E-tickets cause confusion at airport checkpoints By Gary Stoller and Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY E-tickets don't guarantee an easy pass through airport security. Ask=20 airlines what you need to bring and you get different answers: =B7 Some carriers say that e-ticket holders without a boarding pass=20 must carry paperwork containing a ticket number to proceed directly to a=20 departure gate. =B7 Other carriers say a document with a ticket number or a= reservation=20 number will suffice. =B7 Still others say a flight itinerary without a number is OK. So= what=20 should a passenger do? The federal government's new Transportation Security Administration says=20 e-ticket holders should present an itinerary that includes a flight number= =20 and a reservation number. USA TODAY reporters tested that advice at three=20 airports =97 New York's LaGuardia, Los Angeles International and Bradley=20 International in Hartford, Conn. The tests revealed that security personnel= =20 are sometimes refusing entry to e-ticket holders carrying documents that=20 meet TSA guidelines. Confusion was the last thing airlines had in mind when= =20 they introduced paperless travel with e-tickets in the mid-1990s. The=20 tickets were designed to speed travelers through the check-in process by=20 allowing them to go directly to the gate without waiting in line at a=20 ticket counter. Some airlines say the majority of passengers now fly on=20 e-tickets. But during USA TODAY's test in Los Angeles, a reporter with an e-ticket was= =20 refused entry twice. On one occasion, the reporter was carrying a=20 confirmation page that he had printed out after buying a United Airlines=20 e-ticket over the Internet. Although the confirmation form stated "your=20 e-ticket has been issued" and included a reservation number, a security=20 guard said there was no ticket number and refused to allow him to proceed=20 ahead to the carry-on baggage screening station. The reporter went back to= =20 his car and returned with the second page of the confirmation form, which=20 listed his address and the type of credit card used to pay for the ticket.= =20 Again, the security guard refused entry without a ticket number, which=20 could be obtained at a United ticket counter. The guard said she had also=20 refused entry to many other passengers with similar confirmation forms.=20 United did not respond to requests for comment. On another occasion, the reporter was refused entry when presenting an=20 e-mail confirmation for an e-ticket from his travel agent. The e-mail=20 included a round-trip flight itinerary on Northwest Airlines and a=20 reservation number. The reporter was brought to a security supervisor's=20 office where he was told that he couldn't proceed without a ticket number.= =20 Northwest spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch says a ticket number is required on an=20 e-ticket document. But during a test at a checkpoint for Northwest and=20 Delta flights at LaGuardia, as well as six other tests at various airlines'= =20 checkpoints in New York, Los Angeles and Hartford, security personnel=20 accepted e-mail confirmation pages without ticket numbers . On another occasion at the Northwest-Delta checkpoint at LaGuardia, a=20 security agent refused entry to a reporter carrying a flight itinerary with= =20 both a ticket number and a reservation number that had been faxed to him by= =20 the travel agent. The itinerary was on the travel agency's letterhead, but= =20 the security guard said it was unacceptable because it was a facsimile.=20 Northwest's Ebenhoch says the airline checked with the TSA and was told=20 that a fax is acceptable. Delta officials agree but say that whatever=20 document a travel agent provides =97 even without a ticket number or a=20 reservation number =97 is OK. JetBlue Airways says an itinerary without such= =20 numbers is acceptable at its terminal at New York's JFK airport, but the=20 policy may differ at other airports the airline flies to. Southwest=20 Airlines says either a reservation number or a ticket number is required.=20 Northwest and other airlines advise e-ticket holders to avoid any confusion= =20 or delay by obtaining a boarding pass before they reach a security=20 checkpoint. Such passes can be obtained from a self-service ticket machine= =20 near ticket counters at numerous airports, they say. The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBSC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeansocabrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (Coco Reef) http://www.cocoreef.com/ (Coco Reef Resort & Spa) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************