Mar 21, 2013, 8:17 pm
Last edit by: Prospero
FAQ: "Linking" or Combining of Separate PNRs / Itineraries / Tickets
Q. Can we have our bookings / reservations / awards merged to have them on the same PNR?
A. No; it's generally not possible unless you cancel what you have and get it all done on one PNR. Some agents may be able to merge PNRs if one has contiguous paid and award tickets on hold.
Q. Can I have separate PNRs merged so I can Through-check baggage? No. And with separate PNRs, baggage can not be through-checked.
Q. Can I have PNRs linked so status benefits can be shared?
No. But notes can be added to the OSI field, and status “linking” can occur for upgrades, etc.
Q. Can I "link" my partner's and my PNRs (so we can sit together, stay together in OSO / IROPS, check luggage through, etc.)?
A. "Linking" (or combining) PNRs is not actually possible. There is no way of establishing a "hard" electronic link between PNRs.
Q. What can the airline do in this regard?
A, Requesting "linking PNRs" causes a note to be entered into the PNR OSI (Other Service Information) field (usually a TCP (To Complete Party) note). There is no physical or other actual connection to one's PNR; the field must be read by an airline agent for requested actions to be implemented. (See hillrider's post #9 and link below.)
Q. How can that help?
A. In case of OSO (IROPS/IRROPS) an agent can read the reference and work to keep the parties together when reaccommodating in OSO.
GLOSSARY (specifically for airline use)[/color]
Q. Can we have our bookings / reservations / awards merged to have them on the same PNR?
A. No; it's generally not possible unless you cancel what you have and get it all done on one PNR. Some agents may be able to merge PNRs if one has contiguous paid and award tickets on hold.
Q. Can I have separate PNRs merged so I can Through-check baggage? No. And with separate PNRs, baggage can not be through-checked.
Q. Can I have PNRs linked so status benefits can be shared?
No. But notes can be added to the OSI field, and status “linking” can occur for upgrades, etc.
Q. Can I "link" my partner's and my PNRs (so we can sit together, stay together in OSO / IROPS, check luggage through, etc.)?
A. "Linking" (or combining) PNRs is not actually possible. There is no way of establishing a "hard" electronic link between PNRs.
Q. What can the airline do in this regard?
A, Requesting "linking PNRs" causes a note to be entered into the PNR OSI (Other Service Information) field (usually a TCP (To Complete Party) note). There is no physical or other actual connection to one's PNR; the field must be read by an airline agent for requested actions to be implemented. (See hillrider's post #9 and link below.)
Q. How can that help?
A. In case of OSO (IROPS/IRROPS) an agent can read the reference and work to keep the parties together when reaccommodating in OSO.
GLOSSARY (specifically for airline use)[/color]
- IROPS / IRROPS: Irregular Operations - see OSO
- OSI: Other Supplementary / Service Information- PNR field for supplemental information; low-priority messages usually used for information purpose only.
- OSO: Off Schedule Operations - when schedules are disrupted by various factors
- PNR: itinerary reference "handle", six letters with AA; temporary, as PNRs recycle - only ticket numbers are permanent
- TCP: To Complete Party - a note indicating passenger is traveling with another, etc.
FAQ: TCP, "Linking" / link / merge itineraries / PNR (master thread)
Jun 2, 2014, 10:19 pm
#31
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Plano, TX, USA
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Can you link two itineraries - one paid, one miles
I am holding award tickets DFW-LHR, but am trying to get the family to ATH. Does anyone know if there is a way to book the LHR-ATH r/t if purchased through AA or BA and link the reservations? I am assuming that BA won't open up the award inventory I need, and as a result will need to buy the onward leg.
What I am specifically trying to do is find a way to be protected on a connection at LHR in either direction if there is a flight delay/cancellation into LHR in either direction. I realize that worse case I should build a day buffer in London each direction, but it would be nice to not have to do that.
What I am specifically trying to do is find a way to be protected on a connection at LHR in either direction if there is a flight delay/cancellation into LHR in either direction. I realize that worse case I should build a day buffer in London each direction, but it would be nice to not have to do that.
