Airline Reservation

Airline reservation and tickets are required for anyone who wishes to fly by air. A ticket must be purchased by all passengers.

What is a ticket?

A ticket is a contract between the Ticket Purchaser(Specifically the Passenger) and the Ticket Issuing Company(Airline only). Both parties must follow the contract for a pleasant experience. Let us understand the various concepts and information about Airline tickets.

How to book an airline ticket

There are many ways to buy an Airline ticket as per your choice and convenience. You can buy an airline ticket at an Airline Reservation office, you can buy from an authorised Travel Agent’s office, can buy at Airport Reservations counter, or buy on the Airline’s website and Travel Agent’s website. Let us now look at the airline ticket reservation details.

Airline Reservation

When a booking is done with an airline from any source, a PNR (Passenger Name Record) is generated which contains passenger details and an E-Ticket which contains the flight and fare details. A PNR is also called a Record Locator, like an address to locate passenger details.

PNR details

A PNR may contain the following details:

• Passenger details like Name, Contact Number and Passenger Type
• Document Details like Passport Number, Visa details and Nationality
• Reservation details like Flight Number and Departure Time
• Fare details like Basic Fare, Taxes, Class of Booking and Ticket Number
• Ticket details like Not Valid Before and Not Valid After details
• Airport and Terminal details of both Origin and Destination
• Any Meal Preference of the passenger
• Seat Number of the passenger if requested/paid for
• Baggage Allowance details, both for Hand bag and Check-in Bag
• T&C like Non-Refundable, Non-Endorseable and Non-Reroutable
• Reservation office details and contact number
• Onward flight or connecting flight details

Reservation Details

Some important information in the PNR and E-Ticket are E-Ticket number, Flight itinerary, Passenger Type which can be Adult, Child, Infant, Male or Female, Documents required for both domestic as well as international travel, Airport and Terminal details in case of multiple airports and terminals, Hand baggage and Check-in baggage weight and dimensions permissible or allowed. The ticket fare includes Basic fare plus several taxes and airport charges. Not Valid Before is the date before which passenger cannot travel using the ticket. Not Valid After is the date after which the ticket is invalid. Generally, the validity of the ticket is only for the specified flight and date.

Airline Ticket Terms and Conditions

Terms and Conditions of the Booking/Reservation/Ticket are very important as it clearly specifies the services provided/not provided.

Non-Refundable

Non-Refundable ticket implies that the Basic Fare is not refundable, repeat Basic Fare is not refundable. Taxes will be refunded or returned to the passenger on ticket cancellation or if not travelled.

Non-Refundable tickets are normally the special fare, promotional or discounted fares and hence the condition.

Government and Airport taxes

Taxes are collected by the airline on behalf of the airport operator or government and transferred to them after passenger travels.

Non-Endorsable

Non-Endorsable are again, in general, special, discounted or promotion fare tickets which will not be transferred to another airline in case of flight disruptions. The airline will transfer the passenger only to any of their own flights during delays or cancellation. It can the next flight or may be for next day flight as per that airline’s schedule.

Non-Reroutable

Non-Reroutable means the ticket can be utilized to travel on the specified sector or route only. The ticket cannot be used to travel to any other destination other than the original booking. The passenger will have to buy a new ticket for any other destination.

Transit or Onward bookings and MCT(Minimum Connecting Time)

For passengers with connecting flights, the transit time or connecting time at the transit airport (after the first flight lands) is very critical. The connecting time for onward flights is normally very short. This is based on MCT (Minimum Connecting Time) published by the respective airport operator. The MCT is mostly a bare minimum as a lower MCT means more possible connections. In many airports, especially in bigger airports, passengers must consciously rush to complete the transit formalities and board the connecting flight.

Alternatively, onward passengers or transit passengers can opt for flights departing later giving them reasonable and comfortable transit or connecting time. This is desirable for families, groups, elderly passengers and kids.

Transit Visa and Vaccination requirements

When transiting from an airport, which means taking an onward or connecting flight, passengers must check visa requirements for the transit airport. All airports do not allow free transit travel and a visa may be necessary.

Another crucial aspect for onward or transit travel is mandatory passenger vaccination, both for transit as well as the destination. Passengers must ensure they are vaccinated as per the airport and country health regulations.

Sanctioned countries

Passengers must avoid traveling transit through sanctioned countries to avoid inconvenience and disruption in travel plans. At the same time, some other countries do not allow transit travel and passengers must avoid traveling through such countries.

And to end this blog–

In case of any doubts about your documentation, vaccination, reservation and terms and conditions, seek clarifications from the airline or travel agency before travel.