experience about e-tickets?
 

Hi all,
Since I have never travelled using e-tickets, I thought I'd just get an opinion. Any good/bad experiences? Any things I should be worried about, or need to keep in hand? I'm planning to book my tickets thru travelocity for Paris-Copenhagen and return. Any airport specific recommendations? Thank you in advance.

I don't know Copenhagen airports, but both Orly and CDG are major airports at Paris, so I'd go with whatever gives you the best flight times and costs.

I use e-tickets all the time, can't remember the last time I had a paper ticket. There's nothing special to worry about them, it's just a reservation they have in their computer. I always take a printout copy of my resrvation I got by computer, and you'd have to have appropriate ID with you if you are traveling internationally. They haven't always asked for it from me, but be sure to carry the credit card you used to make the e-ticket purchase, just in case.

I agree, I cannot remember when we last used a regular ticket.
It is very easy, printing them out at home. I always make 2 copies after the time I lost a 'real' ticket ~

Besides bringing a printed copy of whatever confirmation they send you by email, I make sure that confirmation email is in an account that is accessible when I am traveling. In other words, I make sure there is a copy in my hotmail account so I can always print another copy if I need it.

Are you aware of the budget airline options between Paris and Copenhagen?

www.whichbudget.com

Airlines will charge extra fees for paper tickets if E-tickets are available on the route you choose. The minimum fee I've seen is $20.
I generally buy the ticket on-line and print the e-mail confirmation at home.

Hi aya,

An e-ticket is identicalto a paper ticket, except that you have to rint it out yourself.

They both certify that you have been entered into the computer.

((I))

I too can't remember the last time I had a paper ticket. I would check to make sure you can't get the same or better price on the airline's own website rather than using travelocity. 3rd party webistes often charge an extra fee. The only slightly negative experience I can report is when I bought a ticket for my husband through travelocity, I could not reserve a seat or print a boarding pass for him because I hadn't used the airline's own website. I would make sure there isn't a low cost airline option that might not be on travelocity.

We always have E-Tickets. I do the same thing Marilyn does except I have Yahoo.

Over the past several years I have averaged just under 100 flight segments per year all on e-tickets and have never had any kind of problem. My flights are both domestic and international and involve several airlines foreign and domestic.

Larry J

I confess to still using paper tickets for multiple-destination Europe trips.

But I do think e-tickets are superior because all you need to keep track of is that confirmation number which you can print out or write down numerous places. A paper ticket is like cash (or that's how I've treated them in the past and fortuantely never lost one).

I'm sure that printing out a confirmation or reciept is a good idea, but honestly, I've never done it. I just hand the counter rep. my passport and get my passport. No problem at all! (I think once I printed a receipt for EasyJet)

It's a bit of an adjustment to get used to trusting things like e-tickets and truly paperless transactions. But once you do, you forget you ever had a moment's hesitation.

If you print your e-ticket receipt, you have a "paper" ticket.

I do usually print the "receipt" just so I have a record of the times and everything (and I think they tell you to do that), but I also think that it is not really required, as Grasshopper says. You have a paid ticket in the computer, that's kind of the whole concept of "e" in the e-ticket. It does not depend on having a piece of paper to have value. So, if you lose it or forget it, do not despair, as I think the last few times I have flown, I didn't even dig it out to give to them. They just look it up in the computer and the important thing is your proof of identity. That's the good thing about e-tickets, they are sort of foolproof-- unless those computers crash, I guess, which is what happened to some airline in December, but if that happens, I don't think they can deal with anything.

..my travel agent said that in some south east asian countries they dont yet know what to do with an eticket..anybody heard of this?

Yes, certain airport--like Genoa--can't handle e-tickets. And paper tickets are supposed to be better if a flight is cancelled or the airline suddenly goes out of business. With a paper ticket it's easier to get a replacement seat on another airline.

But you have to guard a paper ticket like cash. I usually end up memorizing my eticket code. Subtracts 5 lbs off my waistline.

The only time I've had a problem with an e-ticket was when I booked a return ticket through a well-known travel website the day before the flight.
When I got to the airport, my flight reservation didn't come up on the airline's computer system, but they did say my loyalty card had been credited with the flight...anyway, I gave them the confirmation printout from the website and after half an hour's discussion among themselves the airline gave me a boarding pass. On the return journey I arrived at the airport and was told I could only have a standby ticket, despite having booked a specific flight and being one of the first passengers to arrive at check-in.

