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In Print Again
Kirby's Korner · March 10, 2000

If some travel industry heavyweights are to be believed, the next thing after electronic tickets may be -- paper tickets.

This isn't a return to your grandfather's ticket, however. This is a ticket you'll print out yourself from your home computer.

There are a lot of technical and infrastructure issues to be worked out. And the move toward self-printed tickets has more application for concerts and other events than it does for airline travel. But if you're not yet comfortable with showing up at the airport with nothing but your word that you have a seat on the plane that leaves in 20 minutes, there may be a solution waiting for you.

Last year Galileo International, one of the operators of the huge databases of reservation information travel agents rely on, invested in Stamps.com, a company then working on a process to let people print out U.S. postage from their computers.

The move came during a series of Galileo investments, most notably in online travel agency Trip.com -- and we all know where that led. But there were guffaws by travel industry insiders who struggled to figure out what a travel technology company was doing climbing into bed with a post office manager.

The couple hung out their laundry this week. While no one was looking, Stamps.com last November formed EncrypTix to work out issues involved in allowing people who travel and attend events to print out tickets at home.

EncrypTix has gained support and investments from leading companies inside and outside travel: American Express, Galileo, GetThere.com, Loews Cineplex, Mail Boxes Etc., Galileo competitor Sabre, and online event ticket retailer Tickets.com.

The company is not alone in working on home-printed ticketing. Admission Network, an online event ticket retailer concentrated heavily in Canada, claims it already sells e-tickets, although the link to the one event on its Web site that is supposed to be e-ticket-enabled tells visitors to call for further information. Ticketmaster.com, which sells tickets online for the event ticketing industry behemoth, demonstrated prototype technology at an industry conference at the beginning of the month.

The advantages of the idea are obvious. No more waiting impatiently for printed tickets to arrive. No more last-minute dashes to a travel agency, or standing in line to buy tickets for the Rolling Stones' Condo Circuit tour in Florida. And a security blanket for people who otherwise would use e-tickets for travel.

"Everyone carries something with them to the airport, even if it's an itinerary," GetThere.com spokesman Dan Toporek told me this week. The idea GetThere is working on combines the officialness of a ticket with the detail of an itinerary and the ease of home printing.

The company sent me an Adobe Acrobat file that shows what the self-printed ticket might look like. Itinerary information is complete and in English, not the code current paper tickets use. There's an airplane seat map and a contact telephone number. And there's a barcode box that serves as the security stamp on the ticket.

(One word of warning: A marketer I showed the thing to immediately said, "Look, there's room to sell advertising!)

I've grown to like e-tickets, so I'm in no rush for self-printed airline tickets. What I'd like to see is a self-printed boarding pass, so I can download the thing three hours before my flight, check luggage outside the terminal, go directly to my gate, and show a driver's license there for identification.

Oh yes. I also don't want to stand in line for the Stones' Geezers Tour.

David Kirby is the editor of Interactive Travel Report. His column appears on Friday. You can reach him at david@ticked.com.