Or could it be I'm worrying about nothing and all I need when I get to the airport is my name and the airlines will find me in their database? Even with one-way flights?
hippietrail asked Sep 15, 2012 at 13:44 hippietrail hippietrail 79.5k 54 54 gold badges 275 275 silver badges 631 631 bronze badgesTechnically speaking, almost all airlines can serve you well without any tickets or PNRs (passenger number record or booking reference) as long as you have bought the ticket and made reservation regardless of the method of buying. All they need is your name and a valid ID (passport in international flights) and they can get you the boarding pass. Even the self service kiosks for many airlines have the option to serve you by scanning your passport (to get your name from the bar code).
Anyway, to be prepared for the worst keep the itinerary number with you (or PNR) just in case. If the itinerary is paid for then the ticket number will be attached to it and it will usually have the form ETKT xxx-xxxxxxx or something similar. You can print the itinerary at home which will be enough proof to show to the authorities or you can ask the counter at the airport to print it for you.
The only time you might need to print the E-ticket and keep a copy of it (or at least keep the ticket number) is when you have a ticket without reservation (they call it open ticket). In this case the ticket will have the sectors shown but with no flight numbers or dates. The open tickets are usually expensive because you have the flexibility to fly on any flight as in the ticket at any time.
79.5k 54 54 gold badges 275 275 silver badges 631 631 bronze badges answered Sep 15, 2012 at 14:45 Nean Der Thal Nean Der Thal 98.4k 38 38 gold badges 336 336 silver badges 436 436 bronze badgesFor Expedia I'll be on China Southern Airlines and I can find a "Confirmation Code" of the form LLLnnL , an "Expedia Booking Reference" of the form nLnLLn , and an "Expedia Itinerary Number" of the form nnnnnnnnnn . ( L is an upper-case letter, n is a digit.)
Commented Sep 16, 2012 at 11:21For ebookers I'll be on Etihad and I can find an "Airline Ticket Number" of the form nnnnnnnnnnnnn . There are also "ATOL Numbers" of the form nnnn . Oh and I nearly missed the "Etihad Airways record locator" of the form nLnnLL .
Commented Sep 16, 2012 at 11:23By it's very name, an "Electronic Ticket", or an "E-ticket" is not a physical item - it's just an entry in a computer system.
As a result, you do not need to physically present any specific document at time of check-in in order to get your boarding pass. So technically, no, you do not need to print anything out at all.
However there are a few places where having a printout will be very beneficial (and in some cases, required by law). The first of these is if there is a problem! There is always the potential that something will go wrong, either with your booking or with the flights, and having a printed copy with the exact details of your flight (including confirmation number and e-ticket number) can certainly help in these cases. This is especially true if your booking includes multiple airlines, as the first airline may not be able to see all of the details of your later flights on their computer if they are on a different airline.
The second is when you're traveling internationally. Many countries will require you to be able to show a return or onward "ticket" in order to get through immigration, and in some cases the airline will also need to see the details of such ticket before you board the outbound flight (if the flights are booked on a different ticket). Whilst a printed itinerary from your travel agency/website/etc may be enough here, it's always better to have a printout of the e-ticket itself.
As far as what to print, there's a few options. What the travel website has given you is probably OK - just make sure that it's got the "Confirmation Number" or "Record Locator Number" on it (normally this is a 5-6 character alpha/numeric string, like "Y7EMM4") AND your E-ticket number (normally a 13-14 digit number). You can often also find an option on the website to print out your e-ticket and/or your receipt which will normally contain the relevant details.
If you can't find somewhere on the booking website that will give you a clean copy to print, try the airlines website. You should be able to lookup the booking on their website using your Confirmation Number, and they will normally have an option to view/print your booking details, which will normally include the e-ticket number. If your trip covers multiple airlines, you may need to do this step on each of their websites to get all of the details.