News

The rise of self-service travel

June 20, 2004

ATLANTA - Business travelers are increasingly booking tickets on the Internet, then print out their boarding passes or use check-in kiosks at the airports, according to an article on CNN International.

Paperless tickets and self check-in could save the industry up to $3 billion a year in running costs, according to the International Air Transport Association.

"We must chase paper out of our business," said Giovanni Bisignani, director-general of the IATA. "Paper costs money...you do not need to be a rocket scientist to understand that up to $3 billion in savings are possible."

In the U.S. computerized self-service now allows you to purchase upgrades, in-flight beverages, headsets, earlier stand-by flights, as well as print baggage tags.

The role of travel agents is also evolving with the rise of ticketless travel. Agents are now used for planning more complex journeys for the business traveler, as well as booking group hotel and flight packages.

The next move in self check-in is automating the ticketing standard across the globe for both airlines and hotels.

IATA also wants to replace boarding passes' magnetic strips with bar codes and swap bar-coded baggage tags for automatic radio frequency identification tags.