E-ticketing has gained popularity in recent years as people become more comfortable with electronic payments. Mostly because the airlines realize that they can save money by eliminating the cost of printing, shipping, and handling paper tickets. 

But while it may seem like a positive thing at first glance, e-ticketing actually has its downsides as well. This article looks at the advantages and disadvantages of e ticketing and explains why the concept isn’t all good.

The Advantages of E Ticketing

There are undoubtedly some significant advantages of e ticketing rather than paper-based ones. Otherwise, it would not be so popular within a very short span of time.

In this part of the article, you will get to know about all the advantages that you can expect to have for e ticketing. So, let’s get started.

Convenience of purchase

When you purchase an e ticket, there’s no need to worry about forgetting your ticket at home or losing it on your trip. It’s stored in your name in a central database; just bring along your email confirmation and photo ID, and you can breeze through security without any wait or hassle. No seat assignments.

Most airlines now allow you to select your seat after check-in or during online check-in. If you get stuck with a middle seat, swapping is easy. 

Flexibility

Your paper airline tickets often come with more restrictions than simply refunding them if your plans change. You may not be able to transfer them to another person if you end up not needing them yourself, or they may have blackout dates. Not so with electronic tickets!

Cost savings

The costs of printing and distributing paper tickets are eliminated, and there is no longer a need to deal with customers returning or complaining about lost or damaged tickets. This can save the businesses a significant amount of money. 

So there will be a save on labor costs, as ticket counter clerks won’t be needed to sell tickets; instead, staff can help customers at other stations or locations. 

Last but not least, with e ticketing comes faster processing time for passengers; sometimes an entire flight load can be processed in just minutes, without anyone standing in line.

No possibility of fraud

The digital nature of e-tickets makes them less exposed to fraud than their paper counterparts. If someone changes, deletes or tampers with an e-ticket, it will be immediately noticeable. And since they can’t be reused or transferred, they are also more secure from theft and resold illegally by ticket touts and unauthorized brokers. 

It is estimated that between 12 percent and 20 percent of all tickets are purchased using forged paper documents. When you buy a non-refundable flight ticket on an e-platform, you know that your purchase is protected as it gets stored in a database for your future reference.

Low maintenance costs

Most e-tickets are paperless. This means you’ll save money on printing and shipping costs, as well as reduce clutter in your office or lobby. 

In addition, with e tickets, you can use mobile ticket devices to handle selling tickets instead of an entire company dedicated to selling tickets face to face. For all these reasons, and more, e-ticketing is a great way to lower your maintenance cost.

Easy to audit

One thing you will love about e-tickets is that they are easy to audit, in case a customer complains. With an email, there will be proof that a customer purchased an airline ticket. 

If something were to happen with their flight or their ticket, you could easily provide proof to show that they purchased their airline ticket from your company. They couldn’t dispute it! 

It saves trees

Remember how hard it was to peel those paper tickets apart? And how much effort did you put into tearing off that last bit at just exactly the right place, so you didn’t accidentally ruin someone else’s trip? 

E ticket lessens the use of trees, so it is environmentally sustainable.

Easy to update

E tickets are easier to update than traditional paper tickets, meaning fewer changes and more accurate information. If the customers want to change or cancel their flight, they can simply call , and it’s quick, easy, and painless. 

There is no need to run around town printing new tickets on short notice! 

Plus, e tickets provide a way for you to easily communicate with your customers throughout their travel journey with advanced notifications about itinerary changes. This increased communication builds customer loyalty. 

An added bonus is all these conveniences help reduce wasted time and money by eliminating unnecessary or expensive cancellations.

Opportunities for advertisers

The advantage is obvious. E tickets can be sent to any place, allowing any person to check in and receive their ticket without having to physically go to a travel agency or airline counter. This is an extremely convenient service for anyone who may not have time to drive out of their way just for a piece of paper. 

It also allows for more specific targeting. Airlines can send out advertising material in addition to tickets. Some airlines are even beginning to use location-based technology that sends special offers when users are near shops at which they can redeem them. People don’t even need a physical printed copy of their ticket anymore, all they need is access to their phone. 

Some companies also utilize QR codes on business cards, so customers can scan them as proof of purchase instead of carrying around large amounts of cash or credit cards all over town.

Track your sales using social media tracking tools

WordStream, Facebook Insights, and Google Analytics are just a few tools available to help you understand your social media marketing strategy. I love Google Analytics because it is easy to use, allows me to learn more about my target market, and provides data that I can export into spreadsheets. 

It’s also completely free! The information these tools provide can help you choose whether or not e-ticketing is a viable strategy for any business. Tools like Twitter Advertising can be used to further hone in on key demographics, so understanding how potential customers interact with certain ads might give ideas on how much they value being able to buy tickets online. 

Businesses may find that selling physical tickets instead would better suit your audience, but if they respond well to digital offers when compared with offline ones, using social media as part of a company’s ticketing strategy could significantly increase profits and improve customer service at events.

No printing costs

Buying e-tickets saves tons of money on paper, printing, and postage. The advent of internet has reduced down printing, mailing and distributing costs considerably. 

Businesses also get an alert when tickets have been issued or e sent in case there are any changes in your reservations. 

Also, if you’re worried about losing paper tickets during travel then buying e-tickets is good option for you because they’re accessible from anywhere at any time. With e-tickets, tracking your travel expenses becomes easier as well.

Review online easily

For most of us, when we’re ready to purchase an airline ticket, hotel room, or car rental, we head online. There’s no easier way to do it all in one place and find deals and last-minute specials. It also makes planning travel much easier with services like TripIt or TripAdvisor that gather all your bookings into one place and allow you to check your itinerary on any device at any time. 

