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Pieter C.

Bye-bye paper ticket

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IATA Sees End Of Paper Tickets In 2008

 

August 27, 2007

The global airlines body IATA said on Monday it had placed its last order for paper tickets, clearing the way for air travel to be based entirely on electronic ticketing from June 1 next year.

 

"In just 278 more days, the paper ticket will become a collector's item," said Giovanni Bisignani, director general of the International Air Transport Association.

 

The changeover from paper would not only cut airlines' costs by USD$9 for every traveller but would also mean the industry - criticized by environmentalists for its part in global warming - would save 50,000 mature trees a year, he added.

 

Bisignani did not say whether the USD$9 in cost savings would or should be passed on to passengers.

 

Based in Geneva, IATA represents more than 240 airlines which operate 94 percent of scheduled international flights.

 

Non-IATA airlines, mainly low-cost carriers such as Ireland's Ryanair and Britain's easyJet, already have a paper-free ticket system where travelers are registered in computers and present only an identity document at check-in.

 

IATA launched its drive for so called "e-ticketing" just over three years ago and now 84 percent of travelers on IATA carriers fly without paper tickets.

 

The airlines body says China, one of the fastest-growing markets for air travel and host to next year's Olympic Games, is heading to be the first country in the world to operate an entirely paper-free ticketing system by the end of this year.

 

(Reuters)

 

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We will never go completely paper-less. Look at what we are doing now, do we not get a printout for MH bookings and doesn't AK recommend that you print out a copy of your e-ticket for reference ? Only now, we sometimes get multiple copies done up, just in case the first gets misplaced (I do anyway :pardon: !)

 

However, that is not to say this IATA move is doomed to failure. At the very least it is an initiative in what is hopefully the right direction - only time will tell :)

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We will never go completely paper-less. Look at what we are doing now, do we not get a printout for MH bookings and doesn't AK recommend that you print out a copy of your e-ticket for reference ? Only now, we sometimes get multiple copies done up, just in case the first gets misplaced (I do anyway :pardon: !)

 

What you're doing is very sensible.

 

It is not true that you can simply turn up empty handed to check in, as etix are not fool-proof. It is still safer to carry along a copy of ur itinerary receipt, or at the very least - write ur ticket number down somewhere.

 

Whilst you don't need to produce anything other than your photo ID 99% of the time, glitches in the reservation system can mean that the check in agent won't be able to locate ur eticket. Examples include the eticket having been saved onto the wrong place, or misspelt names. In situations like that - only the ticket number will locate your eticket, not even the booking reference will rescue you.

 

(LCCs are largely non-IATA members, like Easyjet and Air Asia and have their own ticketing procedures. You don't actually get any ticket/ticket numbers on them, just a confirmation in the system of your itinerary and evidenced by the bar code on your printed confirmation that the check in agent scans... the printed confirmation is even more important for these carriers. Just that the paperwork burden is transferred to pax. I guess.)

 

So yes you still need to carry something with you for that 1% of the time something goes wrong - it only takes a careless reservation agent or GDS errors to ruin your trip.

 

Also IATA is going to shut down its interline payment systems for paper tickets. Think of IATA as a bank and your tickets as cheques. So for eg, a ticket issued by AA can have segments operated by BA - BA simply submits the ticket coupon to IATA to claim payment from AA. From June 1, if it's a paper ticket - BA will need to claim payment directly from AA. It will still be possible for airlines to issue their own paper tickets (ATB2 ticket stock, ie the cardboard tickets that resemble boarding passes)... but it'd be an administrative nightmare...

 

This is worrying for round the world tickets, as currently etickets can only handle 16 segments flown/surface. So either they try expanding the eticket 'mask' to accomodate more segments (Amadeus is said to be able to handle 20 segments now... which fits the oneworld RTW perfectly but so far I haven't seen it done yet), or all the airline alliances shrink RTW tix to 16 segments max... :blink:

 

And the biggest airline alliance, Star has yet to even complete interline eticketing agreements amongst its own members so hmmmm.

 

I'm pretty sure I'll get a handwritten paper ticket for my RTW in Jan (currently eticket but will reissue into paper due to additional segments which bring it to >16 segments) - will be sure to keep it as a souvenir. :D

Edited by Keith T

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I have asked MH check-in counter staff if I need to bring those flimsy computer printout of itinerary issued at MAS ticket office. They say it is better to bring just in case their database go kaput and no info available in their system. So paper still being needed here, as with boarding pases.

Before MH ended issuing traditional tickets for domestic, I bought the cheapest RAS ticket without taking the trip so that I could keep an unused ticket in my colection.

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Besides on the concern of check in system break down, the most important reason why you should and must bring your print out is the immigration and security concern. When you enter the foreign country it's likely the immigration officer will request to see your air ticket (to make sure u got a return ticket with you) before they put the stamp on your passport (I do noticed it's a standard procedure for certain country like Australia). Certain airports restrict the check in area to passengers only thus you need the ticket to enter.

 

For me I always bring 2 print out with me, 1 in checked luggage, another copy in hand luggage + the default soft copy in my web-based email as well. Honestly speaking I prefer eticket a lot morecompared to paper ticket as it's a lot safer, a lot more convenient & hassle free. Really hate the time where after booked & paid for my ticket online with MAS I still need to go to their office to collect the 'paper ticket' (if thats the case might as well book and pay everything in their office).

Edited by Seng Lim

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For the moment the e ticket with mas is still not secure yet. Both insident happent with my friend board mas been told to show prove of purchases. 2 of my friend been told to product a copy of the itemnery to the ground stuff for 4 time before the flight close it door to and take off. Then 3rd time my bro print out 3 paper's and give each copies to each check point so that no more question ask. So end up no paper ticket become 3 copies of itemnery ticket.....

