What's
e-Ticket
An electronic ticket or e-ticket is used to represent
the purchase of a seat on a passenger airline,
usually through a website or by telephone. This
form of airline ticket is rapidly replacing the
old paper tickets. Where paper tickets are still
available, airlines frequently charge extra for
issuing them. E-tickets are also available for
certain entertainment venues.
Once
a reservation is made, an e-ticket exists only
as a digital record in the airline computers.
Customers usually print out a copy of their
receipt which contains the record locator or
reservation number and the e-ticket number.
Checking in with an e-ticket
To check in with an e-ticket, the passenger
usually comes to the check-in counter and presents
the confirmation or reservation code. In some
airlines it's not even necessary to present
the code, as the reservation is confirmed solely
on the basis of the passenger's identity. After
confirming the reservation, the passenger checks-in
his/her luggage and is given a boarding pass.
Self-service
and electronic check-in
Having an e-ticket also allows any passenger
without luggage to check to completely skip
the check-in counters and proceed directly to
security. The option to check-in online is available
on airlines that offer the service. A passenger
enters their confirmation number at the airline's
website, and the passenger prints the boarding
pass on their home printer. Online check-in
is typically permitted up to twenty-four hours
before the flight's scheduled departure time,
though this may vary by airline. On airlines
without assigned seating such as Southwest,
it typically guarantees a passenger early boarding
and a better seat. Besides identification, the
boarding pass that has been printed is all that
needs to be presented upon arriving at the airport.
On airlines without online check-in, the check
in may take place at a self-service kiosk in
the airport, or at the check-in counter.
A boarding pass is required
to board an aircraft; in some countries, such
as the United States, it is also needed to pass
through airport security checkpoints.
E-tickets are very popular because
they allow extra services like:
-
online/telephone/self-service kiosk check-in
- early check-in
printing boarding passes at airport kiosks and
at locations other than an airport
automated refunds and exchanges online, by telephone
and at kiosks
Several web sites exist to help people holding
e-tickets accomplish online check-ins in advance
of the twenty-four-hour airline restriction.
These sites store a passenger's flight information
and then when the airline opens up for online
check-in the data is transferred to the airline
and the boarding pass is emailed back to the
customer.
E-ticket
limitations
E-tickets
are sometimes not available for some flights
from an airline which usually offers them. This
can be due to a number of reasons, the most
common being software incompatibility. If an
airline issues tickets for a codeshare flight
with another company, and there is no e-ticket
interlining agreement, the operating carrier
would not be able to see the issuing carrier's
ticket. Therefore, the carrier who books the
flight needs to provide hard copy versions of
the tickets so the ticket can be processed.
Similarly, if the destination airport does not
have access to the of the airline who booked
the flight, a paper ticket needs to be issued.
Industry
discount (ID) tickets also tend to be issued
on paper if they are valid for more than one
airline, and if the airlines that the tickets
are valid for do not have an interlining agreement.
Since e-ticket interlining is still the exception
rather than the rule, tickets valid for more
than one airline are usually issued on paper.
Currently
the ticketing systems of most airlines are only
able to produce e-tickets for itineraries of
no more than 16 segments, including surface
segments. This means that tickets involving
greater than 16 segments, such as Round the
World tickets are issued on paper.
Pros
and cons
E-tickets are a cheaper and more efficient method
for airlines to deal with tickets. It eliminates
the manual tasks required to process and account
for paper airline tickets, and saves the cost
of other materials such as the ticket jacket.
For the traveler, it eliminates the problems
and costs that travelers experienced when they
lose a paper ticket. If a boarding pass is lost,
replacement is often as easy as going up to
the ticket counter in giving your confirmation
number for a new one.
Certain
travelers still prefer to use the old paper
ticket, seeing it as a better confirmation that
the actual booking was made. In some situations,
such as when an airline's computers malfunction,
customers holding paper tickets may be better
suited to catch flights on other airlines, as
paper tickets can be manually "endorsed"
using a special sticker allowing travel on other
flights. Unlike an e-ticket, a paper ticket
may be presented to a rival airline during a
delay in which case the rival airline may decide
to accept the ticket for travel: Example, Passenger
A is traveling from Chicago to Philadelphia
on Airline BC. BC is experiencing a mechanical
delay. Passenger A presents their paper ticket
to the ticket counter of airline FG, which also
flies to Philadelphia. FG decides to accept
the ticket from Passenger A, and will then return
the ticket to BC demanding payment for the ticket.
Deadline
to migrate to Electronic tickets
In 2004, International Air Transport Association
(IATA), Board of Governors has confirmed 31
December 2007 as the deadline for airlines to
make the transition to 100% electronic ticketing
(ET).
IATA
member airlines, now (June'07) approved a five-month
"one-off" extension to May 31, 2008,
to the deadline for transitioning to 100% e-ticketing
for tickets processed through the IATA Bank
Settlement Plan.
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