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© St. Petersburg Times, published May 26, 2002
Delta fliers must pay for paper tickets
Delta Air Lines this month became the fifth of the nine major U.S. carriers to charge for paper tickets.
Delta will charge $10 to issue paper tickets requested by customers on itineraries that are eligible for e-tickets, now more than 98 percent of its flights, spokesman Anthony Black said. Exceptions include code-share flights and a handful of destinations, including Paris and Cancun, Mexico, he said.
The fee is waived for full-fare, unrestricted tickets and for SkyMiles Medallion members. American, America West and Continental also charge the $10 fee; Alaska Air charges $20 per ticket order.
Delta cited "increasing costs" for its move and also noted that e-tickets let customers use self-serve kiosks and avoid theft or loss of the ticket. But airline expert Terry Trippler noted a possible disadvantage: If passengers need to rebook on another airline at the airport, they may have to stand in line to get a paper ticket because competing airlines may not acknowledge another carrier's e-ticket. But more airlines are accepting e-tickets from other carriers. As of last week, American, Continental, Northwest and United had so-called "interline agreements" with one another. Continental also has an agreement with America West, and United with Air Canada. Delta, US Airways and Southwest don't have such agreements.
The Internet as a purchasing and planning tool continues to flex its muscle among leisure travelers, according to a recent survey.
Nearly one-third of the 1,351 leisure travelers polled used the Web to book a reservation, an increase from the 25 percent who did so the year before, according to results from the Yesawich, Pepperdine & Brown survey taken early this year. They -- and "they" are mostly Gen-Xers and baby boomers -- booked 2.1 trips online last year.
"Once you've done it, some of the mystery has been removed," says Con Hitchcock, chairman of the Consumer Advisory Board for Orbitz, a co-sponsor of the YPB study.
He thinks the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks played a role in the increased reliance on the Net because "it was able to give a range of information that was specific to your flight, your airline and your airport."
The number of leisure travelers using travel agents, at the same time, declined from 29 percent to 27 percent among those who booked one or more trips, the survey shows.