An e-ticket is an electronic flight ticket or reservation that can be printed or viewed on a smartphone. It saves airlines money and can be cheaper for travelers. It is advisable to check if an e-ticket is accepted by the airline and to print reservation information as a backup.
An e-ticket is an electronic flight ticket or an electronic reservation. A traveler does not receive a traditional paper ticket, but instead prints reservation information, and often boarding pass, from email before heading to the airport. In some cases, the ticket can be viewed on a smartphone, using the airline’s ticketing application. The reservation is stored in the airline’s computer system.
Using this type of ticket saves airlines money because they don’t have to spend money and postage on issuing paper versions. The e-ticket is also more reliable, as the traveler doesn’t have to depend on the mail to receive his ticket, or on a ticket agent at the airport, who may not know that the document was meant to be held for the traveler at the counter.
An e-ticket can also be cheaper than a paper ticket. US airlines often charge extra fees to issue paper tickets to help offset printing and shipping costs. Older travelers often prefer to have a paper ticket and will pay the surcharge, but most travelers prefer to avoid it.
Using an e-ticket generally means that your reservation information is printed out and ready for inspection. If online check-in is available, the traveler is always advised to use this procedure. If this is not feasible, travelers can check-in at their airline’s electronic kiosk at the airport, or they can always check-in at the ticket office itself. Upon check-in at the ticket office, the traveler will show the booking information to the agent and have their boarding passes printed. A growing number of airlines are also creating smartphone apps that allow passengers to collect their e-tickets through the application to show security officials and boarding agents.
While all major US airlines and most major global airlines use e-ticketing, not all of them do. It is always advisable for a traveler to check and see if an e-ticket will be accepted at the ticket office. This is especially true for travelers flying on a codeshare partner of a major airline. The major airline will likely honor the ticket, but the codeshare partner may or may not.
An e-ticket can be purchased directly from an airline website, travel site or travel agency. Using one can help prevent ticket loss or theft, as the reservation remains in the airline’s computer system. It’s always a good idea to print reservation information, however, as computers can crash and the traveler may need to show the information to a security officer.
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