Airlines use fees to encourage e-ticket use By Shannon Reilly, USA TODAY Four major airlines now charge for some paper tickets when an electronic ticket can be issued instead. The charges, usually $10, are a way to encourage more use of e-tickets, saving airlines millions of dollars a year in printing, distribution, storage and processing costs for paper tickets. America West, which offers e-tickets for all its flights, said last week it will charge $10 to issue most paper tickets. Nearly 80% of America West customers use e-tickets. "It's certainly where society is heading," says America West spokesperson Janice Monahan. The charge won't apply to tickets purchased through travel agents, tickets issued on government-contracted fares, group tickets or when e-tickets must be converted to paper tickets to accommodate passengers being rerouted on other airlines. American, Continental and Alaska already have similar policies. Most major airlines issue 50% to 85% of their tickets as e-tickets. By next year, says Forrester Research airline analyst Henry Harteveldt, 70% to 80% of all tickets issued in the USA will be e-tickets. One major airline estimates e-ticketing saves it $15 million to $20 million a year, or $2 a ticket. The real cost benefits will come when e-ticket usage is close to 100%, officials say. Selling e-tickets is good business for the airlines, says Al Lenza, Northwest Airlines' vice president. Lenza predicts that Northwest will stop using paper tickets within three years. One obstacle blocking total e-ticketing is that not all airlines' computers can communicate with other carriers' reservations, accounting and baggage systems, Harteveldt says. But most major airlines have goals to be able to access other airlines' systems in the future. "It's just a matter of time," Harte veldt says. Frequent travelers will be glad to hear that. Many love the convenience of e-tickets, but some encounter barriers with flight cancellations. "If you have a flight cancellation and need to go to another carrier, then you need to have the e-ticket converted to a paper ticket. For some reason, the process to convert an e-ticket to paper is very complicated and a huge hassle," says USA TODAY Road Warrior Victor Sanchez of Baltimore. And what about e-tickets for international travel? Rob Schainker of Jan's Travel and Cruise in Kirkwood, Mo., usually insists his travelers use paper tickets for international travel. "If they have a problem, most likely there will be a language barrier," Schainker says. "Once you leave the States, you are out there fending for yourself. If you have a paper ticket, you have something to bargain with." The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com ICQ: ICQ # 15836110 ICQ Pager: mailto:15836110@pager.icq.com escape email #!1 mailto:ejames@escape.ca yahoo email #2: mailto:triniroj@yahoo.com Yahoo Pager: triniroj Caribbean Brass & Soca Connection Group on Yahoo: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/caribsocabrass Caribbean Brass & Soca Connection Club Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeansocabrassconnection/ ******************************************************* Steel Expressions Orch http://www.escape.ca/~ejames/se/ email #1: mailto:steelexpressions@yahoo.com email #2: mailto:steelexpressions@home.com ******************************************************* The Trinbago Site of the Week: (Traffik) http://www.cariwaksoca.com/trafik.htm (Caribbean Traffik Jam) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://195.224.187.36/ *********************************************************