Paper Vs. Electronic Tickets

Part 2: The good news about electronic tickets

Ticket-less travel means that your ticket is never lost or stolen. If you lose the documents that the airline sent you, they can produce another copy at the airport. For many people, the fact that you cannot lose the ticket is the saving grace of an electronic ticket. It is really quite remarkable when you realize that there are a lot of people who have accidentally left their paper ticket at home, or the office. Unlike electronic tickets, if you leave your paper ticket at home you will either have to pay a fee to have the ticket replaced (if it is a discounted ticket), buy an entirely new ticket (as is often the case with full fare tickets), or not be able to travel at all. Electronic tickets eliminate this possible stress, and for many travelers, particularly frequent travelers, not having to worry about a forgotten ticket is a big selling point.

On a number of charter airlines, and even on some larger airlines, you are only allowed to have electronic tickets, or pay a fee for a paper ticket. It costs an airline more money to produce paper tickets, and some airlines are taking to the practice of passing that cost on to the passenger. And then there are airlines that do not issue paper tickets at all. Airlines that issue electronic tickets do tend to be charter airlines, or smaller airlines.

International travel often involves using paper tickets instead of electronic ones because in some countries they want to see the proof of return travel and will accept nothing less than a paper ticket. Others will allow electronic tickets, and airlines will capitalize on this when possible because it is much cheaper to issue an electronic ticket. When you use more than one airline you tend to be given paper tickets, basically because airlines do not all use the same reservations systems, and it is therefore necessary to have the proof that you have a ticket on each airline. Around the world tickets tend to be issued as paper tickets as well because not only are you usually traveling on more than one airline, but because you don't always have to set exact dates for travel.

There are other differences between the two tickets, but they are more important for airline audits than anything else, so I'd rather not leave you napping at the end of this article. And for those who are now deeply concerned that their electronic tickets have left them with few choices in the case of non-weather related cancellations, rest assured. When there is no space on other airlines it doesn't matter if you have that paper ticket instead. And if the situation turns dire for the offending airline, they will call up other airlines and try to grab seats when available on those flights regardless of whether your ticket is electronic or paper, and will hand you a form to be accepted on another airline.

So where do I stand on the subject? If you have ever lost a ticket or worried about forgetting it, there is no question that electronic tickets are better. For international travel though, I have always felt more comfortable with a paper ticket for going through customs. But like choosing chicken or beef, paper or electronic is often just a matter of taste.

• 1
• 2