Last year I was buying paper tickets at the local UA ticket agency and the ticket agent tried to verbally bully me into accepting e-tickets. I was concerned about possible weather-related cancellations, so I stuck to my guns, but he acted like I was being unreasonable. I know that e-tickets save money for the airlines so I wondered if the ticket agents are given some sort of incentive for issuing them.
I must admit that I do often use e-tickets on AS up and down the west coast, but they give me bonus miles for using e-tickets and kiosk check-in so I feel like they're sharing the wealth a bit.

As everyone has pointed out 1) Paper tickets are better if you need to be changed to another airline. Other than that, since you get an iternary (proof) and a confirm number (more proof)with a E-Ticket, a paper ticket has several disadvantages. 1) It can be lost. It then is costly and time consuming to replace. 2) Many airlines offer BIG incentives to use an E-Ticket that you don't get for paper tickets. 3) Paper tickets must be mailed or must be picked up and paid for at some possibly distant location.
In the case of CO if you don't have a really great need for the time savings of a paper ticket in case of a cancelled flight, you can't afford not to take the E-Ticket for the miles. A 50% bonus is not to be ignored!!!

Cigarman,

While I agree with you on the CO 50% bonus issue, I do respectfully disagree with the points you made. Namely:

1. Paper tickets can be lost by the traveler, but e-tickets can be lost by an airline. And as I posted earlier, there is little recourse if that happens, even if yu have a million copies of a TSR.

2. Many airlines have begun to roll back the bonuses for e-ticket usage (e.g., from 3k/4k to as little as 500 mi.)


3. While it can be inconvenient to pick up or mail a ticket, compare that to the extreme inconvenience caused by a lost e-ticket reservation, which occurs more often than airlines would care to admit.

Avek00,
You said:
"Paper tickets can be lost by the traveler, but e-tickets can be lost by an airline. And as I posted earlier, there is little recourse if that happens, even if yu have a million copies of a TSR."

I don't agree! I have as much recourse with an iternerary as a paper ticket. They are both pieces of paper with words on them. I do realize that if it is a FULLY REFUNDABLE ticket that then you have no problems. You can cash it in, use it at another airline etc. BUT, having said that, the vast,vast, majority of tickets are non refundable. A non-refundable paper ticket and an E-Ticket itnerary are about the same amount of work to fix when things get messed up. If you are not in the computer with a paper non- refundable ticket...you are still in for a mess.
As to the airlines cutting back. The 50% is current, therefore i'm talking about reality not future events.
My point is as long as the perks are there go e-ticket. I also agree the perks will decrease. However, since e-tickets are so much cheaper for the airlines I believe they will start charging for paper, so get used to it!



[This message has been edited by cigarman (edited 07-29-2000).]

So in this instance One Pass awards to St. Thomas (with 2 kids and a mother in law) What should I have opted for?


PS. When I book through Southwest and order online tickets I then get a fax with my order. What is that paper or "E"?

PSS. Maybe I should get an E-ticket for just my mother in law ;->

Go ahead and get the paper tickets. In the unfortunate event that you and your family experience any flight irregularities, you will probably be glad you did.

RE: P.S. All WN travel is booked as ticketles travel. The fax is essentially their version of a TSR.

See 1travel.com "Rules of the Air" under Guaranteed Bookings, and you'll see the advantages of a paper ticket, as told by the AIRLINES THEMSELVES.

Sounds like paper is the way to go from now on.

(E-ticket for the mother in law)

Thanks every one

I can't see any advantages of E-Ticket (other than you can't lose the actual paper)

tasnam,
This might not apply to you, But it is a general advice for anyone who plan to travel ovearses using e-ticket.

If your oveseas travel requires more than one Airlines or travelling to developing countries, Please use Paper ticket.

eg. IAD-LHR on UA and LHR and beyond on another airlines.

E-ticket wouldn't do you good if for some reason you desided to re-route your return from a location where the US based airlines (UA)have no representation.


[This message has been edited by AndrewM (edited 07-29-2000).]

[This message has been edited by AndrewM (edited 07-29-2000).]

Most airlines with codeshare issue only paper and there is no e-ticket option. At least a lot of the US based do this for domestic and international travel. I always say domestic travel a e-ticket is a plus and intl a paper is a must in case changes need to be made or something goes wrong.

I do E-Tickets 33% of the time. Travel agents in Ireland can not do E-Tickets, so I wind up with red carbon paper tickets.

A few months ago I was traveling on an E-Ticket and the flight from FLL to JFK was cancelled. I ran over to the Crown Room and they quickly handed me paper tickets so I could run to CO and be rerouted on them.

I have never had a problem trying to get the E-Ticket turned into paper at the last minute, alghouth I am a PM and generally do not get stuck in long lines at check-in.

I would rather have the e-ticket then paper as it is one less thing to worry about forgetting or having stolen.

After having posted a response in favor of paper tickets on Friday night due to weather delays in STL on Friday, I now can make one reason to have an E-ticket. When I got to the airport on Saturday morning to catch my rebooked flight at 6AM, there were already hundreds of passengers miles long in lines at all the airlines to check in and get rebooked. With the e-ticket, I was able to check-in at a machine and avoid the long lines, but this is only one rare instance where an e-ticket helps. Unfortunately, my e-ticket flight again got cancelled and I was back in line again.

------------------

I once had an itinerary of MIA - BOG on AA and BOG -- EWR on CO, all with E-Tickets.

The Columbian consulate looked at my itinerary and receipts and issued me a business visa.

However, AA would not issue a boarding pass in MIA, stating that "I had no proof of a return ticket, so was ineligible to enter Columbia." The CO E-Ticket receipt was worthless since the AA agent said, "they're not on the same system as us, so I cannot verify it." I had both AMEX and CO agents plead my case on the phone, but the AA agent was unmoved. Finally, I had to sprint several concourses over to CO to have a a paper ticket printed. Then I ran directly for the gate and was issued a boarding pass, without anyone checking this time for "proof of return."

Later I learned that this E-Ticket misadventure had already occurred to many International travelers. I hadn't done my homework.

I have run into situations like the one above, but found that after a few minutes I am able to work through it. The biggest problem I run into is counter staff that are robotoic and can not think on their own and refuse to call other staff for assistance. Yes, a paper ticket would have avoided this problem. However, as time goes on I seem to have it less and less. I must say however, that these types of problems happen to me so often on AA I seldom fly them anymore.

Hmm. Haven't used a paper ticket in over a year and never had a probblem. After this post, I think I'll get paper for my trip to Europe in a few months.

I'll stick with E tix for Domestic though. With only carry-ons and self check-in kisoks I can get an extra cocktail before sauntering up to the gate.

Another E-Ticket nightmare: a couple of years ago at O'Hare, the United computer system was down for several hours. At some gates, only passengers with paper tickets were allowed to board their flights. E-Ticket people were left behind. This was at a time when probably less than 10% of the tickets were E-Tickets, but the problem was very real to the passengers carrying only printed copies of their itinerary. This is I hope a rare event, but it illustrates some of the weaknesses of the E-Ticket system.