Infant paper tickets - check in time

Old Jul 28, 2016, 12:57 pm
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Infant paper tickets - check in time

I'm flying to Europe with my family next week and have one of the dreaded paper tickets for lap infants on international flights. I've never in my life used a paper ticket. Does anyone here have any experience with this? Is this something that's going to take hours at the SkyPriority check-in desk? If it's complicated, I expect however long it takes at MCO on the flight out will take twice as long at MUC on the flight home.

This seems like something that there would be info on, but search is failing me. I can't find anything newer than 2010 other than confirmation that infants still use paper tickets on international flights.
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Old Jul 28, 2016, 12:59 pm
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The most recent thread I can think of involving this issue http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta...tl-infant.html
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Old Jul 28, 2016, 2:17 pm
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As long as you already have the ticket you shouldn't have problems. Of course checkin will be at airport, can't checkin online with a paper ticket in the reservation.

The problem with delays at checkin come when one hasn't purchased and received a paper ticket before hand. A number of agents are no longer adept at issuing an actual paper ticket.
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Old Jul 28, 2016, 2:40 pm
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If you have the ticket in hand....it's a breeze. If not....entails a call to ATL's Global Assistance Center (GAC) to get it processed. Always get it done before hand....all the TA's will thank you.
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Old Jul 28, 2016, 3:46 pm
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Originally Posted by realjd
...This seems like something that there would be info on, but search is failing me. I can't find anything newer than 2010 other than confirmation that infants still use paper tickets on international flights.
There is info on this.

Go to the library and start with the card catalog, the old ones with actual cards. Then you go through the stacks till you find the hardcopy of IATA regs and look rules on infant fares.

More importantly, do not lose that paper ticket. It has real value :-)

Welcome to the previous century :-)
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Old Jul 28, 2016, 5:05 pm
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The good news is this issue will soon die since Delta stopped using paper infant tickets a couple months ago.
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Old Jul 28, 2016, 5:45 pm
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Yep, I have the paper tickets in-hand. Since I had to book my open-jaw award ticket as two one-ways, the stupid baby tickets cost me way too much to lose them!

I'm glad they went away. I only bought these a few months ago. I must have been one of the last ones issued 1970's-style.
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Old Jul 28, 2016, 5:51 pm
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Originally Posted by realjd
Yep, I have the paper tickets in-hand. Since I had to book my open-jaw award ticket as two one-ways, the stupid baby tickets cost me way too much to lose them!

I'm glad they went away. I only bought these a few months ago. I must have been one of the last ones issued 1970's-style.
Sadly paper tickets were still common place only ten years ago for all travelers. I still have the stubs from a set of paper tickets issued in 2007 with NW/LH/KLM flights. Couldn't book non-partners together on an eticket at that point.
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Old Jul 28, 2016, 6:43 pm
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Originally Posted by flyerCO
Sadly paper tickets were still common place only ten years ago for all travelers. I still have the stubs from a set of paper tickets issued in 2007 with NW/LH/KLM flights. Couldn't book non-partners together on an eticket at that point.
I didn't say they weren't doing it 70's-style back then also

That was right around when I started flying regularly and I've never seen a paper ticket before this trip, although I do remember boarding passes being printed on the green ticket stock. All of my trips were domestic back then though.
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Old Jul 29, 2016, 8:05 am
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I got a paper ticket last year...

Hainan airlines PVG-SEA flight was delayed and I missed my SEA-ATL flight on Alaska airlines, rebooked by Alaska rep with Hainan rep help - my Alaska ticket had a "Flight Coupon required" status on it and I had to give them this handwritten copy of the paper ticket for the files.

Not Delta related, but yeah, paper tickets are so rare you really have to stretch...
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Old Jul 29, 2016, 11:08 am
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Besides all the good advice here, I'd suggest you plan on getting to the airport 2 hours prior. We traveled 2x across the pond with an infant in arms over the last year and I can tell you, go early. The first time I received the paper ticket about a month before travel and kept it securely in the drawer of my home office because I knew it was important and was needed. Naturally in the rush to get to the airport, I left it securely in the desk at home. Luckily we had enough time for the agent to call whoever she needed to call and get a new one printed. Took about 20 minutes, but boy, were we glad we went early. So keeping the old Murphy's law in mind, "If s#*t can happen, it will", go early and be glad you did because it will happen when traveling with infants.

Then there's the ritual of changing diapers 5 minutes before boarding starts, feeding the baby as boarding starts, not finding the diaper bag and remembering that it was left in the changing room because I had poo on my hand (and on my mind) after changing the diaper, remembering that we forgot to pack the baby's spoon.....all the fun that goes with traveling with infants.

The year 2032 can't come soon enough.....

Anyhoo, good luck with your travels.

Last edited by zeebanker; Jul 29, 2016 at 11:16 am
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Old Jul 29, 2016, 7:38 pm
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Lucky on getting the paper ticket reissued. Most carriers will refuse to reissue a paper ticket unless you purchase another one. Sadly the paper ticket is as good as cash. Thus why airlines went to etickets that don't get lost. Those that do reissue without re-purchase normally require a major PITA process to get it done.
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Old Jul 31, 2016, 4:58 am
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Originally Posted by flyerCO
Lucky on getting the paper ticket reissued. Most carriers will refuse to reissue a paper ticket unless you purchase another one. Sadly the paper ticket is as good as cash. Thus why airlines went to etickets that don't get lost. Those that do reissue without re-purchase normally require a major PITA process to get it done.
True, the check-in agent didn't admonish us for forgetting the ticket at home, but reminded us that paper tickets are good as cash. However, YMMV. We had a good agent who didn't make a fuss and called the reissue desk and printed us a new one. This was in MSP. Had this been elsewhere (especially overseas), or with a line of people behind us (we were in SP checkin desk on the main level, which can be busy at times) we'd have likely been refused checkin.
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