You can go on a shopping spree for plane tickets without ever leaving your home. And although there are more cybercriminals out there who may be interested in getting their hands on your personal information, e-tickets make identity theft less likely than a physical ticket: 

The transfer of information is faster and safer because there are fewer opportunities for fraudsters to intercept passwords or other sensitive data. And by going electronic, airlines save as much as $3 per flight 

Not bad at all! Plus you don’t have to worry about losing everything if your luggage goes missing!

The Disdvantages of E Ticketing

There are many advantages to using electronic ticketing. 

However, there are some disadvantages as well, and you should weigh the benefits against the drawbacks before deciding if it is beneficial to you or the other businesses. 

Here are some disadvantages of e ticketing that you should consider before making your decision.

Expensive Fares

This is perhaps the most well-known disadvantage to e-ticketing. Many airlines have started charging a fee for issuing an e-ticket. While fees range from $5 to $50, those who are purchasing their tickets just days before travel or live in rural areas are especially likely to be affected by these additional costs. 

In addition, many airlines will charge you an administrative fee if you need to change your flight. Not only can all of these costs add up quickly, but also they’re also unnecessary. Travelers should not have to pay more money simply because they prefer digital ticketing over traditional paper forms.

Stressful Travel Experience

The stress involved in e-ticketing often results in anxiety and frustration. Often times, customers are confused about how to use their e tickets because they don’t look or act like real tickets. This confusion can lead to arguments with airline agents, as well as confusion at airport security checkpoints. 

Sometimes, customers even have their e tickets rejected by airlines because they weren’t printed properly. All of these stressful situations are entirely avoidable through traditional paper ticketing. 

If a customer ends up using an e ticket that doesn’t work due to a bad printing job, it’s virtually impossible for them to receive compensation from most airlines since they entered into an agreement with them electronically rather than signing a contract at check-in.

Lack of Paper Trail

Since e-tickets don’t generate a paper trail, it’s easier for someone to purchase something using another person’s ticket. It also makes ticket fraud much harder to track. In addition, if your device fails, and you need to reprint your tickets, you may be out of luck if you bought them online. 

Risky Re-Selling

When you sell an e ticket, you no longer have control over where that ticket is being used and there’s no way to easily enforce age requirements. This can pose serious issues with security as minors can use adult tickets or people could go into restricted areas with children’s tickets.

Problems with Baggage Delivery

Delayed luggage is a headache for any traveler. With paper tickets, you have to go down to baggage claim at your destination and hope that your bag shows up before you run out of clean underwear. 

But with e ticketing, there’s often no record on either end as to what became of your suitcase. Most carriers say they will try to find missing bags within 24 hours, but in my experience it usually takes closer to 48 hours. 

That can be tough if you have work or other obligations once you arrive, especially since airlines are pretty bad about notifying passengers when their bags fail to show up on time.

Airline Security Risk

When we use our smartphones to scan our airline tickets with e-ticketing, we are opening ourselves up to increased security risks. A hacker could theoretically access your flight information and target you while you’re flying. 

Before making reservations, be sure to learn more about how e-ticketing works and what risks it may present. This is especially important if you’re traveling internationally. Many countries require that you place all your information in a hard copy, something that isn’t practical for most travelers who would like their digital ticket in hand on their smartphone, at all times. 

For international travelers, printing out multiple copies of your ticket can help reduce the potential risk for cyberattacks during flights.

Losing Your Ticket Is Not an Option

Perhaps one of the biggest disadvantages of e tickets is that, if you lose your ticket, you lose your seat. This means no backup copy, no taking a picture, and using that as proof the airlines don’t accept any form of alternative proof-of-purchase. 

So, if you get stuck in traffic or delayed at security, you better hope there are still seats available on a flight! 

No Third Party Support

Another disadvantage of e-ticketing is that customers can’t call customer service to get help if they encounter an issue. Yes, all major airlines offer 24/7 support for questions about lost items via their websites, but not many people like having to go through customer service over email or web chat, particularly when they need help quickly before boarding a plane.

No Seat Selection

If you’re buying a standard economy ticket, then you can’t choose where you sit. This means that if someone in front of you reclines their seat and blocks your view, or if they have obnoxious children in tow, there’s not much you can do about it. 

As an alternative, some airlines will let you pay to select a specific seat, typically for an extra $15–$25 per flight segment. The upside here is that most airlines don’t seem to reserve seats for flyers who are paying to select them; so unless you get unlucky with your seating arrangements at check-in time, you should be able to pick from any open seats on board.

If You Change Your Mind, Don’t Expect Refunds

If you purchase an e ticket and change your mind, there’s little recourse. Many airlines won’t even refund your purchase. If they do, they will charge a non-refundable service fee. And if you booked your flight on a third-party website or used airline miles to buy that ticket, it may be impossible to cancel. 

Remember, if you buy an e ticket, make sure it’s what you want before hitting confirm. In most cases, once you click purchase, that’s it; any money changes hands and your ticket is in effect.

Overbooked Flights

The more successful e ticketing becomes, especially on long-haul flights where it’s a virtual necessity, the more likely you are to find yourself on an overbooked flight. If your plane has too many passengers and not enough seats, or if people have mistakenly booked two seats with one ticket, or whatever reason they can dream up, you might be out of luck. 

A seat that would otherwise have been empty will now be occupied by someone else who just happens to have a physical copy of their ticket in hand. If you do get bumped off at the last minute, you probably won’t get any compensation, and in some cases, you could actually end up paying extra for another seat.

Wrapping things up

If you’re a frequent traveler and if you’ve ever seen people pulling out e-tickets to board flights, then it is obvious that e ticketing is gaining more and more popularity with each passing day. However, like everything else in life, there are advantages and disadvantages of e ticketing. 

But anyone would agree that the advantages of e ticket outweighs all the disadvantages it visibly have in today’s digital world.