![ETicketAirline](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/ETicketAirline.png)
An electronic ticket is a method of
ticket
Ticket or tickets may refer to:
Slips of paper
* Lottery ticket
* Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start)
* Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a tol ...
entry, processing, and marketing for companies in the airline, railways and other transport and entertainment industries.
Airline ticket
E-tickets in the airline industry were devised in about 1994,
and have now largely replaced the older multi-layered paper ticketing systems. Since 1 June 2008, it has been mandatory for
IATA members to use e-ticketing. Where paper tickets are still available, some airlines charge a fee for issuing paper tickets.
When a reservation is confirmed, the airline keeps a record of the booking in its
computer reservations system Computer reservation systems, or central reservation systems (CRS), are computerized systems used to store and retrieve information and conduct transactions related to air travel, hotels, car rental, or other activities. Originally designed and ope ...
. Customers can print out or may be provided with a copy of a e-ticket itinerary receipt which contains the
record locator
In airline reservation systems, a record locator is an alphanumeric or alpha code used to identify and access a specific record on an airline’s reservation system. An airline’s reservation system automatically generates a unique record locato ...
or reservation number and the e-ticket number. It is possible to print multiple copies of an e-ticket itinerary receipt.
Besides providing itinerary details, an e-ticket itinerary receipt also contains:
* An official ticket number (including the airline's 3-digit ticketing code, a 4-digit form number, a 6-digit serial number, and sometimes a check digit)
* Carriage terms and conditions (or at least a reference to them)
* Fare and tax details, including fare calculation details and some additional data such as tour codes. The exact cost might not be stated, but a "fare basis" code will always identify the fare used.
* A short summary of fare restrictions, usually specifying only whether change or refund are permitted but not the penalties to which they are subject
* Form of payment
* Issuing office
* Baggage allowance
Checking in with an e-ticket
Passengers with e-tickets are required to
check-in at the airport for a flight in the usual manner, except that they may be required to present an e-ticket itinerary receipt or
personal identification, such as a passport, or credit card. They can also use the
Record locator
In airline reservation systems, a record locator is an alphanumeric or alpha code used to identify and access a specific record on an airline’s reservation system. An airline’s reservation system automatically generates a unique record locato ...
, often called booking reference, a code of six letters and digits. Producing a print-out of an e-ticket itinerary receipt may be required to enter the terminal of some airports or to satisfy immigration regulations in some countries.
The introduction of e-tickets has allowed for various enhancements to checking-in processes.
Self-service and remote check-in
* online/mobile/telephone/self-service kiosk
check-in
Check-in is the process whereby people announce their arrival at an office, hotel, airport, hospital, seaport or event.
Office check-in
Many offices have a reception or front office area near the entrance to greet or assist visitors arriving to a ...
(if the airline makes this option available)
* early check-in
* printing boarding passes at airport kiosks and at locations other than an airport
* delivery of boarding pass bar-codes via SMS or email to a mobile device
Several websites assist people holding e-tickets to check in online in advance of the twenty-four-hour airline restriction. These sites store a passenger's flight information and then when the airline opens up for online check-in the data is transferred to the airline and the boarding pass is emailed back to the customer. With this e-ticket technology, if a passenger receives his boarding pass remotely and is travelling without check-in luggage, he may bypass traditional counter check-in.
E-ticket limitations
The ticketing systems of most airlines are only able to produce e-tickets for itineraries of no more than 16 segments, including surface segments. This is the same limit that applied to paper tickets.
Another critical limitation is that at the time e-tickets were initially designed, most airlines still practiced
product bundling
In marketing, product bundling is offering several products or services for sale as one combined product or service package. It is a common feature in many imperfectly competitive product and service markets. Industries engaged in the practice ...
. By the time the industry began 100% e-ticket implementation, more and more airlines began to unbundle previously included services (like checked baggage) and add them back in as optional fees (
ancillary revenue Ancillary revenue is revenue that is derived from goods or services other than a company's primary product offering. Examples include concessions at sporting events, baggage handling or seat selection revenue received by airlines, restaurant revenue ...
). However, the e-ticket standard did not anticipate and did not include a standardized mechanism for such optional fees.
IATA later implemented the
Electronic Miscellaneous Document
The Electronic Miscellaneous Document (EMD) is an International Air Transport Association (IATA) standard for electronically documenting ancillary revenue; that is, all other sales and transactions between airlines and passengers besides electroni ...
(EMD) standard for such information. This way, airlines could consistently expose and capture such fees at time of booking through travel reservation systems, rather than having to surprise passengers with them at check-in.
IATA mandated transition
As part of the
IATA Simplifying the Business initiative, the association instituted a program to switch the industry to 100% electronic ticketing. The program concluded on June 1, 2008, with the association saying that the resulting industry savings were approximately US$3 billion.
In 2004,
IATA Board of Governors set the end of 2007 as the deadline for airlines to make the transition to 100% electronic ticketing for tickets processed through the IATA billing and settlement plan; in June 2007, the deadline was extended to May 31, 2008.
