Electronic Ticket Usage Surpasses Paper Ticketing

MEDIACOM-RELEASE-UNITED-AIRLINES

Electronic Ticket Usage Surpasses Paper Ticketing At United May Results Show Innovative Paperless Service Now Constitutes Majority Of Tickets Used To Business And Travel Editors:

CHICAGO, June 21 RNewswire-AsiaNet/ -- United Airlines today announced that for the first time since the launch of its popular E- Ticket product in 1994, more customers traveled on electronic tickets than on paper tickets. May ticketing reports revealed that 51% of the more than 7,000,000 tickets used on United worldwide were electronic tickets.

"Reaching this milestone shows that more and more of our customers are taking advantage of the convenience, service and hassle-free travel that only electronic ticketing can provide," said Dick Burdette, Manager of Distribution Planning at United Airlines. "In less than five short years, electronic ticketing has changed the way people travel."

In a survey conducted by United, more than 70% of customers who used E-Ticket service said they prefer it to other ticketing options. Electronic tickets provide customers with a new standard in travel convenience including: -- Nothing to carry. Domestic customers using E-Tickets are not

required to carry anything other than identification and in some instances the credit card used to pay for the ticket. International customers are requested to carry their ticket receipt.

-- Instant ticket receipt. Unlike paper tickets, with electronic tickets, there's no need to worry about ticket pick-up or delivery.

An electronic ticket can be issued instantly over the telephone or through United Connection on the Web, United's website booking product.

-- Nothing to lose. Since E-Ticket information is paperless and stored in an electronic file, electronic ticketing service makes concerns over lost tickets a thing of the past. Losing a paper ticket can involve purchasing a new ticket and paying a $75 lost ticket fee. Electronic tickets make travel hassle-

free by eliminating the costs and worry associated with losing an airline ticket.

-- Easy changes. With electronic tickets, changes to an itinerary can easily be accomplished over the telephone, removing the need to make an extra trip to a travel agency, city ticket office or airport location to have a ticket re- issued or updated.

-- A faster airport experience. Customers holding an electronic ticket can bypass ticketing lines at airports and, if not checking baggage on a flight within the U.S., proceed directly to flight departure gates.

United launched electronic ticketing in November of 1994 on United Shuttle flights. Since that time, it has been expanded to their entire domestic system and the vast majority of United's worldwide network. With the recent launch of E-Ticket service in Chile and Venezuela, electronic ticketing is available to 95% of the destinations served by United worldwide. Developed by United's Information Services Division, United's E-Ticket software is used by 13 airlines throughout the world.

United Airlines is the largest majority employee-owned company and the largest airline in the world, offering more than 2,400 flights a day to 134 destinations in 27 countries and one U.S. territory. United also is an industry innovator with breakthroughs such as United Connection, Airport Gate Readers, United Shuttle, and the introduction of the technologically advanced Boeing 777. United Airlines' Internet address is http://www.ual.com .

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