Southwest Airlines Wednesday began the first phase of its new ticketless system for travel within California.
Ticketless travel will allow customers to make reservations on a Southwest flight, confirm travel with a credit card and then check in for the flight with only a confirmation number.A Southwest spokesman said ticketless travel may be purchased as little as one hour prior to departure and picture identification may be required. Both travel agencies and direct customers can use the system.
On Sept. 6, Southwest initiated its test of ticketless operations on flights between Dallas and Little Rock and between Houston and Corpus Christi. On Oct. 4, the ticketless test was expanded to travel among any of the four test cities.
"We've been pleased with the results of our test," said Dave Ridley, vice president of marketing and sales.
"Ticketless travel is widely recognized as the wave of the future in the travel industry; Southwest is clearly on top of that wave with the introduction of our ticketless system."