In light of the downgrade in the OW policy on interlining for separate tickets, I need to learn a bit more about the process for adding multiple bookings (ticket numbers) on a single PNR. With the OW changes, it seem multiple ticket numbers on a single PNR is still protected. As such:

1) How can multiple bookings (ticket numbers) be added to a single PNR?

2) Who is responsible or able to do this?

3) Are travel agents or those with access to a GDS the only ones who are able to do this? Or can you buy two tickets directly from the airline/s and get the numbers to "sit" in the same PNR?

Looks like only TAs can do this... But only if its 'live'. Which means you cannot add a segment booked on one reservation to add to another. They can only note that there is a booking as an info segment. So the preceeding airline may only see the booking...

Note that just because its in the booking does not necessarily mean that the airline will honor the interline agreement.

eg

BA 1234 LHR-FCO (booked elsewhere)
AA 1233 FCO-NYC

If the BA segment is added to AA's booking (in this case, anyone with Sabre/Abacus), AA can see BA's segment. But BA can't unless you add BA's segment with AA's booking info. But in any case, if BA sees that the segment is not 'live' they may still refuse to do the interline.

I am a TA with a GDS. What are your flights? Maybe i can look at it. Send me a PM.

Am pretty sure that the airlines will only honour it when it is booked 'live' as a single PNR.

Merely noting a connection will do nothing

Alas end on end ticketing with one side being an award flight is the goal that is likely to never be reached. I have had a TA add the connecting AA flight (ticket) to a CX ticket where I didn't want issues with mis-connects. Both tickets were purchased as one transaction. If priced as one ticket, the cost would have been astronomical due to standard fare class used in conjunction with premium long haul flights.

Oh well, being retired means overnight stops are useful...

Happy wandering

Fred

This is what the stupid people at OW don't realize -- the vast majority of cases are people combining longhaul itineraries and regional connecting flights. Why should I pay $$ to fly the longhaul connection on a OW carrier if they can't seamlessly connect me onto the regional flight? I may as well fly somebody else (almost certainly with better service, and probably at a better price) and then make the regional connection. Very short-sighted and cheap on the part of OW members.

The key here seems to be the concept of "live" bookings.

How does the fare rules of each segment interact in a live booking?

Is this where the concept of Flight application, Combination and Transfers come into play?

Are there rules in cheap fares, which prevent combination/transfers, that forces a higher fare when booked on the same PNR?

No, multiple tickets can be issued in a PNR. The rules of one ticket have no effect whatsoever on any other ticket in the booking, so you could have all kinds of rules, but applicable only to the sectors that the separate ticket covers.

Maybe think of a PNR as a shopping basket. All your products are in there, but your bread doesn't go bad at the same time as your milk... Now, if you buy a promo; buy milk, get bread free - you can't get money back for the bread later on. But that doesn't affect your bananas...

The only thing that can affect separate tickets, same PNR, is if married segment logic is applied to sectors that are booked separately. AA is 'good' at this - book two flights separately, AA will marry them, even if no preferential availability was used. This can cause issues with ticketing and changes.

Thank you JAXBA. Good explanation!

If I book a QR J online during one of their promos, can I go to a TA and have them add a domestic AA Y leg from my city to the QR gateway as separate tickets but on the same PNR? Same way, can a TA add another leg on a third OW carrier from the QR final destination to another intra-asia destination on the same PNR that QR gave me? I wonder if a TA will be able to do it. Just to be clear, I'll be happy to compensate the TA (or the airline) for their services if they can do this. I just don't want to lug around my luggage in the airports, and go through passport control or visas just for the connection in a foreign country. I Thanks for any insights the experts can provide.

EDIT: If I want to combine a regular QR fare (I can see the fare basis on ITA) with a domestic AA leg in the UA, or an intra-asia UL leg, can a TA combine them in the same PNR? If the fare basis allows end-on-end connections, this should make the ticket price astronomical right?

My TA in CMB finds my communications sometimes educational. The discussion of no through checking here was far in advance of the TAs being informed. That and some occasional business mean I get prompt replies to my emails to her.

Buy your sale long haul fare and the connecting flights at the same time from a TA, who will combine them into a single PNR. Separate tickets allow for separate fare rules. Or to put it another way, I can buy an E or R class PEY ticket transPacific with CX and combine with Q class (rather than H or K if purchased via CX) flights on AA to get to my local USA destination. The idea is that the single PNR permits through checking under the new rules from the SE Asia end. And at a reasonable price.

Happy wandering

Fred

And also, a TA is unlikely to be able to access a booking made directly with an airline, as they wouldn't have the permissions - they can only view bookings they the TA have made, plus any they've been given access to. Now QR could possibly sell you a separate AA ticket in the same PNR that you made with them online - but I'm not sure if they would want to, or if they would do it, if they could do it over the phone or only at certain locations.

For BA PNRs, I know that an extra ticket can be added, but only at airport locations; a telephone booking would require a new PNR.

Seems to me that QR agents are too timid to do anything 'creative'.

NO.

If you must book, you must do everything through one PNR, so it means that you'd have to go through a TA who may issue several tickets on one major reservation number.

If you book online, there is no way anyone (including QR themselves) to add another sector in.
Nothing to do with the agents. They are limited to what they can do on their own CRS.

Thanks everyone for the informative responses.

I spoke to an agent to get a bid for a SLC - ORD on AA Y, and ORD - DOH - XXX in QR J as a single reservation - a single PNR with two separate tickets, because I don't want QR to price the entire trip as one ticket which costs an additional $700 since the QR fare for SLC - ORD is in AA F.

The TA says the single reservation will still be two PNRs if there are two separate tickets priced separately and added in a single reservation. I think something is lost in translation between me and him. Is he talking about the internal record locator for the other airline if the flight is on two different airlines? Is it the same as "two PNRs"?

What I want is to add a domestic AA Y leg to a QR R fare which allows end-on-end connections, but I want it as a single reservation so that I can through check the bags and have protection if the flights misconnect.

What would be the right terminology to communicate with the TA so that there's no ambiguity?

Btw, are there any good TAs that any of you can recommend in this situation? I understand it might be considered advertising and prohibited to post in the thread. But if allowed by this site, I'd welcome a PM. Thanks.