Letters

I disagree with your readers who offered this travel advice: "Don't bring your laptop computer" and "Purchase e-tickets" ("Don't Leave Home Without It," January).

I travel frequently for the Treasury Department, and was on the road in September 2001. Sept. 4 was like most travel days. E-ticket in hand, I parked at Reagan National Airport, went directly to the gate with my carry-on bag and laptop computer, boarded my plane and landed on time in Kansas City, Mo. On Sept. 7, my flight from Kansas City to Austin, Texas, was uneventful. I was scheduled to return to Kansas City on Sept. 11 for two days of meetings before returning to Washington. But given the horrible events of that day, my flight was canceled.

Using my laptop, I was able to stay in touch with the home office and the travel agency as events unwound. Once air travel resumed, I was able to schedule a flight and check the status of my flight online. After many cancellations, I finally secured a flight back to Washington. Without my laptop to verify the status of my flights I'd have called the airport (and been on hold for hours) or would have driven there many times.

I was lucky to have my laptop with me. I've not left home without it since. The convenience is worth the few extra seconds at the security checkpoint.

With added security precautions, e-ticket holders must now go through the same check-in procedures as those with paper tickets. The benefit of saving time with e-tickets no longer exists. Paper tickets issued for official government travel are accepted at most, if not all, domestic airlines. Moreover, if the terminal is evacuated, travelers can take paper tickets to another airline in a different terminal and quite possibly save themselves several hours of delays.

John Norris
Financial Management Service