Jun 2, 2014, 11:11 pm
#32
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Usually, one can have a "TCP" message added to one's PNR (To Complete Party). That basically lets an agent know, when they read the PNR in case of IRROPS, there are others on the trip.
Jun 2, 2014, 11:41 pm
#33
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Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.601 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)
If your DFW-LHR-DFW ticket is on AA, and your LHR-ATH-LHR ticket is on BA, you will be protected in the event of IRROPS, even on separate tickets, award or paid:
http://www.aa.com/i18n/agency/Bookin...tkt_policy.jsp
No need to overnight in LON, unless you want to. And if you ticket the LON-ATH-LON flights before you ticket the held DFW-LHR-DFW award flights, call AA and give them the BA PNR. AA should then be able to eliminate the UK APD on your return flight, as long as your connection in LON does not exceed 24 hours. (Even if you have to pay AA's telephone-ticketing fee to do this, it will still be worth it to eliminate the UK APD.)
Originally Posted by stewlevine
I am holding award tickets DFW-LHR, but am trying to get the family to ATH. Does anyone know if there is a way to book the LHR-ATH r/t if purchased through AA or BA and link the reservations? I am assuming that BA won't open up the award inventory I need, and as a result will need to buy the onward leg.
What I am specifically trying to do is find a way to be protected on a connection at LHR in either direction if there is a flight delay/cancellation into LHR in either direction. I realize that worse case I should build a day buffer in London each direction, but it would be nice to not have to do that.
What I am specifically trying to do is find a way to be protected on a connection at LHR in either direction if there is a flight delay/cancellation into LHR in either direction. I realize that worse case I should build a day buffer in London each direction, but it would be nice to not have to do that.
http://www.aa.com/i18n/agency/Bookin...tkt_policy.jsp
No need to overnight in LON, unless you want to. And if you ticket the LON-ATH-LON flights before you ticket the held DFW-LHR-DFW award flights, call AA and give them the BA PNR. AA should then be able to eliminate the UK APD on your return flight, as long as your connection in LON does not exceed 24 hours. (Even if you have to pay AA's telephone-ticketing fee to do this, it will still be worth it to eliminate the UK APD.)
Jun 3, 2014, 2:12 pm
#34
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Plano, TX, USA
Programs: AA: PPro, 4MM; HH: Lifetime Diamond; MAR Life Titanium Hertz: Prez Circle
Posts: 547
Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.601 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)
If your DFW-LHR-DFW ticket is on AA, and your LHR-ATH-LHR ticket is on BA, you will be protected in the event of IRROPS, even on separate tickets, award or paid:
http://www.aa.com/i18n/agency/Bookin...tkt_policy.jsp
No need to overnight in LON, unless you want to. And if you ticket the LON-ATH-LON flights before you ticket the held DFW-LHR-DFW award flights, call AA and give them the BA PNR. AA should then be able to eliminate the UK APD on your return flight, as long as your connection in LON does not exceed 24 hours. (Even if you have to pay AA's telephone-ticketing fee to do this, it will still be worth it to eliminate the UK APD.)
If your DFW-LHR-DFW ticket is on AA, and your LHR-ATH-LHR ticket is on BA, you will be protected in the event of IRROPS, even on separate tickets, award or paid:
http://www.aa.com/i18n/agency/Bookin...tkt_policy.jsp
No need to overnight in LON, unless you want to. And if you ticket the LON-ATH-LON flights before you ticket the held DFW-LHR-DFW award flights, call AA and give them the BA PNR. AA should then be able to eliminate the UK APD on your return flight, as long as your connection in LON does not exceed 24 hours. (Even if you have to pay AA's telephone-ticketing fee to do this, it will still be worth it to eliminate the UK APD.)
It looks like so long as I go BA onto ATH, I'll be fine, a non-OW airline would be an issue, and I am not the first to ask:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...d-tickets.html
Last edited by stewlevine; Jun 3, 2014 at 2:18 pm Reason: I checked the rules
Jun 3, 2014, 3:12 pm
#35
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I am in the converse situation. We already have ticketed DFW-LHR-DFW. It's getting into out and out of ATH that I have to solve; I'll check the AA policies to see how well it spells out my situation.
