Why not get a reusable document holder?

Saves money and the environment.

Aren't there much more important things to be worrying about? Perhaps the dwindling oil supply, war in Iraq, looming recession...

Take a piece of paper, fold it in half and you have an advertisement-free ticket holder. You could even take a maker or pen and personalize it! I would draw a smiley face or sailboat with my name, but it's up to you.

Good riddance. Haven't used one of these in years.

Short-sighted? I think it's actually pretty reasonable and insightful. It's an easy thing they can do to save a good chunk of change, and the majority of people won't be inconvenienced in any real way from it.

Here's a thought - next time bring an envelope. Stick a stack of them in your briefcase so you have some with you when you need them.

I hate ticket jackets and always try to get away without one. Though I can understand their usefulness. perhaps buy a reusable one?

Has TSA banned the use of pockets in clothing? Pockets represent a terrorist threat, because they can be used to hold explosives or chemical weapons.

Pockets hate our Freedom!

I suggest an EECB. This is an outrage.

I use a reuseable one anyways, since I do travel more than the average folks. The paper ones are crappy anyways, I remember when you got a nice little tagboard folder back in the day.

Whine, whine. These jackets are totally unnecessary, and a waste of paper and money. If he wants a jacket, he can bring his own easily.

While the jackets may save some money in the short run, how much money does the CEO make again?
What happened to the days when companies would actually make a better product that people wanted, rather than cutting into an already crappy product?
What's next, half-sizing the seats to fit more people on a plane? Cutting the number of screws holding the wheels on?
It seems to me that the biggest, obvious cost to cut would be the top heavy executives.

I'd probably offer them as available if someone wants them, but not hand them out otherwise.

I have only had them a few times, and for me, they were more a nuisance, as I had to dig through for things like boarding pass. A spot in my carryon worked better. And for many of us, with pre-printed passes done at home, it wasn't even a concern.

It's not just the cost to the airlines but how many thousands of these glossy little jackets are thrown away at the end of a trip?

I echo Sketchy - get your own travel document holder. There are some great ones out there.

Aren't these those things that I find shredded in the laundry?

Yeah, I have an organizer already, my POCKET.

Take one from one of the other airlines.

Has anyone noticed that whenever you interact with an airline employee, you always get a new ticket jacket?!

Even if you ask them what time it is, they throw out your old one and give you a new one!

Their ARE wasteful and annoying. Think about 300 people online in front of you and each of them is handing a closed folder that needs to be opened for them to board. It is a lot more efficient to put the darn ticket in your pocket without the envelope. Who needs an organizer? You have your boarding pass there and back? Put your return flight pass in your bag and get on the plane!

And seriously, what are those little secret slots and openings for?

I fly Northwest mostly, so maybe Delta had nice ones (I feel like there's something to be said about the merge here, but I don't know what), but those flimsy paper ticket jackets were a pain. Mine always tear and fold and don't do anything to help my flimsy paper e-tickets anyway.

I always asked not to get one. Save a tree and ink. If it's really a problem, buy some really nice fancy reusable one that you can also keep other important stuff in.

Yes, by God, let's slaughter as many trees as possible so this guy can pretend it's still 1966, and protect this piece of paper he needs for approximately three hours with another, folded piece of paper.

So you mean I have to carry my tickets in a real pocket instead of a paper one?

Whoa. Rough.

They're not just a few cents, for starters. They're die-cut for the slot, are 4-process printed, have to be folded; you're talking a huge operation, and people have to be paid to run said operation, and the machines have to be maintained, blah blah blah. After you pay the printer, you have to pay the warehouse, the distribution people, pay for the boxes, etc. etc.

Each flight takes anywhere from 50-175 passengers, on 800 planes, on multiple trips per day. That's thousands of jackets a day, and cutting that amount of waste is great for the enviroment as well as Delta's pocketbook.

But what about the jobs lost at the ticket jacket factory, won't somebody think of the children?! And what about people that get sweaty sitting, now instead of a moist jacket it'll be a moist ticket, poor gate agents. 'Tis a sad day indeed.

This is one moneysaving method I fully support. Those jackets are a big WASTE!

The ones I've gotten recently were emblazoned with ads for Hotels.com and the like. The ad money wasn't enough to make them worth keeping around?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, it just doesn't make sense to me.

i support the elimination of unnecessary junk. way to go Delta!

now let's work on getting rid of those damned catalogs full of gadgets in the seatback pockets.

There's an upside to wanting those jackets: They have an abbreviated Conditions of Carrage on them. No jacket, no notice of CoC, and I bet a lawyer will say that opens them up to some litigation... 100 quatloos?