As it happened it wasn't particularly important that I got either of the flights I'd booked, but if it had been important this would have been very stressful. So I guess the moral of the story is to always take your confirmation email and to be careful of getting e-tickets through a third party website at last minute in case the reservation doesn't get through the computer system in time.

Never had a problem with an e-ticket, which I've come to really appreciate after losing a paper ticket. I didn't realize I didn't have it until it was time to go to the airport. In order to get on the flight I had to buy a new ticket and then file a claim for the lost one. What a hassle!

I just booked a trip to Europe this week and was relieved when I was told it was an e-ticket.

I do e-tickets domestically in US all the time and also once to Hong Kong. No problems at all - just take a copy of your itinerary just in case.

Seems to be mostly positive experiences so far. I really do not have a problem with online transactions. However, I have some more specific doubts. Travelocity site says that the seats may not be confirmed, etc. and that overbooking is a possibility. Is the e ticket a liability in these situations? How often does a flight get overbooked? If it is by any chance overbooked, will the airlines just put me on the next flight without any hassles? Secondly, will they insist on me holding the credit card with which the tickets are booked? Since travelocity says their transactions are more reliable with US billing addresses, I've asked one of my friends in the US to book the ticket using his credit card. This means of course that I won't be carrying that particular credit card, although I'll have at least 2 photo IDs on me. Ideas, anyone?

When I print the e-ticket confirmation at home, my intention is to have all the info regarding the journey on one little piece of paper for my own use(intinerary, flight numbers/times, confirmation and ticket numbers). No airline employees have ever asked me to produce the receipt, all I ever need is passport and the SAME credit card used to purchase the tickets on-line to obtain boarding passes. I also use the self check-in e-ticket kiosks whenever possible, though this can't be done when flying internationally.

If I were you, ayakkadan, I would contact the specific airline on which you are flying and ask them if there will be a problem because you do not have the same credit card that was used to pay for the ticket.

Some airlines check other ID's (like a passport), but if the check in is via electronic kiosk, they sometimes say you MUST have the same credit card. So you should find out before you head for the airport!

As for overbooking, it's done all the time, and I don't think having an e-ticket puts you at any disadvantage in terms of getting bumped. Just don't be the last person checking in for the flight.

Hi,Fodorites, thanks coz you've been really helpful. I've finally decided that I'll skip Paris for now, and travel Chennai- Copenhagen by Lufthansa [e-tickets of course, but using my own credit card at least]. Its more expensive, and I don't get to see Paris, but then I'm still young, and opportunities will come in the future. At least I won't have to worry about whether they'll let me on the plane or not! Cowardice, maybe, but altogther safer I think. WIll write regarding Copenhagen once I get back. Thanks again!

Hi Fodorites. Sorry for not posting this earlier, but I found the answer to one of my questions. This happened about 14 days back, and hence the apologies. I found that expedia.com accepts credit cards from outside the US without any hassles, and so I booked my tickets through expedia. Saved about $300 in the process. So if anybody wants to know what websit ethey can use from Asia without problems, the answer is expedia.com!

The last time I had a paper ticket it was from American, and although ticketing online with them, I opted for the paper tickets even there there was a charge of something like $15 each, as the flights were a long time away.
About a week after ticketing, the flight schedule was changed and we received notice that our flights were changed, but that no new tickets would be issued.

I'm unsure to this date what we accomplished by paying to have a paper ticket that was immediately made invalid.

Paper ticket = Treat it like <b>cash</b>. The airline(s) on your itn will NOT issue a boarding pass without it. As far as the ticket agent is concerned all s/he sees in the computer is a <b>reservation</b>. S/he needs the paper coupon to verify payment and only then s/he will issue a BP. The biggest problem with paper tickets for the airlines was the theft of blank tickets.
You loose/misplace your paper ticket, you WILL have to buy a new ticket to take your trip or to get home. Only after all the flights on your ticket took place will the airline work with you to get you a refund for the original ticket. Whatever you paid for a new ticket is your loss.
So be very careful when holding/traveling with a paper ticket. It's not a joke and no mercy will be shown by the airline(s).

e-ticket = no such issues. Your <b>PAID reservation</b> is already noted in the computers. All you need to prove is your identity.


There are still many instances when paper ticket is unavoidable. In that case the issuer will not charge (at least most issuers), but if it's your request then they will charge extra.