Let's not get carried away with all these reports about the imminent death of paper tickets. As long as an airline issues a paper ticket they are contractually bound to honor it for the full validity period, or to exchange it for an equivalent e-ticket, if they must. I don't like paper tickets, but to think that if AA, say, issues me a paper ticket in December 2007, valid for up to December 2009 (depending on the date of the first flight), is going to tell me, when I show for check-in sometime in 2008, "tough luck viajero, your ticket is no longer valid", is simply absurd.