# ETicket Airport Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 26, 2015, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eticket-airport-question/723547 "2015-06-26T17:32:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eticket-airport-question/723547/21 "2015-06-26T20:39:58Z")
> [@Pauly01](#): > > Would they accept taking picture of it on my phone etc? I heard this was allowed. No, the e-boarding pass on a smartphone is a specifically formatted document with a code that can be machine-read at the airport terminal, a photograph of a printout or a screencap is not the same thing. OTOH, a picture of the cnfirmation code will be useful rather than relying on memory to do the following: since you do not have an e-pass but do have your confirmation code, show up at the airport well ahead of the cutoff time for international travel and print out your boarding pass _there_ (be it at the kiosk or with a human at the counter). ---
**Author:** ![Pauly01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@Pauly01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pauly01)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eticket-airport-question/723547/22 "2015-06-26T21:12:10Z")
I have no issue getting the boarding pass. I was told this can be done at the counter. And at the counter, they require passport and the 6 letter code for the flight etc. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eticket-airport-question/723547/23 "2015-06-26T21:23:25Z")
Right – now, in other circumstances, depending on the routing and airline and how you book, you could get a smartphone e-pass as well and then have to print nothing at all. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eticket-airport-question/723547/24 "2015-06-26T22:00:56Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > You are probably fine. It’s definitely standard worldwide to simple present your ID to recieve a boarding pass. > > That said, in my travels across 27 countries, I have run in a problem exactly once, flying out of the Philippines. They would not let me in to the airport without a printout of my ticket, and I had to go through a pretty long process involving lots of waiting in the airline’s office to get the situation resolved.]qwI have no idea why that happened, but it happened. > > I can think of a few other countries where you are expected to show some kind of ticket or receipt in order to enter the airport, but this rule is only enforced with people who look local. > > In sum, you are almost certainly fine, but it’s a good best practice to have a printout on hand if at all possible. Not sure about “printout of ticket” but I would surely want a printed copy of itinerary - flight dates, times, departure, flight number, confirmation number, who is flying - just to satisfy any customs people (who may want proof you intend to actually depart their fine country before your visa expires) plus it’s convenient to show to confused airline personnel. In North America, however, having the 6-character code seems to be enough. however, I find with going into or out of the USA, most of the time they reprint my boarding pass at the check-in after examining my passport. (Airline is on the hook if they let you fly into the USA - or other country - without correct documents). ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eticket-airport-question/723547/25 "2015-06-26T23:07:41Z")
I usually don’t even bother with the code- it’s almost always enough to provide my name and destination. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eticket-airport-question/723547/26 "2015-06-26T23:18:07Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Another thing. If the airlines required you to print it, there would be little point in calling it an [eticket](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_ticket). Yes, but the problem with e-anything … if you drop your phone or run out of battery or it just stuffs up, you are stuffed up there… well they can probably just use your passport or other ID to find your booking… These days for domestic you can print out the boarding pass and so not have to print out a ticket, but do print out something while you can before you start your day… and forget to have anything on you… ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eticket-airport-question/723547/27 "2015-06-26T23:40:09Z")
In the last year, I’ve flown to and from Australia, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, the U.K., Spain, Greece, Cyprus and France. I had my itinerary printed out to be safe, but generally all that they needed was my passport. Once, on an internal flight in Spain, my wife and I were issued tickets in the names of a couple with a similar, but not identical, surname to ours. We took them back to the check-in counter and got the error fixed, but I wonder what would have happened to the other couple if we hadn’t noticed the error. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eticket-airport-question/723547/28 "2015-06-27T00:22:25Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > Another thing. If the airlines required you to print it, there would be little point in calling it an [eticket](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_ticket). > > Yes, but the problem with e-anything … if you drop your phone or run out of battery or it just stuffs up, you are stuffed up there… well they can probably just use your passport or other ID to find your booking… > > These days for domestic you can print out the boarding pass and so not have to print out a ticket, but do print out something while you can before you start your day… and forget to have anything on you… E-tickets have nothing, necessarily, to do with smartphones. When I travel with an e-ticket, I just present my ID at the check-in desk. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eticket-airport-question/723547/29 "2015-06-27T00:35:10Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > E-tickets have nothing, necessarily, to do with smartphones. When I travel with an e-ticket, I just present my ID at the check-in desk. For domestic travel with carry on only you don’t have to go to the check-in desk. Your phone is adequate to get you through security and onto the flight. Though I prefer printing a pass at a kiosk because I don’t trust phones. (I used to have a crap one.) ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eticket-airport-question/723547/30 "2015-06-27T00:37:34Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > These days for domestic you can print out the boarding pass and so not have to print out a ticket, but do print out something while you can before you start your day… and forget to have anything on you… I’m old enough to remember real tickets, that you got sent by the travel agent or picked up at the airport or got at a satellite airline location. (United had one in Palo Alto I visited frequently.) Today I have no idea of what you would do to print a ticket even if you wanted to. Itinerary details, yes. Boarding passes, yes. But printing a ticket is not an option I ever remember seeing. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eticket-airport-question/723547/31 "2015-06-27T00:38:37Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > E-tickets have nothing, necessarily, to do with smartphones. When I travel with an e-ticket, I just present my ID at the check-in desk. > > For domestic travel with carry on only you don’t have to go to the check-in desk. Your phone is adequate to get you through security and onto the flight. Though I prefer printing a pass at a kiosk because I don’t trust phones. (I used to have a crap one.) Sure, yes, you can either use the airline’s app to pull up the barcode that represents the boarding pass or they might have sent you email containing the barcode. But that’s different from an eticket. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eticket-airport-question/723547/32 "2015-06-27T01:37:19Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > Not sure about “printout of ticket” but I would surely want a printed copy of itinerary … just to satisfy any customs people (who may want proof you intend to actually depart their fine country before your visa expires) … This is an interesting point (though probably irrelevant to OP if he is flying _to_ his country of legal residence). As recently as 2014, visa-exempt tourists entering Thailand by land are (rarely but sometimes) asked to present proof of outbound travel, i.e. a printout of an e-ticket. But these are just crude ascii documents printed at home, no? (I for one would probably compose my own pretend e-ticket and have it on-hand if entering a country without visa or outbound travel proof.) ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eticket-airport-question/723547/33 "2015-06-27T02:09:31Z")
Trying to be helpful and non-snarky, it’s clear the OP isn’t going to New Delhi, Zamboanga, or Lamu. JetBlue doesn’t serve airports where passenger manifests have to be couriered in on carbon paper. OP, seriously, you don’t need to print out your boarding pass ahead of time. Just go to the Cancun (I’m guessing) airport two hours ahead of your departure, get in line with the 200 other passengers on your flight, and show your passport to the agent who will check you in and take your baggage. Everything will be fine. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eticket-airport-question/723547/34 "2015-06-27T06:23:10Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Sure, yes, you can either use the airline’s app to pull up the barcode that represents the boarding pass or they might have sent you email containing the barcode. But that’s different from an eticket. Best I can figure, an e-ticket is an entry in the airline database with your flight information. It isn’t really the boarding pass with the bar code or the itinerary with the confirmation number. The barcode from the boarding pass (which might come from the app) is adequate in many cases. I rarely check-in unless I have luggage. And the boarding pass is a bit virtual also. My daughter works in the industry, so when I fly standby on her benefits (about 90% off normal tickets or free on her airline) I get a boarding pass with no seat number of confirmed reservation that gets me through security. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eticket-airport-question/723547/35 "2015-06-27T06:29:11Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > That said, in my travels across 27 countries, I have run in a problem exactly once, flying out of the Philippines. They would not let me in to the airport without a printout of my ticket, and I had to go through a pretty long process involving lots of waiting in the airline’s office to get the situation resolved.]qwI have no idea why that happened, but it happened. Despite the millions of overseas Filipinos, it is still something of a tradition for the whole neighborhood or village to see off someone leaving the country. Similarly with people coming back. Manila airport authorities disallow anyone without a valid ticket from entering the terminal or else they’d be overrun by hordes of well-wishers. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eticket-airport-question/723547/36 "2015-07-02T03:16:57Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > Despite the millions of overseas Filipinos, it is still something of a tradition for the whole neighborhood or village to see off someone leaving the country. Similarly with people coming back. Manila airport authorities disallow anyone without a valid ticket from entering the terminal or else they’d be overrun by hordes of well-wishers. I recall we had to show our tickets just to get inside Kathmandu Airport. There was a huge horde of humanity milling about outside, and whenever the doors opened, they all craned their necks to peer inside. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eticket-airport-question/723547/37 "2015-07-02T05:49:44Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I recall we had to show our tickets just to get inside Kathmandu Airport. There was a huge horde of humanity milling about outside, and whenever the doors opened, they all craned their necks to peer inside. All Indian airports I’ve been through have a similar requirement, too: you have to show a printed itinerary to get into the terminal where your boarding passes will be issued. The guards also accept cached emails on iPads, as I fortunately discovered the one time I forgot about this rule. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eticket-airport-question/723547.md?page=1)