I opted for E tickets...

[Dismom63]

and I am unsure if that was the right way to go. This was the first time I booked air on my own and I used Orbitz. Are e tickets as safe paper tickets? I know there has been alot of talk on this but I never paid close attention.
Thanks
Sharon

 

[safetymom]

E tickets are very popular. The advantage of the eticket is that you can't lose your ticket. It is in the computer.

Just make copies of your itinerary and receipt in the event of any problems.

Nowadays they charge for paper tickets.

 

[jtbdas]

E-Tickets are becoming the most popular way to go, and they are just as effective as a paper ticket. I have found traveling with an E-Ticket is quicker, it allows you to by pass the counter most of the time when traveling and now some of the major carriers are creating baggage checks for E-Tickets passagers to speed up the process.....

 

[DebbieB]

I've used e-tickets almost exclusively for business and personal travel the past 5 years, never had a problem. Most airlines now charge a fee to issue a paper ticket. I've been using the e-ticket kiosks lately, save alot of time in line.

 

[caitycaity]

i haven't used paper tickets at all in the past 7 years. i've never had a problem with e-tickets unless i was trying to use one of those stupid self-check in kiosks. now THOSE i've had problems with!

 

[Tinkbell]

E tickets are great! I was nervous about it too at first, but checking in was a breeze.

 

[Kitty 34]

I used E-tickets with Northwest. It was a lot faster checking thru than having paper.

 

[Dismom63]

Thanks you all have greatly eased my mind!

 

[Geoff_M]

There's only one downside to e-tickets. They can be a hassle if you have to switch airlines due to a flight cancellation. We got caught up in the last Delta pilots "non-job action" and our flight was cancelled. The customer service counter was a nightmare with people, and there was another flight to Orlando leaving shortly on another airline. Since we had paper tickets (which are negotiable documents) all we needed was a rubber "release" stamp from Delta and were were just able to make the other flight. With e-tickets, such a process is more cumbersome.

This isn't a great risk, but a risk none the less. But with the STEEP fees that airlines and agencies are now charging for paper tickets, we now get e-tickets.

 

[alexturner74]

Geoff_M...that has been a while and since so many of the airlines are now pushing the e-tickets so much, a lot of them now have e-ticket agreements. Delta has agreements with Continental, American, United, and Northwest I think.

 

[Lewisc]

Geoff--most of us are flying with deeply discounted fares which normally aren't valid on other airlines anyway. I am under the impression that you have to wait on the same line to get a paper ticket endorsed over to another airline as you would to get a paper ticket issued.

 

[Geoff_M]

alexturner74,

The other airline was a small regional discount airline that I doubt has an agreement with Delta. Maybe things have gotten easier recently, but our experience was in Jan 2001.

Lewisc,

The Delta agents were able to come out from behind and counter, walk down the line, and simply "release" stamp the hard ticketed passengers. The rest of the passengers had to stay in the line and wait for them to transfer their e-tickets via computer.

The price of the fare wasn't material in my case (and we did have a steep dicount fare). Due to the backlog caused by the labor action, Delta was re-booking as many people as needed on other airlines to relieve the strain. For some people it was the second day that they were trying to get to Orlando.

This isn't to say that e-tickets are bad... they're not. They do have many advantages. But the ARC hard tickets are negotiable documents.... and at times having a "bird in the hand" has it's advantages. In that instance, if we'd have only had e-tickets we'd have been screwed. But now that it costs upwards of $25 per ticket for hard tickets (that's $125 for the five of us) we now roll the dice a bit with e-tickets.

 

[safetymom]

When problems arise you can call the 800 number instead of standing in line.

More and more airline are accepting the etickets of other airlines but they aren't all there yet. But for the few times you might need to do this Etickets are the way to go now.