E-tickets

[honey lamb]

I know this might seem like a dumb question, but you must forgive me - I'm not as young as I was For the first time ever I booked my ticket to SFO (on UCS ) by phone - and an extremely pleasant experience it was too. The girl at the other end took me through all the permutations of the different classes - especially as there was no Z fare available on the day I wished to return and I ended up returning a day later than I had originally planned but at a saving of €600 to me. It's things like that that brings you back constantly to VS, isn't it?

Sorry, I digress. When I booked she told me that my e-ticket would be emailed to me. I presume that the customer receipt that was emailed to me is in fact the e-ticket? With other airlines you are instructed to present the email (or the confirmation page) at check in, but this isn't mentioned in the email. Or perhaps it is but I am too dumb to see. [:I]

[Decker]

quote:Originally posted by honey lamb

Sorry, I digress. When I booked she told me that my e-ticket would be emailed to me. I presume that the customer receipt that was emailed to me is in fact the e-ticket? With other airlines you are instructed to present the email (or the confirmation page) at check in, but this isn't mentioned in the email. Or perhaps it is but I am too dumb to see. [:I]

[Begin opinion]
E-Tickets seem to be nebulous - the "E-ticket" per se is just the fact that the booking exists and can be cross referenced to you. This naturally makes passengers uneasy as they have nothing physical, so at the beginning some of the people I flew made you print "E-Tickets" to bring to check in. Then they made you bring confirmation e-mails. Then they made you bring the 6 letter locator. Increasingly they just ask for your name and where you're going and don't even bother with the locator.

Security staff like to see something more "official" though - so perhaps the confirmation receipt?

So if you've got a locator you're sorted....
[/Begin opinion]

[Decker]

still I'd call VS just to make sure

Hi Honey Lamb,

Hope I can help, I have just booked my first UCS flight to LAX. I also booked on the phone. I must agree I am always impressed whenever I speak to the Virgin booking staff. Its refreshing to talk to someone who is genuinely happy to help you!

I take it you have received the email with the subject heading: 'Customer Receipt'?

This heading should then be followed by your booking reference number and just below, in the main email text it should say...

'Please bring this receipt with you to the airport for check-in and immigration purposes. You will also need to bring the credit card used to purchase this ticket'

The email should then go on listing your flight details and baggage allowances...

Any good?! Have a great flight..

Autopilot.

[honey lamb]

quote:I take it you have received the email with the subject heading: 'Customer Receipt'?

This heading should then be followed by your booking reference number and just below, in the main email text it should say...

'Please bring this receipt with you to the airport for check-in and immigration purposes. You will also need to bring the credit card used to purchase this ticket'

Oh, it does. [:I]

Thanks a million. If you see a befuddled white-haired old lady wandering aimlessly around the Clubhouse, that'll be me.

Edited to say:
Oh, and thank you to everyone who responded. I TOLD you I was befuddled!

As you've hit directly on one of my pet hates about VS, note that this contains the answer to your question, as well as my bolshy opinion about VS' strange attitude to E-tickets.

The whole idea of E-tickets is that there's no paperwork, and therefore nothing to be lost, forgotten, or stolen.

So, with VS, even though they issue you with an E-ticket, they still want you to turn up at the airport with a piece of paper in your hand to show you're entitled to travel - your E-ticket receipt. This is what they will have mailed to you.

Most airlines do this so that you have the security of a proof of purchase, and/or something to do your expenses with. VS actually want you to bring it with you.

So, woe betide you if you arrive at LHR without an E-ticket reciept, even in UC, even when the UC ticket desk is "closed". You will be packed off to the ticket desk quicker than you can say "go and queue over there and stew for a bit". When you reach the head of the line, a copy of your E-ticket receipt will be printed out for you, so you can go back to check-in.

It seems the primary reason for this is the doc-checking/stickering at the entry to the check-in lines (which is another of my VS pet hates).

So, as others advise, remember to take a print of the E-ticket reciept with you to the airport, or leave yourself extra time to get the ticket desk to do a print for you.

This is completely orthogonal to the E-ticketing behaviour of most other airlines I fly (usually Star Alliance, and occasionally BA when I can't avoid them), who just need photo id, plus FF card and/or credit/debit card used to make the booking. Show these to the check-in agent and you're done.

The doc checking should be moved onto the check-in agents, who can then verify the e-ticket details at the same time, issue boarding cards, check bags, job done. It seems to work for most other airlines... so why not VS?

This will do away with the need for carrying quaint bits of paper, saving time, and trees . Hey, they could even redeploy the spare ticket desk staff to help reduce that Y-class check-in snake we all know and love .

Cheers,
Mike

[Bazz]

Hi Honey Lamb,

Just to add, it is only the first couple of pages that you need to take, not all the waffle on the other five or so pages.


Please also remember that if people on the e-ticket(s) are checking in independently of each other they are each required to carry their own copy of the e-ticket receipt.

Here for the benefit of those of you that have not used an e-ticket here is the wording from the one I received on Tuesday:

quote:
e-ticket -- virgin atlantic


I t i n e r a r y / R e c e i p t


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ At the time of booking you may have been asked +
+ to take a form of identification with you to the +
+ airport, i.e. the credit card used to purchase +
+ the ticket or your flying club card, please +
+ bring this along with your e-ticket receipt +
+ and passport which are required for +
+ security/immigration purposes. +
+---------------------------------------------------+
+ Each person checking in separately must carry +
+ their own receipt. +
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


This document/receipt is also your credit card
billing confirmation.

Hope this helps.

[Pete]

E-Tickets have benefits and drawbacks. The primary reason for their introduction was to save money. The cost to the airlines of processing a paper ticket has been estimated at about 2 GBP. That compares with about 15p for an E-Ticket, so it's in the interest of the airline to give you an E-Ticket wherever possible. The biggest drawback of an E-Ticket is if you need to transfer to another flight on another carrier.

Let's say the flight your on is delayed or cancelled, and you're facing a long wait until the airline can get you on their next flight. In Europe and the US, there are all sorts of passenger rights which may allow you to opt to continue to your destination on another airline (In the US this is called 'Rule 240'). However, to do this you need to have a paper ticket to use with that other carrier. If you only have an E-Ticket, getting a paper ticket and getting the original airline to transfer you can suddenly become the most difficult thing in the world. And, assuming you're in the same boat as the other 300 passengers on the delayed flight, the ticket desk is likely to be very busy.

I personally prefer paper tickets, and only accept E-Tickets when there's no option (or a heafty sucharge for getting them). Note that the above is generic to the airline industry, and not specific to Virgin.

Pix

I have checked in without a hard copy of the eticket I just showed security the ticket on the screen of my mobile!

The Check in agent said that's the first time she saw that!!

Remember also the nice immigration people in the US may well want proof of your return ticket before letting you in making a paper copy of the eticket details essential.

The UCIS will already know that you have a return ticket from the data passed to them by the airline before you arrive.

The how long will you be staying?" question is simply to confirm that which they already know. Alarm bells might ring if your answer didn't tally though[:I]

My last VS flight (to EWR) was on an e-ticket and I simply presented my passport at the drive through check-in. No other form of paperwork was asked for (although I admit I did have a print out in my case).

Don't know if this is standard VS, but I take 15+ SQ flights a year, all on e-tickets and always check in this way with no problems.

Hope this helps

Chris R

quote:The UCIS will already know that you have a return ticket from the data passed to them by the airline before you arrive.

Think I will still take a hard copy with me just in case.