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Ticket or Award status: On Hold, On Request, Pending, Purchased and Ticketed

Old May 23, 2015, 1:10 pm
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Last edit by: Prospero
"Hold", "Pending", "On Request", "Purchased" and "Ticketed" Status: What does it mean?
Purchased or award itineraries may both show one or more of these


Your itinerary may show as on "Hold"; this means you may have not paid for it yet, or it may indicate your action to purchase (award or purchase" hasn't processed yet. Keep an eye and call if it doesn't process to "On Request" or "Pending" fairly quickly.

Your award or purchased itinerary may show as "On Request", "Pending", "Purchased" or "Ticketed" when you look at it online. To travel you need a "Ticketed" itinerary with a ticket number. AA ticket numbers begin with "001" followed by 10 numbers (e.g. #0012345678901), not a six letter (on AA) PNR*. On UA, 016-, etc.

If one is traveling in months or weeks, it could take a day or more to pass from "On Request" or "Pending" to "Purchased" and on to "Ticketed", depending on whether it needs verification from partner airlines (can take 72 hours or more weekends and holidays) or go to the Rate Desk for approval.

Flights not on American Airlines, American Eagle, or AmericanConnection are on a request basis only. Fares and availability are subject to change. (aa.com)
Q: Why are revenue tickets on other airlines on a request basis only?

A: Other airline reservations are on a request basis only and may take 24 hours or more for confirmation. In addition, some airlines require post-booking reconfirmation of reservations made on aa.com. Please check with the airline for more details. (aa.com)
AA Conditions of Carriage, Section I(a)(2): "No person shall be entitled to transportation except upon presentation of a valid ticket."
Your itinerary online will reflect ticketing condition:

Pending or On Request mean your itinerary is essentially an offer, which might require processing for fees and taxes, approval and confirmation by a partner airline, etc. This can take 72 hours - longer over weekends and holidays, or if the trip is some time away.

"Purchased" or means the ticketing has been approved, but is awaiting issuance of a ticket.

"Ticketed" means you now have a Ticket Number (AA ticket numbers begin with "001" followed by 10 numbers, E.g. #0012345678901) - emailed to you; or, from your booking on aa.com, when you select "Print Receipt", you should be able to print a receipt with ticket number.

When you see your itinerary online, additionally you will be able to "Print a Receipt" with ticket numbers if your itinerary is fully accepted and ticketed. If it is not and you can only "Print Itinerary" rather than "Print Receipt", the ticket has not been issued as yet.

If Print a Receipt option is not available despite status being Ticketed, copy and paste the following URL into your browser on the same page as the displayed trip.

Code:
https://www.aa.com/reservation/printItinerary.do?forward=itineraryReceipt&isReceipt=true&anchorLocation=%2Freservation%2FfindReservationSubmit.do+aacomTripDashBoard_jsp&url=%2Freservation%2FprintItineraryReceipt.do
By travel time, you need one (or more) Ticket Number - do not presume to travel with just the six letter PNR. The ticket number is the "gold standard"; a PNR recycles, and is merely the handle for an itinerary.
To check your ticket's validity, fare class, detailed fare rules, etc. go to the AA Refunds site and enter your AA ticket number and you can see your ticket information before getting to a refund request.

You can select "Request a Receipt" or "Request a Refund"; prior to processing the refund request, you can see the detailed fare rules.

See post #261 for further information on checking ticket validity using the Refunds site.
*In the airline and travel industries, a passenger Name Record (PNR) is a record in the database of a computer reservation system (CRS) that contains the itinerary for a passenger, or a group of passengers travelling together. A PNR is merely a record of an itinerary; it does not imply or replace true ticketing. Your ticket numbers are evidence you have purchased an itinerary and the airline has approved and permitted it.

AA PNRs (passenger name record, aka itinerary or flight confirmation number) is always comprised of six letters (other airlines may use numeric as well), is merely a temporary handle for your itinerary. It ultimately "recycles" some time after the PNR is cancelled or used up.

The ticket number (AA also uses "document number") is thirteen numbers, and the airline designator for AA is "001" (UA is "026", etc.) Ticket numbers are the gold standard, indicating you really do have a ticket, and may be necessary in requesting adjustments, refunds, improperly assigned mileage credit, etc.

With AA you should receive a ticket number on the e-ticket email, and on the receipt. Unfortunately, the exceptions seem to be award tickets, where sometimes we must do a bit of digging.


