Paper Airline Tickets On The Brink Of Extinction

September 19, 2007

Luddite travelers may need to start making geek friends because the paper airline ticket will be all but extinct by the end of May.

Replacing paper tickets, and the elaborate global system that processed them, with electronic ticketing will save airlines $3 billion annually on the roughly 400 million tickets sold outside of the United States alone, according to the New York Times.

Apparently, 96.86 percent of tickets sold in the United States, Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands last month were electronic, so it does appear that most people are able and willing to travel the digital way. Do you use electronic or paper tickets when you travel?

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14 Comments

3 years 16 weeks

you

Linny 5 years 34 weeks

i'm surprised it took this long

ninjastarlett 5 years 35 weeks

electronic is the way to go.

piraterie 5 years 35 weeks

I haven't used paper tickets in years. I always print out my e-ticket at the little kiosk. So easy!

jennytrauma 5 years 35 weeks

i work at a travel agency. they do charge extra for a paper ticket. it is less paper and i guess its easier to recycle and keep track of. in reality though, its because ALOT of people forget there tickets at home. this was one of the reasons along with less of a paper trail.

millarci 5 years 35 weeks

I love e-tickets. It's so much easier!

SugarCat 5 years 35 weeks

Have been using e-tickets for as long as I can remember.

jdots24 5 years 35 weeks

I always use electronic, and i agree, they should totally not even print out tickets, just use it all electronically, they are checking your id anyways!

aistea311 5 years 35 weeks

but I like the printed ticket for a keepsake from a trip you took. E-Tickets are convienant but its like email vs a letter, nothing beats the real thing.

swtkitten 5 years 35 weeks

I use E-Tickets because they always charge extra to mail them out and then I tend to lose them before i get to the airport. This way they're there when i get there and cost less.

Leopardcc 5 years 35 weeks

If I traveled I would use them, no problem

macgirl 5 years 35 weeks

I *think*, not totally sure, that they are going to just sell you the ticket and make you responsible for printing it out on either your printer or at one of those kiosks. Those two ways both print out way less stuff then what they mail you. No fancy little envelopes or other stuff.

Nightwind 5 years 35 weeks

I dont understand. Its an electronic ticket, until you get to the ticket agent, and then you get your actual plane ticket, which they look at through screening, and also when you get on the plane. If they are not going to print out these tickets at all...how are they to know you even have a ticket to begin with??

macgirl 5 years 35 weeks

Now if we could just find a way to use electronic tickets without having to print them out.

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