Not specifically talking about your specific circumstance, but having a booking that is not ticketed yet is something very frequent and that has always existed. Each fare has its own ticketing rule, i.e. « must be ticketed X days before travel ». Usually, flex fares and some corporate fares have « relaxed » ticketing rules, so you can book, not have the ticket issued and make changes or cancel before issuing without change/cancellation fee. Very useful for work travel. Of course, those bookings have to be done with an agent and not on-line.