Jon Merricks Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 I just purchased some airline tickets to the Nats. and a couple of hours later thought I have no knowledge how to get on the airplane other than showing up. Anybody that has bought e tickets before have any tips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tman33_99 Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 Jon, What airline are you flying and out of which airport? The biggest thing, is to have a copy of your itineray and your confirmation number. You probably won't need them, but it is good to have in case there is some confusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilTerry Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 Just as you say, show up at the check in desk with Government issue photo ID and your on! e-tickets are the only thing some of the big airlines provide unless you want to pay a premium for some paper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3quartertime Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 E tickets are only the first step. You still need to check in at the airline you've reserved for. If you are checking bags you still need to wait in line. If you are only carry-on you need to go to the check in counter and use the puter' to check in. It will give you your boarding pass. Check the arrival/departure screen for your gate and times as they can change. E tickets are great, just used some non-rev'n on vacation... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 I fly with an E ticket all the time - Southwest Airlines to be exact. Arrive at Airport with ID & Credit Card used to purchase ticket. Check in at ticket counter, check baggage and you are set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.Hayden Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 At some airlines, with or without an eTicket, try the self serve kiosks... almost nobody uses them, and if there's a line at the counter, they save lots of time. Usually you swipe a credit card or something (the system just reads your name off the stripe), and will print you a boarding pass. Bags can still be checked (usually), if you select check baggage, someone will come over and tag them... You'll need to show id somewhere eventually (maybe the gate)... but it's still way faster... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimel Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 At some airports, especially flying NorthWorst, you have no choice but to use the self-serve kiosks. It isn't until the kiosk throws up it's hands in frustration that you can approach the surly ticket agent who will grumble and grouse about having to do their damn job. Other than that...e-tickets are the way to go. I screwed up once and didn't have a printed copy of my e-ticket but I did have it in my Palm. Ticket agent actually smiled about that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 (edited) Warpspeed has it down. Government ID and “the” credit card used to purchase “the” ticket are the best combo. The ID alone with any major credit card is next best, but if a ticket dispute arises, you will usually be buying a whole new fare and sorting it out later. BTW, a hard copy of the itinerary can also be handy. -- Regards, Edited May 28, 2004 by George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gun Geek Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 Most of the time when you get and E-tic you can get an e-mail confirming the details of the flights. On there wil be a sequence of numbers and letters called a record locator. If you have problems, this string can save your bacon. It is how the airline can find your res/tick even if your name has evaported from their system. When e-ticks first started I felt naked going to the airport without a ticket. What if I get there and they have no idea that I'm supposed to be on a plane? I started carrying the itenerary printed out. I eventually started carrying a copy downloaded to my palm pilot (no paper). I have had in the last 5 years been saved by giving a record locator. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDH Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 First, e-tiks RULE! (plus pays Delta Skymiles) Second, self check-in kiosk's RULE! (plus pays Delta Skymiles) Third, on-line check-in is even better (plus pays Delta Skymiles) Fourth, regardless of whether you e-tik, hard copy tik, on-line check-in or not.... you HAVE to declare your UNLOADED FIREARM to the clueless person behind the counter.... I'm sure you know that, but I have had some experiences where I HAD to tell THEM what the rules were! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Merricks Posted May 28, 2004 Author Share Posted May 28, 2004 Wow! Thanks for all the info. I'm flying on US Airways out of Charlotte into Saint Louis. Non stop for $270. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tman33_99 Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 Jon, I have never flown into Charlotte and it has been years since I have flown US Air. Get there with around 1-1/2 to 2 hours to spare. Bring your ID, the Credit Card you used with Orbitz (I don't think you will really need it, but better to be safe than sorry), and your printed E-Ticket Itinerary. Check-in, Declare your gun, get your boarding pass, and go to Security. At the Security Checkpoint (manned by TSA) since 9-11, it is best to strip completely naked, and place everything in the bins for X-Ray. Short of this, it is best to put everything that is in your pockets, your cell phone, you’re PDA, your watch, your belt (belt buckle will set of the metal detectors) in your carry on bag. Place your bag on the X-Ray conveyor, and then take your shoes (remember the shoe bomber) off and put them in a bin. Go through X-Ray and get dressed, and head to your gate. Now you are in a nice sterile environment.....don't you feel sooo much safer after all that Good Luck Travis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 The only shortcoming of e-tix is if you have to change airlines. I needed to do it once and it was basically impossible with and e-ticket. With paper tickets you were able to do so and get credit for your airfare. Hopefully that's changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDH Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 The only shortcoming of e-tix is if you have to change airlines. I needed to do it once and it was basically impossible with and e-ticket. With paper tickets you were able to do so and get credit for your airfare. Hopefully that's changed. That's a valid point. I 'think' the way they handle this is that you have to go to the ticket counter with your e-tik, and have them cut you a paper ticket. Then you take the paper ticket to the other airline. I have not had to do this, but seems like someone at work got into this bind and explained to me how they handled it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dminor Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 E-tickets are very handy. Here in MN we almost always have to use NorthWorst as kimel called them. The nice thing about it is I can go online and print my boarding pass up to something like 24 hours before my flight at my home computer before I leave for the airport. All I do then is check my luggage at the curb and go straight to security. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimel Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 The cooperation between airlines for e-tix is getting better. On my annual pilgrimage back east I used to HAVE to get paper tickets because multiple airlines were involved, even though they were partner airlines. On my trip back earlier this month it was all e-tix. Right now this "seems" to be limited to partner airlines (ie: Horizon/Alaska/Northwest/Continental/KLM) but it is getting better. I was told by my travel agent before I left that should I need to change flights that I was basically screwed unless I stayed with a partner airline. If I could get the ticket counter to print me paper tickets, for which I would need to pay the "paper ticket fee" which usually runs around $50, I would then be good to go. She also said that the airlines were working toward a universal e-tix system which would preclude the need for the paper tickets but that was just a concept at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now