Flying domestic nowadays is really easy. Even with all the hassles at the airport, the preparation for a flight or even for a vacation is quite easy. One of the most convenient developments with all the airlines is the change in the form of the plane ticket known as the electronic ticket.

Electronic tickets are basically tickets that don’t require any printing at all. The printed tickets that are brought by the customer that they purchased online or from their booking agent are just proof that they purchased the ticket or a receipt.

Electronic tickets would still require identification for the flight, but one of the great things about them is the fact that there is no concern about losing them. If you lose the printed receipt from the purchase of your ticket, either online or with the booking agent, you can just print another or just write the booking ID or the ticket number(s) for your flight. Since you already have an ID in your hand, the attendant will just look it up and give you your boarding pass without a problem.

E-tickets can also be used at airport kiosks. Kiosks are placed by individual airlines to remove the need for check in attendants as much as possible. If there are no complications to your flight (delays, cancellation change of schedule, etc) you can just walk up to the booth, enter the ID or ticket number and a boarding pass will be printed for you. This is used best if you don’t have additional baggage.

Another advantage comes in when you want to make some changes in your plans. For paper tickets, any changes in your reservation require that the booking company have your physical paper ticket back before doing the actual exchange. This is real bad when you are dealing with an online travel company since you still need to send those tickets and call them constantly to monitor if the tickets have been received and when you want to change it. In the case of electronic tickets, just call or visit your travel company and they can process it for you over the phone and without the need for printed papers.

We might think that electronic tickets are perfect in itself. It’s definitely better, but it’s not perfect. The flaw also comes from the fact that it’s electronic. The problem is that some airline companies don’t share the same system or codes that would enable its customer to transfer from one airline to another. Even though you can’t do that on a paper ticket, electronic ticket will just make it harder since it will stick to its system and leave you with very few options.

The best way to avoid inconveniences if you have an electronic ticket is to stick to the plan. Purchase your tickets as soon as possible so that changes can be made as early as possible without any code share problems. With preparations, your e-ticket will work for you and not against you.