Tickless Travel Is Here To Stay

by Charree Nash

Welcome to the world of ticketless travel. To those of us who like to hold what we have bought in our hand, it is a frightening thought. The airline industry, however, which survives on the slimmest margin, has latched onto the new concept of electronic ticketing, which it hopes will be a savior of profitablity.

ValuJet created the concept a few years ago. Its Dulles to Florida shuttles offered only a confirmation number over the phone. The consumer took a leap of faith and drove to the airport expecting a reservation and a seat waiting. At the counter, the passenger was listed on a manifest. In the early days, it did not always move smoothly.

For the travel agent, a phone call was the only contact. There were no handy reference guides to routings. ValuJet saved money on paper and saved money on subscribers’ fees to the airline computer systems. It was a concept that travel agents waited to see fail, but the concept did not fail. Instead, it has been embraced by the other airlines.

Southwest airline, a renegade in the industry for years, offers a no frills experience. Boarding is color coded, there are no advance seat assignments, and no food is served. Southwest, however, has developed a system that gives the travel agent more control over reservations. The airline offers travel agencies the option of setting up a contract with them for ticketless travel. After the reservation is confirmed, a fax reconfirms the itinerary. The fax is then given to the traveler.

United Airlines was the first major carrier to test the waters, which it did on its shuttle service in California. It provides both advance seat assignments and computer contact for travel agencies. The ability to offer immediate confirmation and receipts gives corporations needed documentation.

Nevertheless, some corporate travel managers are still resisting ticketless travel according to Travel Weekly, a travel industry publication. Their concern is tracking and reconciling ticket purchases without a receipt. Corporate accounting managers have questions on tracking refunds, exchanges and billing clients.

The ticket has gone away, but the tracking and accounting paperwork remains. Immediate refunds for Southwest and ValuJet have to be requested on a weekly basis from their accounting offices and are then reimbursed to the agency or the traveler's credit card. Coupons from the other airlines remain in the agency's airline computer system, allowing exchanges and refunds to remain in the control of the issuing agency.

Since the airlines charge a lost ticket fee between $50 and $60, ticketless travel rids the customer of that worry. Prepaid ticket fees of $35 (tickets paid for ahead of time and issued at the airport) are also a thing of the past.

Electronic tickets have been so successful that there is a rumor that the airlines will start charging a fee for paper tickets.

Charree Nash is front office manager at Bennett World Travel. She can be reached at 410-465-8555.