hello. i was forced to get a paper ticket on america west airlines due to the fact that i was using a credit voucher (for some reason, they don't issue e-tickets with these particular vouchers).

of course, it happened... i misplaced the ticket. from what HP reservations explained to me, i have to buy a new ticket, which will be the exact same price that i paid for the misplaced ticket. i also have to fill out a lost ticket claim form.

if i find the misplaced ticket, i can take it into the ticket counter, and get a refund, MINUS a $75-$100 "processing fee."

the voucher i used for the misplaced ticket covered the entire cost, so i didn't have to pay anything out of pocket. the voucher i was using does not have any residual value (although i still had about $100 to sparee).

this whole prelude to ask the obvious question - is there any way i can avoid paying the processing fee? especially since i had $100 remaining on the credit that i had to essentially forfeit when i used it to get this ticket?

and before anyone tries to jump me for not posting on the america west board, i posted here b/c i thought that the answer to this situation may help other passengers from ALL airlines who may find themselves in a similar predicament.

thanks in advance!

I usually detest "processing fees" but in this case it is gonna cost HP a lotta time, effort and money to issue you a new ticket, flag the lost ticket, etc. As for the unused credit you mention, I dont see what that has to do with the situation. You voluntarily waived it when you had the paper ticket issued.

Sorry but for the first time in 2001, I gotta side with the airline (and it turns out to be the crummy HP).

MisterNice

Earlier this year I thought that I'd lost an award paper ticket that cost 120,000 miles on Continental. Continental were firm - if I could not produce the paper ticket then goodbye to any miles redeposit. Tough luck to me.
I found the ticket some months later. My guess is that you will have to pay the charges.

A couple of years ago when my son was in Army, he left his return tix on a pedestal near baggage claim. We realized it before we were 25 miles from the airport, and wonderfully, someone had seen "that nice young soldier" put it there and then leave it. So they turned it in. The airlines were in possession of it. They wanted to charge a $50 fee to hand it back!!! Needless to say, my standard practice of walking up the food chain only required a couple of steps before someone w/ some sense just sent it in a pouch to the terminal manager at HKY and we went over and picked it up.

In YOUR case, if it's really lost, they will have to spend at least 20 minutes blocking the old one, using the print command on the new one, using up paper, and walking it over to the out basket. So if that's worth $75 to them, you're stuck - 'cause you don't have any power here.

[This message has been edited by svpii (edited 11-24-2001).]

In early October, I sent via regular mail an award ticket back to Delta for redeposit. As it still had not shown up, I called SMS. The girl on the line was "shocked" that I would not send a ticket by registered mail (when I pointed out that DL does not send me tickets by registered mail, she said that was not her fault, nor her problem).

I had a few extra hours yesterday in SEA on my way home. Went to the ticket counter to claim a lost ticket. TA tried to get all sorts of things done to get my miles redeposited. However, there was no chance of getting out of the $100 lost ticket fee.

Oh well.

Re mailing tickets -- the one time I sent paper tickets back for a refund, I sent them by registered mail, return receipt, and insured for the ticket's value.

One time I ordered paper tickets by mail from Amtrak. They never arrived, so I called Amtrak, and they sent me new tickets at no charge (regular mail).

On AA and on US separate times, I got to the airport without any tix becasue I thought I had e-tickets but discovered at check-in that they had mailed me paper tix which I hadn't received or hadn't noticed.

They quickly filled out a "lost ticket affidavit" and sent me on my way, no processing fees and no hassle.

They did warn me if I found the tix and used them (as if I would) that I would be liable for full fares.

I too had paper tickets sent to me once when booking from AA.com and thinking I had an e-ticket went to the airport without the tickets. The gate agent sent me back to get a ticket reissued. The conversation went something like this:
Agent: So the tickets got lost in the mail?
Me: No.. their in my drawer at home.
Agent: So the tickets GOT LOST IN THE MAIL?
Me: Well I thought I had an e-... uh oh yeah they never came

YMMV!

You can get your processing fee back, if you find your original ticket later: call the airline and ask about the exact address to send it to. I got my $75 from Northwest about year and a half ago.