E-tickets vs Paper tickets

[Openfold]

Hello there,
When buying tickets, I’ve noticed quite a lot of site strongly encouraging, (or in some cases forcing) you to buy e-tickets rather than paper tickets.

I was just wondering what everyone’s preference is when it comes to tickets. I personally prefer paper tickets, but it would be interesting to hear other peoples take on this

 

[zwk500]

e-tickets, nearly every time. You can always print them out if you want, the info they show with is usually clearer and they come in an email attachment as well as an app. Scanning is quick and easy nearly every time as well.

The only quibble I have with e-tickets is that most TOC apps won't sell you one without an itinerary, which can confuse people about the validity when they have purchased an open ticket. e-Tickets should be available for every journey IMHO.

 

[syrac]

Hello there,
When buying tickets, I’ve noticed quite a lot of site strongly encouraging, (or in some cases forcing) you to buy e-tickets rather than paper tickets.

I was just wondering what everyone’s preference is when it comes to tickets. I personally prefer paper tickets, but it would be interesting to hear other peoples take on this

Whilst I do recognise the benefits of e-tickets over paper tickets, I personally still always go for paper ones. I refuse to pay the 5p or whatever it is my college charges to print something out (petty, I know) (and yes I know you don't have to print them out, but I would if I wanted to be sure I could still show my ticket even if my phone died). I also like collecting the paper tickets (again - I recognise this would in fact be easier with e-tickets as you could store them electronically, and wouldn't need to worry about the gate eating them, but it's just not the same).

Essentially, e-tickets seem to be the logical choice for pretty much everyone, however I just really like paper tickets as a bit of a souvenir, so always go for them! People talk about the fact that you are more likely to lose a paper ticket than say your phone (and even if you did lose your phone, you could display the e-ticket on another device), that you might be faffing around with a large number of tickets, especially if you are travelling as a group, or have used split ticketing, that you have to spend time collecting them from a TVM, and that it's easier to claim delay repay with an e-ticket, but none of these are massive issues for me. Although of course there are also environmental concerns surrounding the unnecessary use of paper (and iirc, paper tickets cannot be recycled), and littering.

 

[camflyer]

My local station only has one ticket machine and it's 50/50 chance if it is working so I've got into the habit of always buying a e-ticket now.

 

[SECR263]

All very well for the technically savy. Discriminates against those without i phones or PC's. What about people with impared vision. Until these matters are satisfactorily sorted out I beleive that paper tickets must continue. I'm all right Jack blow the rest attitude must not be allowed by Government.

 

[PsychoMouse]

100% e-tickets.

Not having to carry around something extra, don't have to fanny abut with ticket machines or printers, don't waste any paper needlessly.

 

[birchesgreen]

e-tickets all the time now

 

[zwk500]

All very well for the technically savy. Discriminates against those without i phones or PC's. What about people with impared vision. Until these matters are satisfactorily sorted out I beleive that paper tickets must continue. I'm all right Jack blow the rest attitude must not be allowed by Government.

I agree, just because I prefer e-tickets doesn't mean they're best for everybody.

 

[Sultan]

Last week, I went to Waterloo in the morning rush hour for the first time in over a year, but accidentally clicked 'collect ticket at departure station' on my company's travel portal. So I got a paper ticket (fortunately the queues for the machines are nothing like they used to be before Covid). Using it at start point and Waterloo was easy.

This week, I remembered to tick the 'e-Ticket' option, which sends me a QR code for Apple Wallet. Easier in a sense I don't have to collect a ticket. However, the vast majority of the 'underground' exit gates at Waterloo that provide quicker access to the tube in rush hours don't have the QR readers. There was a regular queue of at least 20 people using the single reader to exit, whilst the other 5+ gates for paper tickets were essentially free.

The throughput at busy times for paper tickets appears to be much quicker than scanning a QR code.

 

[W-on-Sea]

I do find e-tickets extremely convenient, although I do always print out a copy just in case my phone is playing up. It is annoying that they can't be used for journeys to or via London....

 

[LondonExile]

Personal preference is eTickets printed at home. I've got a printer, so the marginal cost of having a paper copy as well as the electronic one makes sense to mitigate the (admittedly low) risks of lost/stolen phone or flat batteries.

Used to do ToD as my preferred option, but don't see any reason to need to add in "visit the TVM" as a step before my journey.

 

[jfollows]

I do find e-tickets extremely convenient, although I do always print out a copy just in case my phone is playing up. It is annoying that they can't be used for journeys to or via London....