Older posts can be read in the archived thread here.
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Ticket or Award status: On Hold, On Request, Pending, Purchased and Ticketed

Old Jan 5, 2023, 8:00 pm
  #151  
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 236
Originally Posted by avatexrs
I reserved two award tickets with AA miles on AS on December 3 for travel in September 2023. Was "on request" for two weeks so I called on December 17. AA supposedly checked with AS, which said there was a big backlog and AS was ticketed them in order of first to travel, and to check back 30 days after the original booking date.
Update: finally ticketed today, 34 days from reservation.
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Old Jan 18, 2023, 12:03 pm
  #152  
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 42
Tickets in "On Request" Status: Should I Be Worried? (to merge)

A couple weeks ago I called AA ticket representatives to book with points two tickets to Singapore with a layover coming back thru Japan of about 11 hours. The rep "booked" it and gave me record indicators (all letters), but, after two weeks, the tickets are still in request status and they have not taken the points or charged my credit card for the gate fees. (Under "Your Trip" in my Aadvantage online account, I see the message saying "please call to book your trip.") I called to verify about a week ago and they did not find any issues, but I have never experienced this kind of situation before. Should I be worried, and if so, what should I do?
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Old Jan 18, 2023, 12:05 pm
  #153  
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 173
This has been talked about a lot in various threads. If you call and ask them to ticket it for whatever reason (I wanted to save seats on Air Tahiti Nui awards and couldn't until ticket was issued), they might push it if you get the right person.
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Old Jan 18, 2023, 12:31 pm
  #154  
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Your ticket almost certainly fell out of the queue. Perhaps the original agent didn't set it up correctly for ticketing, or there was a schedule change (or slight schedule mismatch between what AA was showing when you held the ticket and the actual schedule, even a minute off). Likely the reservation needs to get cleaned up before ticketing - and the first agent you spoke to didn't see the issue.

If you hang up, call back enough you should be able to get the agent to get the appropriate folks to ticket while you hold. But at a minimum keep calling until you find an agent that sees something wrong.

Don't accept that ticketing takes time, and that they process in travel date order. AA doesn't do instant ticketing of partner awards, sure, but it shouldn't take much more than a day for the furthest-out dates. If it takes a couple of days during the busiest ticketing times (e.g. reissues during major weather events) I call back.
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Old Jan 18, 2023, 12:45 pm
  #155  
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 173
Originally Posted by gleff
Your ticket almost certainly fell out of the queue. Perhaps the original agent didn't set it up correctly for ticketing, or there was a schedule change (or slight schedule mismatch between what AA was showing when you held the ticket and the actual schedule, even a minute off). Likely the reservation needs to get cleaned up before ticketing - and the first agent you spoke to didn't see the issue.

If you hang up, call back enough you should be able to get the agent to get the appropriate folks to ticket while you hold. But at a minimum keep calling until you find an agent that sees something wrong.

Don't accept that ticketing takes time, and that they process in travel date order. AA doesn't do instant ticketing of partner awards, sure, but it shouldn't take much more than a day for the furthest-out dates. If it takes a couple of days during the busiest ticketing times (e.g. reissues during major weather events) I call back.
I totally agree. They may try to tell you all is ok, they'll eventually get to your ticketing, etc. Again I found it useful to have a particular reason why you need it ticketed now (e.g. selecting a seat, yada yada), but I wouldn't let it slide. I'd call back until you find someone to fix whatever needs fixing, and/or push the ticketing.
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Old Jan 18, 2023, 1:25 pm
  #156  
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Arizona
Posts: 5,681
You want a ticket number for each pax period!
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Centurion is offline  
Old Jan 19, 2023, 2:29 pm
  #157  
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 4
I am having the same problem. Three of us due to fly on AA award tickets from LHR to MIA on British Airways next summer, but a schedule change made our connecting flight tricky, so I requested a change to a later flight, which is on AA. I have phoned in several times to check on the status. I have been told by each agent I have spoken to that my reservations are "locked in" and that no more miles would be required, but that AA has to wait for BA to release us from their seats in order to re-ticket.

When I made the change at the end of December, the agent told me it could take up to 72 hours to ticket. Each agent has told me since that it will likely take 30 days.

I remember when an impossible/unpalatable schedule change was like a Golden Ticket from Willie Wonka: I could request a much better itinerary, and generally, I was granted it. Times change!
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Old Jan 20, 2023, 12:00 pm
  #158  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 21
Award Booking still Shows "on request"

How long should I continue to wait for an award booking to go from "on request" to ticketed?

Last September I used my AA miles and booked a flight from the US to Nairobi, Kenya. The flights were on Alaska, American Air and British Airways. These flights ticketed within hours of booking them. In December the Alaska flights changed times and could no longer make the connection work for the AA flight. I received a message to call and discuss options. I called and the agent was helpful in figuring out a new route that now includes AA and BA. I was told it would ticket within 24 hours. It's 3 weeks later and it still hasn't ticketed. I have called twice and been told that everything is fine and I'm in the queue for ticketing and it will happen eventually. I'm worried I've fallen out of the queue and when I expressed my concern to the agent on this last call she said, "these award bookings can take months to ticket." That sounds ridiculous to me and I don't want to make too many nonrefundable plans in Kenya and find out I can't go. The trip is not until June, but I'd like to have the flights confirmed well before then.

Any advice on what to say or who to talk to at AA or stories where it really did take months but everything worked out would be great. Thanks!
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Old Jan 20, 2023, 12:07 pm
  #159  
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: DCA
Programs: AA EXP 1MM, WOH Globalist
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Call back and ask them to ticket it manually. 3 weeks is too long, there is probably a (correctable) issue. Tell them you are going on a safari and the tour operator needs to see your ticketed reservation ASAP. Agent should be able to do it while you wait. If not, hang up and try again with a different agent.
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Old Jan 20, 2023, 1:28 pm
  #160  
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: BOS
Programs: AA EXP 1MM, DL PM, Bonvoy Titanium (Plat Life), HH G, Amtrak, B6, MR
Posts: 1,530
Originally Posted by fishinggal
How long should I continue to wait for an award booking to go from "on request" to ticketed?

