On another thread, several people expressed concern about one airline being able to accept an e-ticket from another airline without the ticket being printed to paper. The debate was which is better -- e-ticket or paper. And what airline had agreements with what other airline.
I am a huge proponent of e-tickets. They don't get lost! I'll never forget a call I got in 1997. There was a huge snowstorm raging, the client called on the way to the airport driving in the snowstorm, saying she had left her e-ticket at home, what to do. After I told her she only left her itinerary at home, the e-ticket was in the computer where we could all see it, she said she would never have a paper ticket again.
Sometimes you don't have a choice, like when two airlines -- United and Korean -- don't have an interline e-ticket agreement. But when you do have a choice, the e-ticket is the way to go.
I work for United Airlines in reservations, and work with this on a daily basis.
The most important thing for us in reservations, in my opinion, is to know the ticket number. The first three numbers identify the airline who issued the ticket. United is 016. American is 001. Korean is 180. Then the rest is the acutal ticket number.
If we have the e-ticket number, we can display it on our screens, and push control ( give the ticket to another airline ). Pushing control is another way of saying endorsing the ticket, or signing it over to another airline. It's the electronic version of an endorsement.
As of May 3, United has the following partners:
Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Alaska, All Nippon, Aloha, American, American Trans Air ( ATA ), America West, Blue 1 ( a regional carrier in Europe ,) British Airways, Continental, Delta, Emirates, Great Lakes, Hawaiian, Lufthansa, Mexicana, SAS, Singapore, Spanair ( Spanish regional carrier in Europe ), USAIr, and Varig. I thought we had one with British Midlands/BMI, but it wasn't on the list.
Anyway, I hope this helps people who are unsure of getting an e-ticket.
Shipahoy, everyone!
Frances
