CrazyJ82

This has been a pet peeve of mine for as long as I've been flying BA. In my CX days they used to provide a pdf where by printing only the first page you'd have all the flight and price details in one place with the PNR and e-tkt number to boot. On complex itineraries it would make checking a flight time incredibly easy without having to flip through page after page, especially where the flight numbers display in different colors that may or may not print well at home.

Those who question whether paper printouts are necessary are, dare I say, showing the narrowness of their travel experience. I've been asked for paper -- not "on the phone" -- printouts of e-ticket receipts at airline check-in desks, at security check points before even entering the terminal to check in, at immigration desks, at the entrance to the cordoned-off areas around check-in desks... And I've needed to refer to a print-out when making flight changes on the phone in the back of a cab. If in the best case BA is taking four pages to present the necessary info, it's more than a little ridiculous.

Concerto

KLM is another culprit at having long emails as tickets, absurdly formatted, and awful when you print them out. Usually everything is on the first couple of pages with these BA and KL tix, so I just print those. I have long wanted to just receive a decent 1 page pdf for my BA and KL tix.

But in Europe, I tend not to print any more and do everything electronically, hotels, flights, the lot....unless a voucher needs to be presented (car rental, for example). For long haul I always carry a paper, printed version.

GadgetGal

USA does check... I have been checked on occasions. However, the current e-ticket format, multiple pages and all, has been adequate for this purpose

skba1

I have been checked once. Almost caused me not to be let into the country!

That was despite showing the BA app with e-ticket number. But the flight out of the US wasn't showing (too many legs to show in the app). I could not get Internet signal on the 3G as they were disturbing the signals in the immigration area, and they were unwilling/unable to provide WiFi or a computer with a printer.

Ended with another agent calling me over after I had a 15 minute discussion with the first one and airport staff. (Which recommended me to go to the lounge, forgetting that I had just gone through a one way gate that I couldn't get back through!)

So yes a pdf would have been immensely helpful as I could have then easily stored it in my downloaded files on my phone. I am often without printer access, and I dislike paper copies unless necessary. I have never needed one even in China for visa free transit.

dylanks

As noted above, I find this more important for expense reports, in part because the HTML that BA sends is malformed, so my preferred email client will only print or export to PDF the first page. So it would be nice if the relevant details were on the first page (as well as fixing their markup though I realise that the major email clients don't seem to have this issue with BA emails). But a fix for my issue would be the same fix for the OP, and isn't exclusively about printing things to paper.

For text messages, I'm indeed charged when outside the US for inbound texts on my US line, but there's an iPhone setting to only accept things over the data plan (so you get the texts via that or via the Messages.app on the Mac). And you do have the option to block a contact. And if you get a bunch of unsolicited texts you can complain for a refund though it would have to be a large number of texts to be worth the effort.

flying_pig

I couldn't agree more with the above, as well as with the OP's point. Good luck trying to get in and out of certain countries (and airports) without a printout (Africa anyone? But not just there...). The World is a little more diverse than England, Continental Europe and North America...

I now get an itinerary from the company's travel desk so I no longer have this issue with work travel, but I remember at some point we were buying directly from BA and those emails were atrocious. Printing only certain pages can also be risky as the document no longer looks official. BA should really attach a 1-page PDF with the ticket number and itinerary, like most airlines do.

simons1

Urban myth really. I visited 12 African countries last year and never needed anything printed out (I don't carry any paper copies). In fact I can't remember anywhere even asking for sight of a ticket.

The world may be diverse but everywhere has moved on.

Dave Noble

Entering the terminal buildings in CMB a few weeks ago , the guard at entry to airport wanted to see ticket details and again was asked for it at the security checkpoint before checkin. Whether I could have just opened up the laptop and showed the electronic copy I do not know

Aus_Mal

Really? While as a Caucasian I rarely am asked for proof that I'm flying when entering an airport, I've still had my ticket checked in numerous places in recent times (Asia particularly).

Such a blanket statement is wrong.

simons1

Yes they try that routine at Nairobi too, at the Xray on entry to the terminal. My reply is always "it's an eticket" and they then take look at my passport. Works 100% of the time.

Most of these places it's a pointless exercise anyway. Arrived at Nairobi on Friday with visa application form and immigration card, the lady chucked them both into a huge pile without a second glance and put the visa sticker in the passport.

simons1

It isn't intended as a blanket statement, just a summary of my experience in 12 countries over the last year. And I specifically referred to Africa, not Asia.

South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria, Mauritius, Rwanda. Some of them multiple times.

All except Ghana and Nigeria I got a visa on arrival too.

I can't speak for Asia (including Dave Noble's Columbo example) but I think most places in Africa realise what the point of an eticket is these days unless you are going off the beaten track.

Dave Noble

The airport staff recognised that it was an eticket but did want to see the printed out eticket details - obviously it would be close to impossible to actually see an electronic ticxket

such requirements are the exception and printing off a few pages in these cases seems pretty minor. Even if BA provided the information in a pdf form , I do not see that it would make any difference - would just be a 10 page pdf file instead

flatlander

I agree that usually Easyjet's confirmations are better formatted than BA's, but Easyjet's receipts are terrible. In particular if you have made additional payments for a flight change or similar, they are incomprehensible - they don't state the actual amounts paid, nor what they are for.

Meanwhile a boarding pass is not an e-ticket receipt, so using the checkin machines will not generate a paper copy of your ticket (with itinerary) suitable for showing to officials who want to see it.

BA could easily make their print view of their e-ticket better, and without using PDF. It is not web design rocket science to provide two style sheets to display the same content, one formatted for screen and one formatted for paper. What you get from BA is what you get from web designers who are greatly lacking in either skill, care, or time.

AA's e-ticket/receipt printout is much better than BA's, and can also be obtained if you didn't pay for the ticket - important if you're a business traveller whose ticket was booked by someone else.

zat_dude

What I (and many others I'm sure) would want to be provided is a single-page document (whether pdf or not may not matter) that contains limited information, such as flight, fare and payment details.

My latest BA booking is a one-way short haul flight, the "E-ticket confirmation" email prints over 6 pages. I use the BA app but need the print-out for expense claims.

Said email includes the following information that is irrelevant for my use:
- helpful tips, such as valet parking and destination guides
- disability and mobility assistance
- a statement on refund of non-delivered paid meals
- dangerous articles notice
- c.o.c.
- notice of liability limitations
- "Passenger service charge and carrier imposed charge or fuel surcharge, where applicable"
- "Notice of government and airport imposed taxes, fees and charges"
- a link to BA's overbooking policy

I do understand BA feels it is important to advise their customers about the above. However, I have access to these through the app and the website, yet I can't produce a document only containing the three required bits of information that I need.

In comparison, Aeroflot's otherwise dreadful website produces such an ETKT receipt with one click of a mouse.

flying_pig

Not sure what sort of visas and passport you travel on, but off the top of my head I can think of around 10+ African and Asian countries where I wouldn't have made it through immigration without a printout (particularly when needing a visa on arrival). Good luck telling the oh-so-nice officers that "it's an e-ticket"...