It looks like so long as I go BA onto ATH, I'll be fine, a non-OW airline would be an issue, and I am not the first to ask:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...d-tickets.html
It looks like so long as I go BA onto ATH, I'll be fine, a non-OW airline would be an issue, and I am not the first to ask:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...d-tickets.html
Jun 3, 2014, 3:18 pm
#36
Join Date: Nov 2010
Programs: AA PLT 3MM
Posts: 1,135
I wouldn't be so sure on that one. I tried it once and failed. Specifically, I'd booked a round trip to LHR. I then discovered that I needed to go to Finland too so I changed my return flight to a later date and booked a separate LHR->HEL trip on AY with a connection time at LHR on my return of three hours. I asked for the APD to be refunded and was told I couldn't because the in and out (of the UK) flights had to be booked on the same ticket or at "substantially the same time" if they couldn't be on the same ticket. I later found this restriction in the actual government rule - not just AA's interpretation of it.
Jun 3, 2014, 4:03 pm
#37
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Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.601 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)
I am in the converse situation. We already have ticketed DFW-LHR-DFW. It's getting into out and out of ATH that I have to solve; I'll check the AA policies to see how well it spells out my situation.
It looks like so long as I go BA onto ATH, I'll be fine, a non-OW airline would be an issue, and I am not the first to ask:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...d-tickets.html
If you find yourself in a similar situation in the future, hold -- but do not ticket -- the AA award reservation, then purchase the BA cash ticket, and then call AA with the BA PNR before ticketing the award reservation. Unless your departure date is in the near future, AA will let you hold an award reservation for five days on AA and most (but not all) of its partners.
In order the avoid the UK APD, the flights into and out of LON must be on the same ticket, or on "conjunction tickets," which Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs defines somewhat more broadly than the travel industry does.
Originally Posted by stewlevine
Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.601 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)
If your DFW-LHR-DFW ticket is on AA, and your LHR-ATH-LHR ticket is on BA, you will be protected in the event of IRROPS, even on separate tickets, award or paid:
http://www.aa.com/i18n/agency/Bookin...tkt_policy.jsp
No need to overnight in LON, unless you want to. And if you ticket the LON-ATH-LON flights before you ticket the held DFW-LHR-DFW award flights, call AA and give them the BA PNR. AA should then be able to eliminate the UK APD on your return flight, as long as your connection in LON does not exceed 24 hours. (Even if you have to pay AA's telephone-ticketing fee to do this, it will still be worth it to eliminate the UK APD.)
If your DFW-LHR-DFW ticket is on AA, and your LHR-ATH-LHR ticket is on BA, you will be protected in the event of IRROPS, even on separate tickets, award or paid:
http://www.aa.com/i18n/agency/Bookin...tkt_policy.jsp
No need to overnight in LON, unless you want to. And if you ticket the LON-ATH-LON flights before you ticket the held DFW-LHR-DFW award flights, call AA and give them the BA PNR. AA should then be able to eliminate the UK APD on your return flight, as long as your connection in LON does not exceed 24 hours. (Even if you have to pay AA's telephone-ticketing fee to do this, it will still be worth it to eliminate the UK APD.)
It looks like so long as I go BA onto ATH, I'll be fine, a non-OW airline would be an issue, and I am not the first to ask:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...d-tickets.html
In order the avoid the UK APD, the flights into and out of LON must be on the same ticket, or on "conjunction tickets," which Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs defines somewhat more broadly than the travel industry does.
Jun 3, 2014, 5:09 pm
#38
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Just as a caution. Protection across tickets is an AA benefit, not OW. In OP's situation, AA will protect him, but if this involved two tickets and two other OW carriers, there would not be an protection.
"Linking" and other forms of PNR notes are not the same thing as a single ticket and the fact that an agent might see the note, does not really help the cause.
Here, so long as OP books his onward BA above what would be the MCT, he is fine.
"Linking" and other forms of PNR notes are not the same thing as a single ticket and the fact that an agent might see the note, does not really help the cause.
Here, so long as OP books his onward BA above what would be the MCT, he is fine.