Pedantically I know, but they can be used for journeys to London, just not onward by tube from the terminal you arrive at.
Personally I am accustomed to etickets and print them before travel, replacing the collection of tickets in advance from my local station. However if I'm making a short local train journey I prefer to buy a paper ticket at the station simply because I might change my mind before travelling for a number of reasons.
I also use etickets on my Apple Watch which works fine, I did this last month. So I can now use them to get to London and then used my watch again to pay for my tube travel once I've arrived.

 

[tommy2215]

E-tickets. They are more convenient in almost every way. Its good that the vast majority of rail users use them, and that the rail industry is continuing to encourage their use. Other industries that sell tickets have successfully become e-ticket only (like most major events are now e-ticket only) so it would be good to see rail join them. Particularly for environmental reasons. The argument that there's this big contingent of old people that are too stupid to use e-tickets just doesn't stack up.

 

[Devonian]

Credit-card-size paper tickets are my preference: fiddling with devices in a crush or A4 printouts (and no cross-London travel) are not my idea of convenient. For the avoidance of doubt, I am neither old nor - as far as I know - stupid.

 

[Haywain]

If only there had been a previous thread on this subject.

 

[miklcct]

Paper tickets cost more to produce so retailers always encourage customers to use e-tickets.

 

[fandroid]

If only there had been a previous thread on this subject.

Indeed. I've proffered my opinion on this on two different threads already this week

 

[AlterEgo]

E-Tickets all the time wherever they’re offered. Far more convenient, less environmentally damaging, available on my phone, PC, watch, I could print them out if I wanted.

Credit-card-size paper tickets are my preference: fiddling with devices in a crush or A4 printouts (and no cross-London travel) are not my idea of convenient. For the avoidance of doubt, I am neither old nor - as far as I know - stupid.

That’s fine as that’s your preference, but it can be very tiresome when other posters suggest that people are too old and stupid to use etickets.

The other frustrating thing is invented accessibility concerns, as if paper tickets are some panacea.

 

[Class800]

Hello there,
When buying tickets, I’ve noticed quite a lot of site strongly encouraging, (or in some cases forcing) you to buy e-tickets rather than paper tickets.

I was just wondering what everyone’s preference is when it comes to tickets. I personally prefer paper tickets, but it would be interesting to hear other peoples take on this

Paper, as almost all my journeys involve Maltese cross

 

[Haywain]

Paper, as almost all my journeys involve Maltese cross

It's not really a preference if you don't have a choice.

 

[Class800]

It's not really a preference if you don't have a choice.

Philosophical! I just mean I usually get paper for this reason. Occasionally if I'm just getting London Terminals to somewhere I'll get an e-ticket, but often not, as I'm used to paper from the Maltese cross ones

 

[yorkie]

Hello there,
When buying tickets, I’ve noticed quite a lot of site strongly encouraging, (or in some cases forcing) you to buy e-tickets rather than paper tickets.

I was just wondering what everyone’s preference is when it comes to tickets. I personally prefer paper tickets, but it would be interesting to hear other peoples take on this

I prefer e-tickets, as do the vast majority of passengers; I have been on trains where almost every passenger has an e-ticket and retailers confirm that the vast majority of passengers choose e-tickets, when given the choice.

If anyone really wants a piece of paper, e-tickets can be printed of course.

All very well for the technically savy. Discriminates against those without i phones or PC's. What about people with impared vision. Until these matters are satisfactorily sorted out I beleive that paper tickets must continue. I'm all right Jack blow the rest attitude must not be allowed by Government.

All tickets are going to be issued as barcode tickets soon, however no-one is required to use a computer to purchase a ticket, nor required to either print a ticket themselves or show it on an electronic device. What you will get is a barcode ticket which is printed for you.

 

[Silver Cobra]

I used to be a devout user of paper tickets up until around two years ago. Nowadays I only use paper tickets for either cross-London journeys or day travelcards; for everything else it's now e-tickets where they are available (apart from my season ticket of course, but that's on a smartcard rather than a paper ticket).

The main thing that influenced me to make the change was during the 'book with confidence' scheme where I had to apply for refunds on several tickets due to travel restrictions as a result of the various lockdowns. At the time I accidentally bought a pair of LNER tickets as e-tickets with the rest I had at the time being paper tickets, also for LNER journeys. When I applied for the refunds, I got the money back for the e-tickets almost instantly (it was certainly less than an hour from requesting the refund to getting the money in my account), whereas the paper tickets took almost two weeks to get the money back for. Add in that I now use my phone for many extra purposes these days, such as for supermarket reward schemes (Asda Rewards and Lidl Plus) for ordering from McDonald's and for cinema tickets, it's become second-nature to manage my train tickets in the same way.

 

[camflyer]

I remember the days of going to Thomas Cook to book train tickets

 

[ainsworth74]

We don't really need another thread on the topic of e-tickets vs paper tickets. I'd suggest having a read of this ongoing thread for more discussion