Paper Tickets and AA
 

I know this has been mentioned before but it is not 100% confirmed.

Does AA still/able to issue a paper ticket?

In particular I am interested in issuing a DONE4 with open sectors (to overcome LHR/LGW land segment rule)
Has anyone ACTUALLY issued one recently (ie. with tix no prefix = 001)

I personally prefer Paper Ticket (especially given the AA stuff up I experienced late last year - refer to my post earlier in this forum) as you are in more control and when things go pear shape, at least you have something valid to travel on.

I have been buying from Mindpearl, and at least with them, open segments = paper ticket.

Last August certainly Open segments => paper. I am part way through an AONE3 on 001 paper stock issued by AA's GSA in Manila.

I got my last paper ticket in 31st May 2008 to celebrate......

Thanks I will try this out next time.

The only problem with paper ticket is that you can't Online Checkin for CX and i think BA as well (which can potentially reduce your opup chance)

Sorry to be a bit late with this, but AA seems to have told ticketing agents not to use metropolitan codes (such as LON) on paper xONEx tickets. My MindPearl-issued ticket specifies LHR & even UVF (rather than SLU) even though the flight is specified as OPEN.

What does the term "Open Segments" used above refer to: Open Dated Segments or Surface Segments? My underlying question is with a an AA issued RTW ticket booked for next year (Mar-Dec 2010), the AA RTW desk suggested once I finish finalizing my open-dated segments that I should convert it over to an e-ticket. FWIW, my RTW itinerary has a surface sector from ANC-YVR (cruise).

Other questions. Since I am starting my RTW trip in ICN and purchased the ticket at YVR. When I have finalized my open-dated segments can I get the finalized paper ticket printed here at IAD or DCA? Can I convert the paper ticket over the phone and/or at IAD/DCA to an e-ticket? OR, do I have to venture back to Canada (or Korea) to do any or all of this?

BTW, I have read the various threads on advantages of paper vs. e-tickets and am already aware of your preferences in this matter, and will use that information and the information obtained here when determining whether or not to convert to an e-ticket.

TIA - Bob

I don't believe you will succeed with this. It doesn't matter whether it is paper or e ticket; land segments (including city co-terminals) still count towards the 16 segment max.

I think paper tickets still have to be hand-written on the old red-carbon stock (which is why they are a pain to re-issue). You can get an itinerary printed anywhere.

Technically (and AA RTW desk will tell you this), once a paper ticket, always a paper ticket.
However, it CAN be changed to an e-ticket, if you are face-to-face with a cooperative ticketing agent, AND he/she manages to get a cooperative agent at "tariff" on the phone. I have done it twice in the past year, once at JFK and once at BOS.
Of course, you cannot have any open-dated segments remaining.

Happy Travels.

With paper tickets you can specify LON rather than LHR/LGW.

Now with my last xONEx I was e-ticketed -LHR,LGW- and this took a segment. For the +++ however, it was charged -LON- and saved a few £ ...

I think you may be mistaken. My AONE3 paper ticket is not hand written, it is printed on standard AA ticket stock much like paper tickets were prior to the advent of e-tickets (~20 years ago?). At the current time some of the segments remain open dated as they are too far in the future to ticket yet. Yes the receipt AND itinerary are printed out in addition to the ticket coupons.

And FWIW, during irregular operations whenever I am reaccommodated on another airline the agent converts my e-ticket to a paper ticket and prints it out on standard ticket stock for redemption at the accommodating airline.

My use of the term "open segment" refers not to surface segments, but to flight segments on which I have not yet decided on date or flight. I have actually never had a surface segment on any itinerary.


Just to be certain that I understand your situation,.... you purchased a DONE4 at YVR priced ex-ICN. It has open segments, so it is a paper ticket. Right? OK. You may not be able to have your ticket reissued as a paper ticket if there are no open segments, AA may simply refuse.


You can't do it over the phone, as your flight coupons from the paper ticket need to be lifted. However, you should be able to do it at any AA ticketing station, including both city ticket offices and airport locations. That said, I did this earlier this year at BOS with a ticket I purchased ex-CPT. No one knew how to do it. It took a very long telephone call with the tarriff desk to get it sorted out, but they eventually did. AA ticket offices rarely see this product, as the vast majority are e-tickets and are issued by the AA RTW desk.


It's always nice to know that I said something which someone else might have found useful. :)

You sure about that? I thought you could get segments issued as (as an example) SIN-LON (allowing you to do SIN-LHR), then LON-PAR (allowing you to do LGW-ORY), then PAR-NYC (allowing you to do CDG-EWR) and then NYC-LAX (allowing you to do JFK-LAX), but ONLY if on paper tickets. Paper method would be four sectors, e-ticket would be seven sectors.

I think this still applies, doesn't it?

Dave

All correct except, that it is an AONE3 purchased on April 9 during the 10% promo.

If I understand you correctly, when I go to get the paper ticket reprinted after dating the remaining segments, you are saying they will want to convert it to an e-ticket? I can live with that.

That is good news that I can get it printed and/or converted to an e-ticket at any ticket office or airport ticket counter.

I think a lot of us do, we just fail to acknowledge it. The impersonal nature being a shortcoming of message boards. We get our info and go.

Thanks again to all of you for the useful info.

[oooooooooooo

OK, be careful with this. I'm in the same boat with my currently open AONE3, purchased during the sale at YYZ, priced ex-ICN. You need to be careful that nothing you do invokes a reissue. A reissue will likely require that you pay up to current prices, and you'll be in for a big surprise.

I would like to have the AONE3 bought ex-ICN during the sale reissued to an AONE4. Some posters here say that I should be able to get the sale price, that pricing is based on pricing in effect when the original ticket was purchased. So far, though, the tariff desk has taken the position that reissue means reissue at today's price. Right now, I'm taking the approach that if I call every month or so, I may eventually hit upon a tariff desk agent who will see it my way. OTOH, this is beginning to feel like the triumph of hope over experience.


Just don't expect to get it done in five minutes. When I did this, I stood at the BOS ticket counter for more than two hours. I suspected that trying to get this done on the way to a flight wouldn't work, so I made a separate trip to the airport. I live close enough that it wasn't a problem.

Good luck. If you have the time, it would be interesting if you can report back to FT on how it went for you.