flight, this is confirmed upon presentation of the e-ticket i.e. a receipt, and also your passport - a confirmation that you are indeed that passenger. Millions of people fly on e-tickets each week, no problems whatsoever, let's leave it at that.

For what it's worth, my own airline maintains that e-tickets do not mean paperless:

http://www.aircanada.ca/services/tic...html#paperless

so I'm sticking to my story about taking the itinerary/receipt with you. (Fortunately, it's easy to replace if you lose it, especially since your ID will confirm it's yours.)

m_kingdom - It's often as simple as you are making out. But two thoughts:

1) It really is true that sometimes the airline can make you show the CC you used to purchase the ticket. The fact that it's never happened to you doesn't mean it's never happened.

2) You are used to this, so it's easy for you. For someone who has never done it before, there are many unknowns. It's normal to ask questions about something before you do it for the first time. Let chardonnay ask her questions and have them answered, then when she heads to the airport she'll be calm, and the next time around she'll know what to expect. There's really no harm in asking, or in people trying to help. No need for people to drop it if they have help to offer, either.

I agree, but there have been many responses, this is a global phenonomen - e-tickets that is.

They're no different in effect to actual paper tickets.

Hopefully "chardonnay" is standing at ease now.

People ask novice questions all day and night long here, take a look at some of these threads, they are the same questions over and over.

I haven't read that much about etickets, so Chardonnay has a legimate question and I know that many answers help out a novice, especially when some are different views and it is something as important as air flights.

I hate to disagree, but even the most novice questions here, even those concerning weather are more understandable. A few responses, which have all said it's nothing to worry about are enough. Furthermore "chardonnay" has to use the e-ticket there is absolutely no choice in this matter - fly or don't fly. Other questions all offer options, this one doesn't.

An e-ticket is a cost saving device for the airline industries. It has clear instructions printed on it - i.e. bring this piece of paper with your flight details - the e-ticket, and your passport, which you'd take anyway. The same as the standard ticket (yes I am aware I am repeating myself here).

People worry over far too many little things here, travel should be a pleasure not a chore.

Thanks again for the explanations, now that I have the knowledge my travel can be total pleasure.

(there is no information or instructions on the eticket by the way)

I prefer etickets and don't like it when I get paper. They are much easier to change because the info is in the computer, not printed on a ticket. For example, I had paper tickets cut (not my choice) for a flight involving a flight change in London to go to Seville. Due to scheduling changes, they cancelled that flight and renamed a flight 8 hours later with the same number. I got them to reschedule me on a flight at a better time, but it has a different flight number, so now I have to go through a lot of trouble to get a new ticket and everything changed in person at the airline's desk in the airport (or an office) because I have a paper ticket with the wrong flight number on it. If it were an eticket, there wouldn't be that problem.

On a recent trip with my daughter (adult), I was told that I needed the credit card to which I had charged the tickets. For me that was no problem. However, my daughter was departing from the San Francisco airport while I was departing from LA. We had planned to meet in Houston and continue together. I was worried about her having a problem since I had the credit card in LA.

She simply explained this to the desk clerk and there was no problem at all. Fortunately, I had already checked in in LA and I guess it was on their computer.

So to answer your question, yes, you do need the credit card you used to reserve the ticket so if you use several cards, make a note of which one you used.

Our other daughter worked with United for a while (and fortunately decided to switch to engineering) and she informs me that if there is a problem with the flight, you are better off with the e-ticket. That's United. I don't know about the other airlines, but would suspect they are pretty much the same.

I have an e-ticket for a flight this week. I also want to check in on the net- the flight is B.A. and we have Executive Club membership.
As B.A. are muscling me out of their scheme with the February amendments to their terms and conditions, I want my daughter in particular(who holds Finnair membership also) to be able to have that flight credited to her Finnair account.
If we do a normal check-in I would just produce her Finnair card at the desk.If I use the e check in, can she still have the flight credited to Finnair or must it go on the B.A. miles?
I can't get far enough into the B.A. site to check this as you can only go beyond a particular stage within 24 hours of departure.
Whilst I appreciate that this is a very specific query, I wonder if anyone has come across it before?
With thanks

If you are flying from the United States I don't think you can check in electronically for an international flight. If it's from the UK -- no idea.

I used to be adamant about having a paper ticket -- even paying the $5-10 extra to get one. Now domestically I blithely buy my tickets online, get an email confirmation, fiddle with my seats online, check in online [for domestic]and since I carry-on 90% of the time -- all I have to brave is the security to get to the gate.

But last time I booked on either the American or Yahoo site I noted that there is now a $50 !!!!! charge for a paper ticket -- INCLUDING INTERNATIONAL !!! Now since I don't think MAT -- Macedonian Airlines can handle electronic tickets [man -- they just introduced reserved seating last year!] that will add $50. for EACH TICKET for our trip to Skopje this summer. [Note: I have no problem with "flying electronically" on a non-stop directly to a major world capital.]