I get offers in the mail from NWA that has discount tickets for travel within certain zones. Are those the e-certs you are talking about. Those are not assigned to a name and can be used by anyone. My parents have used them for the reduced fare, but I think they get stuck with crappy flight times, long layovers and I think there are lots of black out dates. They are retired and are very flexible with time so they dont care, but if you are traveling with kids, it might not be worth it.