Last September I used my AA miles and booked a flight from the US to Nairobi, Kenya. The flights were on Alaska, American Air and British Airways. These flights ticketed within hours of booking them. In December the Alaska flights changed times and could no longer make the connection work for the AA flight. I received a message to call and discuss options. I called and the agent was helpful in figuring out a new route that now includes AA and BA. I was told it would ticket within 24 hours. It's 3 weeks later and it still hasn't ticketed. I have called twice and been told that everything is fine and I'm in the queue for ticketing and it will happen eventually. I'm worried I've fallen out of the queue and when I expressed my concern to the agent on this last call she said, "these award bookings can take months to ticket." That sounds ridiculous to me and I don't want to make too many nonrefundable plans in Kenya and find out I can't go. The trip is not until June, but I'd like to have the flights confirmed well before then.

Any advice on what to say or who to talk to at AA or stories where it really did take months but everything worked out would be great. Thanks!
There's a whole thread on this and I can tell you it is not uncommon. It is also not "too long" for it to be 3 weeks. I had an AA award flight on BA that was in "on request" status after a schedule change for several months. Multiple calls just reassured me that everything was fine and they were just waiting for BA to do their thing and it was taking forever. Indeed eventually it switched to ticketed all by itself.

I advise you to check periodically. If you're not traveling until June, I wouldn't start worrying until April.
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Old Jan 20, 2023, 1:41 pm
  #161  
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Live: PWM/KBXM/BGR; Work: DCA/DFW/Everywhere; Play: LAS/MUC/MLE
Programs: AA EXP, DL PM, Hyatt Glob, Marriott Ambassador/LTP, Nat'l Exec Elite, mlife Noir, LEYE Gold
Posts: 6,631
Also if you don't want to call, just send a DM on Twitter w/ the PNR and pax info and tell them you need it ticketed and ask whether they can push it through. I've never had them say no.
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Old Jan 20, 2023, 3:07 pm
  #162  
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: BOS
Programs: AA EXP 1MM, DL PM, Bonvoy Titanium (Plat Life), HH G, Amtrak, B6, MR
Posts: 1,530
Originally Posted by platbrownguy
Also if you don't want to call, just send a DM on Twitter w/ the PNR and pax info and tell them you need it ticketed and ask whether they can push it through. I've never had them say no.
Although in my attempts to deal with it I had one agent tell me that she resubmitted the ticket and then she thought that might actually end up taking it out of its place in the queue and putting it at the back, thus having the opposite of the intended effect. No idea how much truth there is to this, but wanted to share.
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Old Jan 21, 2023, 6:21 am
  #163  
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Live: PWM/KBXM/BGR; Work: DCA/DFW/Everywhere; Play: LAS/MUC/MLE
Programs: AA EXP, DL PM, Hyatt Glob, Marriott Ambassador/LTP, Nat'l Exec Elite, mlife Noir, LEYE Gold
Posts: 6,631
Originally Posted by sxpsxpsxp
Although in my attempts to deal with it I had one agent tell me that she resubmitted the ticket and then she thought that might actually end up taking it out of its place in the queue and putting it at the back, thus having the opposite of the intended effect. No idea how much truth there is to this, but wanted to share.
Yeah you don't want resubmit, you want manually pushing it through
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Old Jan 23, 2023, 7:53 pm
  #164  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 21
Originally Posted by fishinggal
How long should I continue to wait for an award booking to go from "on request" to ticketed?

Last September I used my AA miles and booked a flight from the US to Nairobi, Kenya. The flights were on Alaska, American Air and British Airways. These flights ticketed within hours of booking them. In December the Alaska flights changed times and could no longer make the connection work for the AA flight. I received a message to call and discuss options. I called and the agent was helpful in figuring out a new route that now includes AA and BA. I was told it would ticket within 24 hours. It's 3 weeks later and it still hasn't ticketed. I have called twice and been told that everything is fine and I'm in the queue for ticketing and it will happen eventually. I'm worried I've fallen out of the queue and when I expressed my concern to the agent on this last call she said, "these award bookings can take months to ticket." That sounds ridiculous to me and I don't want to make too many nonrefundable plans in Kenya and find out I can't go. The trip is not until June, but I'd like to have the flights confirmed well before then.

Any advice on what to say or who to talk to at AA or stories where it really did take months but everything worked out would be great. Thanks!

Update: My booking ticketed after 24 days. Yay! It finally went through without me calling again. Thanks for all the advice!
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Old Jan 26, 2023, 10:32 am
  #165  
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: sdf
Programs: HHonors Gold/AAdvantage /Delta Skymiles
Posts: 248
On request ticket

Anyone know how long an on request ticket should take to process?
The BA portion of my award ticket has been on request for over 3 weeks now. Is this normal, and is there a chance it wont clear?
gnggng is offline  

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