@HRHKingFriday: What did you get, and where did you get it? I'm travelling a lot for my new job.

I really cannot believe someone is complaining about this. Grow up and buy one that you can reuse. There are just too many things to be concerned about these days - sleeves for your plane tickets should NOT be one of them.

Didn't most budget airlines eliminate these years ago?

Apparently I'm in the minority here, but those ticket jackets come in handy, especially with the flimsy new "1980s fax machine" thermal paper boarding passes most airlines have switched to. There have been occasions where I haven't been able to snag a jacket and my boarding pass has been destroyed in my pocket by the time I get to the gate.

KLM, on the other hand provides a very nice cardstock ticket/boarding pass with a nice pocket for storing other travel documents.

@STrRedWolf: The abbreviated contract of carriage makes for great reading when you are on the fifth flight of the month and have read both the magazine and SkyMall twice.

waaaaaah poor OP

While the benefits of the travel jacket can be debated, if the check-in agent is really putting the baggage claim sticker on the boarding pass and then they take your boarding pass from you when you get on the plane (as the message indicates unless I've misread it), that's pretty stupid.

@Squot: I absolutely agree. Way to look at the big picture.

@sketchy: Or just snag one from another airline's ticket counter, although a reusable travel wallet would be more durable.

@hunterscanvas: If you don't like it then go find another thread to post in. It's a valid complaint when something you actually make use of disappears.

Thank god they are cutting these out to save money. That way, another overpaid executive will be able to get his bonus this year.

I've had more problems with the ticket jacket tearing my boarding pass than protecting it.

I carry my money in a flat bill wallet, and would almost prefer that the boarding pass continue to shrink till it's the same size as US Currency so that it will fit in the wallet conveniently.

I generally preprint my boarding pass at home or at the office anyway, so I'm carrying a folded 8.5x11 piece of paper instead of a standard print slip.

So this news is almost a week old... But anyway why should anyone care? Look at JetBlue they print your boarding pass literally on a "receipt" with the bag tag numbers right on it... That seems like the best/CHEAPEST solution...

@Buran: Leave huntercanvas alone. The OP is a wack job. He actually cares about ticket jackets. Holy crap we finally have all the worlds problems solved and the OP complains about the last remaining issue TICKET JACKETS and you have the nerve to call any of this valid.

this sucks more than the evaporation of our democracy.

how are my tickets going to stay warm and protected from light breezes?

Wow, Delta really could have spun this better. If they had just called it "going green" instead of "cutting costs"-- and then start selling reusable ones made of recycled plastic or something-- this would have been a positive for them, not a negative.

As for me, I usually have a book with me, and sticking the boarding pass in the book keeps it nice, flat, handy, and safe. What do you people do in airports and airplanes without a book?!?!

Now I can't wait until ticket prices start to drop!

although I'm sure some posters will belittle the concept and my desire to have the jacket...

I'd much rather an airline do away with a ticket jacket than raise the price on my seat. As I don't travel for business, I actually have to pay for my own tickets. And, as has been said ad nauseum, you could buy yourself a very nice executive leather document holder.

I think the issue here is that the jackets were provided as a courtesy in the first place. That's not the service you're paying for. You are paying to be flown from point "A" to point "B," period. If they started charging me for in-flight beverages, I wouldn't bitch about that either, because my receipt doesn't say "crappy seat in between sweaty man and screaming baby... and a coke."

Yeah, I'm sorry but this is a pretty petty complaint. Create your own reusable jacket. Much more sustainable.

Here is a chance to make your own:

[www.instructables.com]

@clnclarinet: I agree! I wonder if it was just this ticket agent who "exposed" the real reason because in the current climate, the environment angle is one that most don't argue with.

@yetiwisdom: nice that they're saving paper too, isn't it?

Come on Consumerist. You complain about packaging issues, and now you don't see the ecological rationale behind using less paper?

I rarely consider consumerist to be written by fools, but this article is the dumbest thing you have ever written.

Completely ignoring the obvious savings for Delta, and the beneficial environmental side effects; you really want to keep these around because of "neat design, foldy fun and secret slots"?

Get a damn clue! A piece of folded paper doesn't make your other piece of folded paper more secure. And a piece of paper saved for every passenger really does add up to a real environmental benefit.

@SkokieGuy: "Pockets hate our Freedom!"

Best. Line. All. Day.

Boo hoo. I'm silver medallion and I never use those things. In fact, I hated it when I was given one. Just fold up the boarding pass and put it in your pocket.