Jun 3, 2014, 7:56 pm
#39
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Plano, TX, USA
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Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.601 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)
If you find yourself in a similar situation in the future, hold -- but do not ticket -- the AA award reservation, then purchase the BA cash ticket, and then call AA with the BA PNR before ticketing the award reservation. Unless your departure date is in the near future, AA will let you hold an award reservation for five days on AA and most (but not all) of its partners.
In order the avoid the UK APD, the flights into and out of LON must be on the same ticket, or on "conjunction tickets," which Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs defines somewhat more broadly than the travel industry does.
If you find yourself in a similar situation in the future, hold -- but do not ticket -- the AA award reservation, then purchase the BA cash ticket, and then call AA with the BA PNR before ticketing the award reservation. Unless your departure date is in the near future, AA will let you hold an award reservation for five days on AA and most (but not all) of its partners.
In order the avoid the UK APD, the flights into and out of LON must be on the same ticket, or on "conjunction tickets," which Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs defines somewhat more broadly than the travel industry does.
Jul 3, 2014, 8:54 am
#40
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: PDX
Programs: AA (Gold), Alaska MVP, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Plat, IHG Plat, SPG Gold,
Posts: 513
Combine partner awards and link to one pnr?
I'm trying to fly around Thanksgiving using miles but finding it hard to get the right flights without using two AA awards (and therefore using up my limited milage balance) since my connecting flights are on Alaska Airways. I want to get my tickets from two different sources but I don't want to risk not making a connection if there are flight delays.
Will AA combine these tickets so I'm protected:
DFW-PDX flight on AA metal using BA miles to book
PDX-RDM (short hop to Redmond) on Alaska Air using Alaska miles to book
Can I call AA once I've booked these flights and have them put my Aadvantage number on them (so I can book better seats, get gold perks, etc) ?
Will AA combine these tickets so I'm protected:
DFW-PDX flight on AA metal using BA miles to book
PDX-RDM (short hop to Redmond) on Alaska Air using Alaska miles to book
Can I call AA once I've booked these flights and have them put my Aadvantage number on them (so I can book better seats, get gold perks, etc) ?
Jul 3, 2014, 9:16 am
#41
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You can certainly use your AA status for benefits on an AS award (I did so earlier this week) but AA isn't going to link the tickets to give you IROPS protection. AA provides oneworld carrier protection as a courtesy - and AS isn't oneworld.
Jul 4, 2014, 2:33 am
#42
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Ohio and Colorado
Programs: AA Gold MM, DL Gold, US MM, HH Gold, Starwood
Posts: 953
I have a related question. I have an Explorer Award ticket ex-JFK but booked DAY-LGA with BA Avios on a separate record since I couldn't get the DAY-LGA/JFK leg on the Explorer Award. Can these be linked for IROPS protection?
Cheers
Cheers
Jan 23, 2015, 6:58 am
#43
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 147
Link multiple PNRs with same itinerary
I have three PNRs for my family, all for the same itinerary. (I was waiting for MileSAAver seats to come available, and booked when they did). I asked AA to link the PNRs, and was told there isn't a systematic way to do this. They did add this to the comments.
I'd prefer something in the system vs comments, in the hope that any change to one PNR would be automatically recognized as needing to be made to all. Is there no way to really link them?
I'd prefer something in the system vs comments, in the hope that any change to one PNR would be automatically recognized as needing to be made to all. Is there no way to really link them?
Jan 23, 2015, 7:32 am
#45
Senior Moderator and Moderator: American AAdvantage & TravelBuzz
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Correct - there is no way to link them. Here a post from an older thread (as you'd expect, this question gets raised many times a year), but still correct:
It's an OSI entry called TCP (to complete party) that cross-references each itinerary, and amounts to a formatted note in the PNR. Which systems at AA do something with it (as opposed to ignoring it) it's still a mystery to me; I presume that their recent and excellent OSO (rebooking) software may actually be looking at it, but have no evidence either way.
I Googled and found some public info at http://hualin58.blogspot.com/2011/05...ay-delete.html
I Googled and found some public info at http://hualin58.blogspot.com/2011/05...ay-delete.html