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Before MH ended issuing traditional tickets for domestic, I bought the cheapest RAS ticket without taking the trip so that I could keep an unused ticket in my colection.

So Rozhan have you complete your collection with MAS First & Business Class paper tickets as well?

I think you idea of collecting the unused new paper ticket is a good idea as I always found the paper ticket messy & unattractive after the trip, thus never thought of collecting any of them (regardless it's the very own airline version or the boring IATA travel agent version) and I just dispose left over into the bin in no time.

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Besides on the concern of check in system break down, the most important reason why you should and must bring your print out is the immigration and security concern. When you enter the foreign country it's likely the immigration officer will request to see your air ticket (to make sure u got a return ticket with you) before they put the stamp on your passport (I do noticed it's a standard procedure for certain country like Australia). Certain airports restrict the check in area to passengers only thus you need the ticket to enter.

 

For me I always bring 2 print out with me, 1 in checked luggage, another copy in hand luggage + the default soft copy in my web-based email as well. Honestly speaking I prefer eticket a lot morecompared to paper ticket as it's a lot safer, a lot more convenient & hassle free. Really hate the time where after booked & paid for my ticket online with MAS I still need to go to their office to collect the 'paper ticket' (if thats the case might as well book and pay everything in their office).

 

And make sure the print out of the eticket is the actual eticket receipt or itinerary receipt and not just the itinerary. Besides the itinerary, it should contain ticket number/s, your booking reference/s, payment info, some fare rules etc. Ie most of the info that you'd expect to see on a paper ticket.

 

The itinerary itself is useless if check in breaks down, or if immigration demands proof of onward travel. (Well, if the immigration officers are trained properly anyway...)

Edited by Keith T

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..... Really hate the time where after booked & paid for my ticket online with MAS I still need to go to their office to collect the 'paper ticket' (if thats the case might as well book and pay everything in their office).

Hey, I can identify with that ! Sort of been there, done that :D

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by paperless they don't mean 100% "paper-less" - the idea is that the transfer of information is 100% electronic. Rather than having to scan those old carbon copies at check-in and the gate, the information will be completely inside the system and this form of confirmation of passage is simply no longer required for travel.

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by paperless they don't mean 100% "paper-less" - the idea is that the transfer of information is 100% electronic. Rather than having to scan those old carbon copies at check-in and the gate, the information will be completely inside the system and this form of confirmation of passage is simply no longer required for travel.

 

That's where the massive savings for the airlines come in - cut down on labour and administrative costs.

But in the meantime it'd be a nightmare trying to complete IET links before the May 2008 deadline and that's already a 5 month pushback from the original 31DEC2007 deadline.

 

And no concrete info as to how they intend to handle RTW tix yet...

Edited by Keith T

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So Rozhan have you complete your collection with MAS First & Business Class paper tickets as well?

I think you idea of collecting the unused new paper ticket is a good idea as I always found the paper ticket messy & unattractive after the trip, thus never thought of collecting any of them (regardless it's the very own airline version or the boring IATA travel agent version) and I just dispose left over into the bin in no time.

Pokai if buy business and first class tickets. I am just happy to have the colour page detailing flight itinerary that will remind me how air tickets look like in the years to come. The RAS ticket cost less than RM40

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I tot paper ticket was long history. But thou, when I fly with MH, we have to use paper ticket.

 

The IATA mandated deadline was 31DEC2007 but it got pushed back to MAY2008.

 

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Sheet... LAN Airlines issued me a paper ticket for my AKL-SYD-AKL flights.... if I keep it I won't be able to fly out......

What should I go about it?? :unsure:

Edited by S V Choong

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Sheet... LAN Airlines issued me a paper ticket for my AKL-SYD-AKL flights.... if I keep it I won't be able to fly out......

What should I go about it?? :unsure:

 

Isn't ur LAN trip way before May 2008?

 

And anyway there's no reason to think that tickets issued as paper tix will be invalid after the etix mandate. The only real change will be that the airlines will be unable to access IATA BSP settlement systems for paper tix - meaning they have to deal directly with TAs or other airlines for payment. It's their problem, not yours. ;)

Edited by Keith T

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Nah, I was actually talking about keeping the tix rather than using it :p

 

If I don't use it, they won't allow me to board the aircraft to Sydney.

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Ah, thanx for clarification SV :good: May be negotiation with the staff would help or isn't when you book online, there's option to take electronique or e-ticket option, I think it's possible to choose both with a little bucks for shipping.

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Thanks Seth. After discussion with my agent, she said reissuing my paper tix to e-tix will cost me extra $70. bummer! :( :( :(

 

Oh well, I guess I can photograph the ticket....

 

Years ago, I remember seeing all tickets in issued in Japan and HK are issued with the boarding pass type tickets rather than the red carbon copies. I was wondering why MAS never bothered to upgrade to the aforementioned system.

Edited by S V Choong

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Years ago, I remember seeing all tickets in issued in Japan and HK are issued with the boarding pass type tickets rather than the red carbon copies.

 

The boarding pass types are called ATB2 tickets. You get them if you issue ur paper tix directly with most airlines. Holding such a ticket now for my AA-issued BA/QF/SQ/MH paper ticket to KUL. The MH segment caused my itinerary to be paper ticketed... :pardon:

Edited by Keith T

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Hi Keith,

 

Guess what. I purchased the MH/VS RTW this morning. Had to pay or not would have been cancelled. So i guess i'm the last one to ticket this!

 

And you guessed it, paper tickets!

 

The boarding pass types are called ATB2 tickets. You get them if you issue ur paper tix directly with most airlines. Holding such a ticket now for my AA-issued BA/QF/SQ/MH paper ticket to KUL. The MH segment caused my itinerary to be paper ticketed... :pardon:
Edited by k3nnis

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