Eleanor

I am going to be traveling in Dec. for one day, I bought the tix on delta.com and I got two e-tix in the mail. I want to switch it to a paper tix...how hard of a time do the airlines give you to do this and..#2..I had to sign up with my maiden name;due to my delta freq. flier miles, but now I'm married and my Dr. License reflects another last name, do I lose my tix, or do I have to travel on that day with my marriage certificate? Thanks..

John

The easiest thing is to call Delta. I would trust their information first and foremost to any you find on this board. Things are changing so rapidly that we may all have "yesterday's" information! But generally, it's easy to get a paper ticket issued. As for the name change, the marriage certificate will work but I think you may also want to change the name on your FF account and THEN have Delta reissue the paper tickets.

Robin

You shouldn't have any trouble getting a paper ticket. Regarding the name issue, you may be asked to go to a local Delta office to show ID, but it shouldn't be any more difficult than that. John is right, of course, to call the airline and trust what they say.

BTW, there have been early comments that e-tickets may cease to be issued as a result of the changes that are going to take place. That may be another good reason to pursue getting a paper ticket now.

Leone

I worked this very same issue with Delta yesterday ... simply take your e-tix the day of travel (at least 2 hours before a domestic flight) and excellent picture ID, and check in at the desk. Do not try to go to the gate first. Delta is being extremely cooperative ... making changes, even days of travel, and no penalties at all. Very good attitude on the part of Delta, bless their hearts. Ciao

Eleanor

thanks everyone! I called Delta, she told me to go straight to the gate with the "e' ticket, as long as it was accompanied by the itinerary to fly on that SAME day on those SAME flights. She told me I had to take my marriage license with me. She however, was unable to answer the question, was is the benefit of an e-tix over a paper tix (or vice versa). She merely said they were both the same. I'm sure this isn't the case, especially now that, I also heard that e-tix will be done away with. She DID say though that the name on my ticket CANNOT be changed under any circumstances. I need TWO picture IDs...people usually have just their driver's license unless they have a job pic ID (which I don't have). Now, when I get my new D. License, I'm going to purchase a regular ID card with my pic. Thanks again to everyone! You are super. And you are all correct, things are changing by the minute.

JJ

I am sure that paper or e-ticket is fine. I now only use e-tickets due to a problem that I had with America West. They said that since I had a paper ticket, I could not get a credit by turning in my paper ticket. I informed her that I live in NY State and America West ticket offices are not in located in Grand Central or the World Trade Center (no joke intended--it is just where airline offices were located). She asked me why I was giving her attitude since I certainly must have access to JFK! This was a 40 dollar cab ride each direction. While I ended up sending the tickets to my sister in law in Arizona, I apparently learned my lesson for as the AmWest representative told me, if I had an e-ticket this wouldn't have happened.

Olive

JJ, thanks. I t hink I had it the other way around. I thought paper tix were best when it came time to getting credits. I WILL tell you that, imo, based on my personal experience, America West is known for its poor employee and customer relations. That is the airline that lost 3 kids who were traveling alone in 2 months.

Miriam

Wait a minute, I don't understand. If e-tickets are the same as paper tickets, or have other benefits, then WHY are the airlines saying they want to do AWAY with them? Can anyone enlighten me please? Thanks.

Linda

The airlines DON'T want to do away with them. It costs $2 to process an e-ticket, and, I believe $17 to process a paper ticket. Every paper ticket they process costs them $15. On a plane with 200 passengers, that's $3,000. E-tickets save them "big bucks". However, they may be forced to give them up, though I must be pretty dense because I don't see what benefit one would have over another, security-wise. Maybe somebody else can enlighten me.

J T Kirk

I too have heard that the E-Tix may go the way of the dinosaur. And I too have no idea why a paper ticket is better security. An E-Ticket has your name on it and it shows your itinerary. I guess there's a whole lot of uncertainity out there right now.

Robin

I believe that one reason why airlines like e-tickets, at least in the good old days when all we had to worry about was an overbooked flight, is that paper tickets have value with other carriers, whereas e-tickets do not. I may not have this straight, but my understanding is that you will have a better chance to get credit and a flight on another carrier if you're stuck. I don't know whether or how this will change in light of the current circumstances.

Kel

A traditional paper ticket is more secure for getting to the gate because e-tickets would not hard to fake. The "proof" is a plain sheet of printer paper. Try faking a tradtional ticket. I would imagine that it would be pretty tough.

Linda

I have just found out that my post yesterday was inaccurate. The airlines ARE requesting paper tickets, at least for now, despite the cost. And, supposedly, it has nothing to do with security. It is because the entire air transport system is in such disarray and you must have paper tickets to transfer between airlines. Using all paper tickets will facilitate movement if it becomes necessary.

I apologize if I have mislead anybody. That was not my intent.