Cannot get audiobook purchased from iTunes onto my iPhone.

Drew Cover wrote:

I am on a trip and do not have the computer I normally use for syncing my iphone.

As far as I know, it is not possible in that situation. Audiobooks are more highly restricted than music or ebooks, you need that computer to move them to other devices.

Audiobooks are accessed via the music app and there's no connection with the iBooks app. You might want to ask in one of the iTunes forums instead of this one

https://discussions.apple.com/community/itunes

Audiobooks are a once-only download from Apple (and I believe this restriction is imposed on Apple by Audible.com).

is this something new then?

From the apple site:

Listen to audiobooks

You can listen to audiobooks purchased from the iTunes Store or the Audible website.

Audiobooks purchased from the iTunes Store can be played on up to five computers at a time. The computers must be authorized to play purchases from the iTunes Store. (You can’t play these files on a sixth computer until you deauthorize one of the already authorized computers.)

Audiobooks purchased from the Audible website can be downloaded to up to three computers at a time. The computers must be authorized to play purchases from Audible.

which is confusing because I am still having this problem, I can't find it on my laptop...

Look under Audiobooks in the iTunes Sidebar. If you can't see Audiobooks in the Sidebar open iTunes preferences > General > check Audiobooks.

I had a similar issue in that I purchased an Audio book on My iPad but also wanted it on my phone. I logged a support call and got the following answer - It turns out with audio books in particular, you still have to transfer the old fashioned way 🙂 hope it helps - it worked for me.

I would like to let you know that audiobooks cannot be downloaded again from the Purchases Page the same way that other content can be. You can transfer the audiobook to your computer, to then be able to sync to your iPhone.

To transfer items you’ve purchased on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch to your computer, kindly follow the steps in this article:

Redownload or transfer your iTunes Store purchases from an iPhone, iPad, or iPod to a computer
https://support.apple.com/HT201267

Once you’ve transferred the audiobook to your computer, please follow the steps in this article to sync it to your iPhone:

Sync your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iTunes using USB
http://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201253

I trust this information helps. If you’re unable to transfer your audiobook to your computer, do not hesitate to let me know