May 23, 2015, 1:10 pm
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.
*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.
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)
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
Ticket or Award status: On Hold, On Request, Pending, Purchased and Ticketed
Nov 29, 2023, 3:56 pm
#211
Join Date: Nov 2019
Posts: 2
Partner award flight still on request after 2 weeks
I have a flight from SEA => MAD in February next year which has 2 connections. 2 of the legs are on AA (first/business), and the final leg is on BA (business). I have a 6 digit confirmation from both AA and BA for this flight. When I called to check on the status, they said they probably won't be able to confirm until January. Over chat, they said I should give it another 2 weeks. From previous threads, it seems like this isn't too unusual, but it does worry me that the award space could disappear before it can get ticketed. Also, it's concerning that the miles aren't deducted at time of booking, and I didn't receive any email confirmation of the purchase price. Just wanted to check if this is something to worry about.
Nov 29, 2023, 4:48 pm
#212
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
The award space can't disappear.
From the sheer volume of posts about this I think it's safe to say that it's common and nothing to worry about. There is a lot of complaining about this but no reports of award space disappearing.
From the sheer volume of posts about this I think it's safe to say that it's common and nothing to worry about. There is a lot of complaining about this but no reports of award space disappearing.
Nov 30, 2023, 10:01 am
#213
Join Date: May 2006
Location: SAN
Programs: Lots of faux metal
Posts: 6,425
I have a flight from SEA => MAD in February next year which has 2 connections. 2 of the legs are on AA (first/business), and the final leg is on BA (business). I have a 6 digit confirmation from both AA and BA for this flight. When I called to check on the status, they said they probably won't be able to confirm until January. Over chat, they said I should give it another 2 weeks. From previous threads, it seems like this isn't too unusual, but it does worry me that the award space could disappear before it can get ticketed. Also, it's concerning that the miles aren't deducted at time of booking, and I didn't receive any email confirmation of the purchase price. Just wanted to check if this is something to worry about.
Nov 30, 2023, 10:44 am
#214
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
Your credit card won't be charged until it's ticketed.
Nov 30, 2023, 10:52 am
#215
Join Date: May 2006
Location: SAN
Programs: Lots of faux metal
Posts: 6,425
It should show a pending charge. The pending charge will turn into an actually charge at ticketing. I just went through this multiple times recently. However, the pending could have dropped off based on the amount of time OP says has passed. If they don't remember seeing a pending charge, then they should call AA and ask if the card information is correct.
Nov 30, 2023, 10:54 am
#216
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
It should show a pending charge. The pending charge will turn into an actually charge at ticketing. I just went through this multiple times recently. However, the pending could have dropped off based on the amount of time OP says has passed. If they don't remember seeing a pending charge, then they should call AA and ask if the card information is correct.
Nov 30, 2023, 11:10 am
#217
Join Date: Mar 2019
Programs: AA EXP and Marriott Titanium
Posts: 776
This is my experience as well. I just ticketed a bunch of AA partner awards and none of them charged my card (or authorised it) until the ticket had been issued.
Dec 5, 2023, 7:25 am
#218
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: London/JAX
Programs: DL PM, BA Gold, UA Silver, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Gold, Radisson Premium, Global Entry, CLEAR
Posts: 872
Booked an OSL-JAX RT through AA a few hours ago for next Friday. OSL-LHR and LHR-OSL are BA metal, LHR-MIA-JAX-DFW-LHR all AA metal. When I pull up the reservation on aa.com, it initially shows ticket status as on request but then the whole layout of the page changes before I can click on the on request thing and when the layout changes it just changes to pending. Is this normal to happen and if so how long should it take before it gets ticketed? Only reason I'm a little worried is because I also have an EWR-CLT-JAX later this month with AA that I booked awhile ago now but I booked that one, and it showed pending for like a day after booking so I called in and turns out something was wrong on their end and their system initially wasn't taking my credit card until an agent completely wiped all the info in there and tried again, then finally went through and came up as ticketed. I've taken a few AA flights since that happened with no issue, but just want to make sure I don't run into trouble again so I can catch it early before I pull up to the airport with a bad ticket.
Dec 8, 2023, 8:45 am
#219
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: London/JAX
Programs: DL PM, BA Gold, UA Silver, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Gold, Radisson Premium, Global Entry, CLEAR
Posts: 872
Booked an OSL-JAX RT through AA a few hours ago for next Friday. OSL-LHR and LHR-OSL are BA metal, LHR-MIA-JAX-DFW-LHR all AA metal. When I pull up the reservation on aa.com, it initially shows ticket status as on request but then the whole layout of the page changes before I can click on the on request thing and when the layout changes it just changes to pending. Is this normal to happen and if so how long should it take before it gets ticketed? Only reason I'm a little worried is because I also have an EWR-CLT-JAX later this month with AA that I booked awhile ago now but I booked that one, and it showed pending for like a day after booking so I called in and turns out something was wrong on their end and their system initially wasn't taking my credit card until an agent completely wiped all the info in there and tried again, then finally went through and came up as ticketed. I've taken a few AA flights since that happened with no issue, but just want to make sure I don't run into trouble again so I can catch it early before I pull up to the airport with a bad ticket.
