Delta Air Lines recently became the fifth of the nine major U.S. carriers to charge for paper tickets.

Delta will charge $10 to issue paper tickets requested by customers on itineraries that are eligible for e-tickets, now more than 98 percent of its flights, spokesman Anthony Black said. Exceptions include code-share flights and a handful of destinations, he said.

The fee is waived for full-fare, unrestricted tickets and for SkyMiles Medallion members. American, America West and Continental also charge the $10 fee; Alaska Air charges $20 per ticket order.

Delta cited "increasing costs" for its move and also noted that e-tickets let customers use self-serve kiosks and avoid theft or loss of the ticket.

But airline expert Terry Trippler noted that if passengers need to rebook on another airline at the airport, they may have to stand in line to get a paper ticket because competing airlines may not acknowledge another carrier's e-ticket.

But more airlines are accepting e-tickets from other carriers. As of last week, American, Continental, Northwest and United had so-called "interline agreements" with one another. Continental also has an agreement with America West, and United with Air Canada. Delta, US Airways and Southwest don't have such agreements.

Although most airlines say they are trying to get more partners, "It will be a long time before they have e-ticketing agreements with everyone," Trippler said. His advice in the meantime: If you're a business traveler who must get there on time, invest $10 in a paper ticket.

Jane Engle is a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, a Tribune Publishing newspaper.

In brief

More online booking

The Internet as a purchasing and planning tool continues to flex its muscles among leisure travelers, according to a recent survey.

Nearly one-third of the 1,351 leisure travelers polled used the Web to book a reservation, an increase from the 25 percent who did so the year before, according to results from the Yesawich, Pepperdine & Brown survey taken early this year. They -- and "they" are mostly Gen-Xers and baby boomers -- booked 2.1 trips online last year.

"Once you've done it, some of the mystery has been removed," says Con Hitchcock, chairman of the Consumer Advisory Board for Orbitz, a co-sponsor of the YPB study. He thinks the Sept. 11 attacks played a role in the reliance on the Internet because "It was able to give a range of information that was specific to your flight, your airline and your airport."

The number of leisure travelers using travel agents, at the same time, declined from 29 percent to 27 percent among those who booked one or more trips, the survey shows. But Peter C. Yesawich, president and CEO of the survey company, says, "It is important to note that three out of every 10 leisure travelers still use the services of a travel agent."

Lowestfare tickets end

Travel seller Lowestfare.com has stopped selling airline tickets on its Internet site, www. lowestfare.com, and has shut down its Jetset Tours division, an international airline consolidator that sold to travel agents.

Company officials said tickets sold before May 2 would be honored and that www.lowestfare .com would continue to sell cruises and vacation packages.

Gail Golden, vice chairman and CEO of Lowestfare.com, said the company lost its contract to sell TWA tickets at a discount when American Airlines acquired TWA last year, prompting it to end its sales of air fares. Lowestfare.com, controlled by financier Carl Icahn, also owns luxury tour operator Maupintour Inc. and Gutsy Women Travel.

Southwest bicoastal

Southwest will begin its first coast-to-coast nonstop flights Sept. 15. The introductory one-way fare is $99 between Los Angeles International Airport and Baltimore-Washington In-ternational Airport.

British Airways swamped

With the summer travel season to Europe approaching, British Airways cannot keep up with the calls from travelers wanting to make a reservation.

Because of higher recent call volume and its switch to a new reservation system, the airline has been turning away many callers to its toll-free reservations number in the United States in recent weeks. An announcement encouraged callers to try the airline Web site instead, and then the phone line often went dead. Callers who did get through were being put on hold for up to 45 minutes.

"We've never had a problem like this before," said John Lampl, a spokesman for the airline, which flies to London from BWI, New York and 19 other American cities. He said the airline might not have the bugs worked out until late June. Until then, the airline is recommending that reservations be made at www. britishairways.com or through a travel agent.

-- From wire reports