E-Ticket Help

As far as Iberia is concerned…we hate Etickets. We normally use Amadeus checking program. With a regular ticket, you get the flight number and details on the ticket without checking anything else. So the only extra work is taking the flight coupon off and putting it into the boarding card. With the ticket in front of you, you just put the flight number and passenger name and the system does everything. But with the Eticket, you have to guess all the details. Ask where is he flying to. If not, you have to introduce the ID number check the invoice, check his identity and then go back to normal procedures. Finally, print the invoice and check the price paid. So involves extra work, believe me. If there are conections, sometimes you have to introduce the conections manually….

I was also referring to both pax and checking agents. In my experiences, the checking agent has expedited me much quicker with e-tickets than with paper. Then again, United is one of the pioneers of e-ticketing, so maybe that has something to do with it. There’s no hassel of tearing out all the flight coupons for all the segments, and stapeling them to the boarding passes, etc. Then again, you’re a checking agent, so I won’t discount what you say. Or perhaps, it’s just quicker in the U.S., I don’t know…

I am talking from an checking agent point of view, in fact I am working for an airline and for us, E-tickets involve extra work for us for checking. More than a printed regular ticket. Of course for passengers it´s much easier and airlines save money.

Originally posted by keltic
E-tickets are a fast way to travel, but which gives lots to do to checking agents. (procedures are more complicated).

I beg to differ Keltic. E-tickets eliminate all the nonsense of paperwork. Show the agent your I.D., she asked you all the security questions, takes your baggage if any, gives you the boarding pass, and you’re on you’re way. I travel over 50,000 miles per year, most of which is on E-tickets. I’m in and out of there in no time.

E-tickets are a fast way to travel, but which gives lots to do to checking agents (procedures are more complicated). Although you only need ID (Credit Card, Frequent Flyer Card, Identity Card, Passport), and get the card, on the airline records the tickets are properly stored and can be printed if the passenger wants it to.

Originally posted by greekdude1
By the way Michael, Thai’s Royal Barge was again at Heathrow on June 24th. I have a pic that I’ll post.

Cool, lemme see lemme see! 😀 Only 9 days to go now and I’m counting every second!

If they sent you a paper ticket, surely it was just a booking reference rather than an e ticket code?

Aer Arann operate a ticket service but generate a e-ticket code when u book!! I got tickets for my internal irish flights as well as belfast to dublin ones.

Well the Isle of Man ones have had photos for ages and ages, but the UK was only in the late 90’s I think.

It was possibly an optional extra before then, but my licence was issued in mid 1995 and there was no photo. I moved to the Isle of Man in 1998 and surrendered my UK licence in exchange for a local one; I had to sit behind a webcam first.

Personally I agree with the people who regard it as all a bit too “big brother”, which probably explains why it was so late coming to the UK.

The only time anyone in the U.S. carries a passport, is if they’re traveling internationally. If we travel domestic, we only take a driver’s license. I can’t believe your drivers license don’t have pictures on them. They do in Australia.

That’s interesting. Until a few years ago, UK driving licences never had a photo, which is probably why passports are the norm for ID.

I collected a parcel from the post office last night using my accountants’ registration photocard as ID – I forgot my passport. There’s just too many companies each with different rules, so I get confused! I’ll always use my passport.

Originally posted by mongu
For 99% of people, ID=passport.

Not in the U.S., Mongu. The only ones that have passports here are the ones that travel abroad, and I’m sure that percentage isn’t as high as it is in Europe, per se. An I.D. here is a state issued Drivers License, or for those who don’t have one, a state issued Identification Card. By the way Michael, Thai’s Royal Barge was again at Heathrow on June 24th. I have a pic that I’ll post.

We were told our United tickets last year were E-Tickets. All we needed was our passports. At check-in, we handed them over and they were swiped. Very quick method of getting passengers checked in.

Thai have issued the relatively standard 5-page book containing loads of meaningless data which are exchanged at check-in for a boarding card.

For 99% of people, ID=passport.

There might be an interesting sideline to this thread – my reply was based on the assumption that everyone has a passport (or identity card); this comes from living in Spain for some time, and habitually carrying my passport (know what I mean Keltic?). Now back in UK I still carry my passport most of the time, although I do have my UK Identity Card – which is referred to as a “Driving Licence”.:(

You have to pay extra to get a paper ticket, even on international flights. BA charge an extra £5 or £10.

i had same worries when i booked hostels and flights over the net for nxt week, but everything looks to b in order, with an 8 figure referance number for the flight

Ah okay, excellent. Sounds quite easy and convenient (at least there won’t be worries about who has the tickets). I know you have to photo identification, I know you have to have that for all Flybe. domestic flights now so no big problem.
Thanks, easier than I though.

paper tickets are used only on international services now. its pretty much e-ticket for domestic services.

Vital to take some form of photo ID.