As of June 1, 2008 paper tickets can no longer be issued on neutral stock by agencies reporting to their local
BSP. Agents reporting to the
ARC using company-provided stock or issuing tickets on behalf of an airline (
GSAs and ticketing offices) are not subject to that restriction.
The industry was unable to comply with the IATA mandate and paper tickets remain in circulation as of February 2009.
Train tickets
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...
started offering electronic tickets on all train routes on 30 July 2012. These tickets can be ordered over the internet and printed (as a
PDF file), printed at a Quik-Trak kiosk, or at the ticket counter at the station. Electronic tickets can also be held in a smart phone and shown to the conductor using an app. Mobile tickets are common with operators of US commuter train networks (e.g. MTA LIRR and Metro North) but they are usually only offered on the US version of the App Store and only accept US-issued credit cards as the app's payment page asks the user for the credit card's
ZIP code to complete the purchase.
Several European train operators also offer self-printable or downloadable tickets. Often tickets can also be delivered by SMS or MMS. Railway operators in other countries also issue electronic tickets. The national operators of Denmark and Netherlands have a nationwide system where
RFID smartcard
A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC or IC card) is a physical electronic authentication device, used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an embedded integrated circuit (IC) c ...
s are used as train tickets. In the UK, the issuance of printable or mobile tickets is at the discretion of train operators and is often available for advance tickets only (i.e. valid only on a specific train). This is very common in Europe for local urban rail, such as
rapid transit
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be ...
/metros. During the 2010:s phone apps have been increasingly popular. Passengers do not have to visit a machine or a desk to buy a ticket or refill an RFID card, but can buy it in their phone.
In
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, an
SMS
Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...
sent by the
Indian Railways
Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tota ...
, along with a valid
proof of identity
An identity document (also called ID or colloquially as papers) is any document that may be used to prove a person's identity. If issued in a small, standard credit card size form, it is usually called an identity card (IC, ID card, citizen ca ...
is considered equivalent to a ticket.
Sport, concert, and cinema tickets
Many sport, concert venues, and cinemas use electronic ticketing for their events. Electronic tickets, or "eTickets" as they are sometimes referred, are often delivered as PDFs or another downloadable format that can be received via email or through a mobile app. Electronic tickets allow
organizers to avoid the cost of producing and distributing physical tickets by transferring costs to the customer, who must own electronic hardware and purchase
internet access in order to receive their ticket.
A printed copy of these tickets or a digital copy on a mobile phone should be presented on coming to the venue. These tickets now normally also have a
barcode
A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly referred to as linear or o ...
, which may be scanned on entry into the venue to streamline crowd processing. Electronic tickets have become increasingly prevalent in the entertainment industry over the last decade.
In some cases, spectators who want to see a match may not need a printable electronic ticket. If someone with a membership to a football team books a ticket online, the member can just verify his/her reservation with a membership card at the entrance. This is common with teams in the English Premiership League.
Implementations
In January 2017 it was reported that Germany's
Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure,
Alexander Dobrindt
Alexander Dobrindt (born 7 June 1970) is a German politician of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU). Between 2013 and 2017, he served as Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure in the government of Chancellor Angela Mer ...
wants to create an electronic ticket to connect public bus and train services as well as parking spaces and potentially
car-sharing
Carsharing or car sharing (AU, NZ, CA, TH, & US) or car clubs (UK) is a model of car rental where people rent cars for short periods of time, often by the hour. It differs from traditional car rental in that the owners of the cars are often pri ...
services across all cities.
A nationwide electronic ticket system was introduced in Denmark in 2010, called
Rejsekort
Rejsekort (Official translation: '' TRAVEL CARD'') is an electronic ticket system for public transport in Denmark. The system is a collaborative work between DSB, HUR, Ørestadsselskabet, and various regional bus companies, and work on it start ...
.
See also
*
Digital ticket
*
Mobile ticketing
Mobile ticketing is the process whereby customers order, pay for, obtain, and validate tickets using mobile phones. A mobile ticket contains a verification unique to the holder's phone. Mobile tickets reduce the production and distribution costs as ...
*
Travel technology
Travel technology (also called tourism technology, and hospitality automation) is the application of Information Technology (IT) or Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the travel, tourism and hospitality industry. Some forms of tra ...
*
Flight Interruption Manifest A Flight Interruption Manifest (FIM) is a document issued by an airline as a substitute ticket coupon when the passenger's original travel is disrupted by schedule change, overbooking, or cancellation.
A FIM is generally issued at a gate, ticket c ...
*
Ticket system
A ticket system, also known as a closed toll collection system, is a system used on some toll roads in which a user pays a toll rate based on the distance traveled from their originating entrance to their destination exit.
The correct toll is de ...
References
External links
IATA Simplifying the Business ET webpage
{{Commercial air travel
Airline tickets
Travel technology
Transport law
*