Dec 8, 2023, 2:53 pm
#220
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,767
Last night I was very surprised that an AA metal only reservation was ticketed immediately after I held it for 4 days then went to ticket it. Never happened in the past even it would be all AA flights.
When I saw the status was ticketed, I could not believe it but lo and behold there is an email lust arrived the inbox.
One thing I definitely dont like the current website - there is no way to see ticket number like in the past there is a Print Receipt function. Now the only place the ticket number shows up is in the email. Though if it is partner award, you could see the ticket number from partners reservation page.
When I saw the status was ticketed, I could not believe it but lo and behold there is an email lust arrived the inbox.
One thing I definitely dont like the current website - there is no way to see ticket number like in the past there is a Print Receipt function. Now the only place the ticket number shows up is in the email. Though if it is partner award, you could see the ticket number from partners reservation page.
Dec 8, 2023, 3:43 pm
#221
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
Last night I was very surprised that an AA metal only reservation was ticketed immediately after I held it for 4 days then went to ticket it. Never happened in the past even it would be all AA flights.
When I saw the status was ticketed, I could not believe it but lo and behold there is an email lust arrived the inbox.
One thing I definitely dont like the current website - there is no way to see ticket number like in the past there is a Print Receipt function. Now the only place the ticket number shows up is in the email. Though if it is partner award, you could see the ticket number from partners reservation page.
When I saw the status was ticketed, I could not believe it but lo and behold there is an email lust arrived the inbox.
One thing I definitely dont like the current website - there is no way to see ticket number like in the past there is a Print Receipt function. Now the only place the ticket number shows up is in the email. Though if it is partner award, you could see the ticket number from partners reservation page.
Dec 8, 2023, 6:50 pm
#222
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: ROC
Programs: AA Exec Plat; NEXUS
Posts: 74
Last night I was very surprised that an AA metal only reservation was ticketed immediately after I held it for 4 days then went to ticket it. Never happened in the past even it would be all AA flights.
When I saw the status was ticketed, I could not believe it but lo and behold there is an email lust arrived the inbox.
One thing I definitely dont like the current website - there is no way to see ticket number like in the past there is a Print Receipt function. Now the only place the ticket number shows up is in the email. Though if it is partner award, you could see the ticket number from partners reservation page.
When I saw the status was ticketed, I could not believe it but lo and behold there is an email lust arrived the inbox.
One thing I definitely dont like the current website - there is no way to see ticket number like in the past there is a Print Receipt function. Now the only place the ticket number shows up is in the email. Though if it is partner award, you could see the ticket number from partners reservation page.
For the few trips that the "Print trip & receipt" actually still shows my info, I can still see our ticket numbers on that receipt when it opens in a separate window like usual.
I can also see our ticket numbers when I hover over the little "i" in the circle next to "Status: Ticketed" (above the royal blue "Change Trip" button in the left sidebar).
Dec 10, 2023, 10:17 pm
#223
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,767
For the few trips that the "Print trip & receipt" actually still shows my info, I can still see our ticket numbers on that receipt when it opens in a separate window like usual.
I can also see our ticket numbers when I hover over the little "i" in the circle next to "Status: Ticketed" (above the royal blue "Change Trip" button in the left sidebar).
I can also see our ticket numbers when I hover over the little "i" in the circle next to "Status: Ticketed" (above the royal blue "Change Trip" button in the left sidebar).
Dec 15, 2023, 7:38 am
#224
Join Date: Jun 1999
Location: NYC/LA
Programs: DL Plat, AA Plat Pro, Marriott Titanium, IHG Diamond Amb
Posts: 7,489
Will see how long it takes to go from On Request to ticketed!
Dec 15, 2023, 7:52 am
#225
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,496
I just had this happen yesterday on an award reservation with one segment on BA, one on AA-- no issue with holding the reservation, but I received an error message when trying to book it online. At first I tried to cancel the reservation, waited a minute for it to go back into inventory, and just tried to book right away. Oddly, when I hit submit with my credit card details, the page just reloaded. At that point I just put it on hold and called in to ticket.
Will see how long it takes to go from On Request to ticketed!
Will see how long it takes to go from On Request to ticketed!