kappa

I know the alpha/numerics below it are what I call a Record Locator. But does each letter represent a different word; or does NR mean Number, as it usually does in Europe?

indogulf

i was once told it stands for Passenger Numerical Record but i'm not too sure if that is correct.

essnetially it is an alphanumeric file number which allows the airline to access your reservation easily.

A Flygirl

PNR stands for Passenger Name Record but is not a universal acronynm (sp?) for all airlines. This is the file nestled in the computer system that gives an agent all your booking information, special requests, status and any special handling information; to list some of the content of this file.

ozstamps

On both CO and United I have heard agents use the terms interchangeably. i.e. F6H82L is called a pnr by some and a reloc by others, but both are the one thing - your flight record for one complete ITINERARY.

Maybe as Flygirl says, other arlines might have different terms.

Rudi

For long-haule journeys (rtw, etc) I always ask my local StarAlliance people (they are all together at the LH-office in ZRH) to please make a print-out of my PNR for that upcoming journey. Sometimes, I may also ask 'en-route' at an airline-lounge for an updated new print-out.

It contains also the latest status of my upgrade-requests (when my ticket shows only an eco-fare/seat, the PNR shows the upgraded bus/first fare and the bus/first-seat). It also contains the hotels I am staying at (to be contacted before my next flight if this one should be late/cancelled/changed).

A Flygirl

Rudi, thanks for fleshing out my answer. The PNR has your entire travel itinerary, all contact numbers registered (home, office, hotel) and other information.

As flight crew this information has proven to be valuable on occasion. Twice in the past year I have been able to return customer passports, left in a seat pocket, by accessing this file to contact them and arrange a delivery to return the passports.

Ozstamps, the locator number just gives information about the present itinerary that you are travelling under when a particular booking is made but the PNR gives information that is permanently kept on your file and can be pulled up every time you book or check in for a flight.

Dalguy

Working for both NW and AA, the PNR was called a Passenger Name Record, another name for it is the Record Locator, or as most of you will call it a "Confirmation Number". Personally I always tell my passengers - Reservations Code.

IT ONLY has information about the reservation it was created for. It does not have any information in it except what was put in it by your travel agent and any airline personnel that may have helped you out by checking you in. It does not have a complete record of all your personal information.

With AA your personal information is kept in what is called a Star File associated with your Frequent Flier number and also in a special tracking system just for AAdvantage, NW keeps it in another similar file, but is just really called a Frequent Flyer profile.

These are in no way related to a PNR, except that it is possible to PULL the information from your Frequent Flyer profile and automatically update or create a reservation. This is why many telephone agents will simply ask for an advantage number instead of a name when making a new reservation.

JRF

Hmmmm, who to believe. It would be nice if answers were the same and not so conflicting.

violist

The only evidence I see here is that NW's and AA's computer systems behave differently from those of UA. No contradictory testimony. I'm trying to think back on the time I saw a CRT with my trip's PNR displayed (this was on a tour of a UA reservations facility; I don't think they - officially at least - allow this any more) ... it had my MP status (the famous dollar-sign surrounded field), upgrade status, and I believe there was a field for meal requests. As well as bunches of other stuff; I don't recall a contact number field, but whenever I offer an en route number to an agent, it does get typed in SOMEWHERE.

JRF

Sorry, I will read a little closer next time, I failed to realise that the benchmarking was between different airlines and made the mistake of assuming all airlines would treat PNR the same. I wonder which airlines keep perminent records in PNRs and which don't.

greg99

This is what I've been told long in the past, so you can take it for what it's worth.

The structure of the system with PNR's holding all of the different information in/on it is a refugee from the days before computers at the airline offices. My understanding is that at that time they used file cards of some sort on which the reservation information was written/typed. The card was known as the Passenger Name Record.

Each of these cards (PNR's) had to have some sort of code so that it could be filed and retrieved by the people in the office. That code became known as the "record locator," which makes sense. Given the number of cards a major airline like TWA or Pan Am must have had in their New York reservations offices, they must have desperately needed help locating the things.

As I recall, at least on UA's Apollo for travel agents, there are 4 things that must be in the record - Name, Passenger telephone contact number, Name of the agent who made the reservation and the date that the reservation is expected to be ticketed. Everything else, which can be a lot if your corporate travel agency has a profile established for your company and a profile for you, the individual traveler, is optional. Even (on Apollo) the flights are optional. You can have a whole slew of different contact numbers, including one for each city. My experience, however, is that UA will only call the first number on the list regardles of which numbers are flagged for which cities. Because of that, I always make sure my cell phone number is first when I'm roaming around the US, b/c I know I'll at least have that phone with me, and I'm more likely to get it there than having to call in for my voice mail at the office all the time.

The PNR's, though, are tied to actual reservations. If you travel on all the segments, or there are no segments in the record, the record will get swept out of active visibility on the system. Clearly they get retained somewhere deep in Tulsa, Minneapolis, etc., but the average agent can't see them. So if some agent puts something nasty in your PNR, it wouldn't be there forever. Your travel agent could put something nasty in your profile, but that would be silly. I don't actually know how the profiles that UA is supposed to keep for premiers actually works, b/c I've never had them figure out that I like an aisle seat, regardless that I've told them in the different forms they send over the years.

In answer to JRF's conspiracy theories, even paranoids have enemies sometimes. This just talks about what information is available in the actual PNR. There's plenty of other information available to airport/CTO agents just by looking elsewhere, like the FF account, like Dalguy says. I've never been an airline employee, so I don't know how much or how difficult it is to see it.

Phew, that was longer than I expected.

Greg


[This message has been edited by greg99 (edited 07-30-2000).]

JRF

greg99, thanks, that is helpful.

kappa

Thanks to all of you. I wonder if AA will print out a PNR record? I will ask at the Admirals Club on my next flight.

MRKEY

Can a PNR be pulled up on AA flights and Iberia flights bought on AA tickets from last June or are they purged from the system? I am stll trying to re-cover lost miles on Iberia .I have no PNR for these flghts, but a LHR-MAD segment was posted and they where all purchased at the same time. Please help!

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MRKEY

Non-NonRev

Correct. There are certainly differences in a PNR generated by the airline directly, than a record generated by a (corporate) travel agency. I believe all of the US Domestic CRS/GDS systems work on a similar premise. For aMaDEUS, which I am somewhat familiar with, the agent uses automated macros and pre-stored profile information to build much of the PNR. Associated automation products can be used to check the record for compliance with corporate travel policy rules and regulations.

The macros can also be used to insert "default" text blocks to be printed on the invoice, such as reminders to reconfirm intl. reservations, the toll-free telephone number for an after-hours "hotline" service, and a general thank you message. Finally, there are cryptic entries in the record that are meaningful to the "back office" accounting system that the corporate agencies use to produce travel information and compliance reports (which the corporations use, among other purposes, when negotiating preferred vendor relationships and discounts).