U.S. puts new restrictions on e-tickets

Federal authorities have implemented new regulations for electronic airline tickets as part of tighter security at U.S. airports, effectively taking away much of the convenience of online travel.

Commercial airlines will no longer allow passengers holding e-tickets to receive a boarding pass by only showing photo identification. Passengers will have to present a printed receipt of their e-ticket purchase, according to representatives from online travel company Travelocity and Southwest Airlines.

Also under the new restrictions, passengers will be required to show proof of a valid ticket to get past security checkpoints. The Federal Aviation Administration, which issued the guidelines, is leaving it up to each airline to decide what constitutes that proof. The FAA is encouraging customers to check in at the ticket counter instead of the at the gate.

Some airlines are allowing e-ticketed passengers to print out confirmations of their receipts to show as proof.

The changes in procedure are part of increased security efforts announced this week by the FAA in light of Tuesday's terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Curbside check-in of baggage has also been forbidden, and knives of any kind will not be allowed on planes. In addition, the department said, carry-on baggage will be subject to search.

Ticketless travel has been catching on in the United States since the emergence of airline ticket sales over the Internet. The benefits of an e-ticket were that a traveler did not have to wait for his or her paper ticket in the mail or risk losing the ticket.

In addition, an e-ticketed traveler could avoid long airport lines by checking in at the gate, as long as he or she had a valid photo ID.

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines said the tougher regulations could affect the company. Some 80 percent of the tickets it sells are e-tickets, and many of its customers check in at the gate without ever receiving a paper ticket, said Bob Kneisley, Southwest's associate general counsel.

Kneisley said, however, that it is not clear how the regulations will be implemented on the ground.

The majority of airline tickets sold by Priceline.com are also e-tickets, company spokesman Brian Ek said. Like Southwest, Ek said, Priceline is advising e-ticket customers to bring a printout of their travel receipt with them to the airport. Although that will unlikely obviate the need for them to go to the ticket counter, it should make the process easier, he said.

E-tickets are popular because of the convenience they offer, but the new rules would strip them of a lot of their appeal, Ek said.

"The whole idea of an e-ticket was that you could go directly to the gate and just give them your driver's license," Ek said. "You can't do that now."

Southwest will station supervisors at security checkpoints in each of the airports in which it operates to inspect travel receipts, company spokeswoman Brandy King said.

"For the time being, we will take those additional steps to make sure customers will be safe when they fly," King said.

That sentiment was one that most of the airlines expressed about security amid their rush to provide customers with information on when flights would resume.

Southwest plans to resume service Friday, according to a statement on the company's Web site. Southwest did not resume flying Thursday because some of the airports it serves have not yet opened fully and because of concerns about complying with new security directives from the government and the company itself, Kneisley said. The company is handling refunds on a case-by-case basis, encouraging customers to call its customer service center with questions, King said.

United Airlines also said it would resume operations Friday. Most of the other airlines, including Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines, authorized a limited number of flights Thursday but expected to resume normal operations Friday.

American Airlines said its operations were focused on moving aircraft diverted on Tuesday to their original destinations. The airline said it expects to return to a full flight schedule in "several days."

Travelocity and Expedia, another online travel agency, set up search engines where passengers could check their flight status for most of the airlines the travel agencies get tickets from. Web travel agency Orbitz advised customers to check the Web sites of the individual airlines.

Priceline is taking reservations for air travel that begins after Monday and has resumed accepting reservations for all hotel and rental cars, Ek said. He did not say how the new regulations would affect Priceline or its customers.

Customers with airline tickets from Priceline are unable to get refunds directly from airlines, Ek said. But Priceline will refund tickets for travel within the next three days, according to each airline's current refund policy, he said.

I'm sorry, but this is just pure BULL$HIT!!!

How the hell is printing your stupid e-ticket receipt going to prevent one damn thing from happening?!?!

Now it's going to take 3 hours to check in for a domestic flight. You won't be able to check in at the gate. Probably won't be able to check-in at the President's Club or the like. And you won't be able to walk your spouse, family, friend to their gate.

This is beyond absurd and it is a knee-jerk reaction to what has happened. It won't do a damn thing to make any of us any safer. It will only serve to remind us every time we travel that terrorists have been able to change our lives dramatically.

When we enforce these idiotic changes, we have allowed them to win.

I agree with you; some these changes will destroy short-haul air travel in the US and thereby allow the terrorists to win a victory. I am all in favor of actual security measures that will actually enhance security, and not letting non-passengers to the gate may unfortunately be one of those measures, by allowing fewer people access to aircraft gates and by extension to aircraft. However...

How the hell is printing your stupid e-ticket receipt going to prevent one damn thing from happening?!?!

You are right to call BS on this one. It's as useless as the security questions that people get asked, and falls in the category of "feel-good" security. Particularly because you could fake up a printed e-ticket receipt with Photoshop in about 30 seconds.

The airline moment is really a roll of the dice now is it not? I just start sorting through the bowl on my fireplace mantle which is filled with 5 sets of airline tickets.

-- 09/12/01 to Tennessee to assist in the office relocation [ things that just didn't happen -- and -- I can't figure out how to reschedule]

-- 09/21/01 To Chicago for the Wedding trip[Flying is worrisome for the family. Drive? Chicago Wedding then a second Orlando Wedding?]

-- 09/23/01 Husband to Tallahassee [previously difficult timing now really tough. Wants to drive to wedding with the parents but .....]

-- 10/19/01 Quick trip to Washington DC to visit my brother [Well, things should be more normal then. Shouldn't they? Especially to DC from Orlando......]

-- ??/??/02 Finally cashed in some of those frequent flyer miles and got my free ticket coupon. Started dreaming up next years vacation. Thinking about the Orient Express from Calgary to Vancouver.............................................

I read this post and immediately went to see if I had been tidy enough to print my e-ticket reciepts as instructed by the on-line vendor when I purchased them. I know I have forgotten to do that in the past and still managed to get on the plane. I'm glad I saw this post.

Thanks

I read this post and immediately went to see if I had been tidy enough to print my e-ticket reciepts as instructed by the on-line vendor when I purchased them.

I would expect that you could get a copy from the main check-in desk; that shouldn't be a problem.

I suspect that the main reason for the requirement that gates only be used by passengers is to allow security to spend more time screening people. Right now, I suspect that security is probably less cautious when the lines get long, and there aren't enough security gates to allow for thorough checks. Perhaps there should be separate lines for passengers and non-passengers, with the understanding that non-passengers wanting to get to the gate to visit relatives et al. may have to wait an hour in line if there are many people wanting to get in.

Frankly, I'm amazed at the number of people still trying to board planes with box cutters. I'll admit that I thought the total knife ban was silly [since there's no way any such attack would ever work again] but since would-be hijackers weren't capable of adjusting tactics suitably it seems to have done some good. Nonetheless, I can't see how such a ban can be usefully enforced without strip-searches, since non-metallic knives which are even nastier than boxcutters are (literally) a stone-age technology.

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