Flight Booking Terminology: Essential Travel Definitions
Understanding Flight Booking Terminology
This document clarifies common terms used in airline travel and flight booking processes.
Seat Availability & Waitlists
Seat Availability refers to the number of seats available on a flight. If no seats are available, the class is said to be “sold out.” Often, when a class is sold out, seats may be placed on a waiting list (or waitlist) for that flight. If passengers with confirmed seats cancel their reservations, waitlisted seats may eventually be confirmed. This also relates to the pricing plan within a class.
Flight Connections: Layover vs. Stopover
Layover (Escala)
A layover is a connection (less than 24 hours) between two flights on one ticket. Example: New York – London via Frankfurt. The layover is in Frankfurt as you are just connecting.
Stopover
A stopover is a stop in a city that is not your final destination for more than 24 hours. Example: New York – San Francisco – Honolulu. If you spend more than 24 hours in San Francisco, it is considered a stopover (if it were less than 24 hours, it would be a layover).
Types of Travel Itineraries
Direct Flight
A direct flight describes a flight from A to B with the same flight number and no change of aircraft. It may have one or more stops. Compare this with a nonstop flight.
One-Way (OW)
A one-way (OW) itinerary is a trip in which the traveler will not return to the originating point. Example: LIS FRA.
Round Trip (RT)
A round trip (RT) involves travel from A to B and then back from B to A using the same fare basis code. This is a journey consisting of direct transportation from one point to another, returning to the point of origin. Example: LIS FRA LIS.
Open Jaw (OJ)
An open jaw (OJ) itinerary involves travel from A to B, then from C to A, with no air ticket from B to C. Usually, the distance BC must be less than both AB and CA (i.e., the part without the air ticket must be shorter than the shortest distance flown). This is a round trip with different departure and return points, or a circle trip with a surface portion at the outward destination or just before the return segment to the originating point. Example: LIS ROM // MIL LIS.
Passenger Name Record (PNR)
PNR: Passenger Name Record
A PNR, or Passenger Name Record, is a unique booking reference for your flight reservation.
Name Field in a PNR
The name field stores the names of all passengers traveling together on the same reservation. Names are grouped by surname, such as Smith, Brandt, and so forth. Each family name is stored in a separate name item. For example, assume two passengers, Mr. John Foxxe and Mr. Jason Trott, will travel together on the same itinerary. Both passengers can be included in the same booking file so that, when the reservation is complete, their tickets can be issued at the same time. In this example, the surnames Foxxe and Trott would constitute separate name items, as follows:
- 1FOXXE / JOHNMR
- 1TROTT / JASONMR
Example: Each Name Item is Numbered
The following titles are commonly used in passenger name entries:
- MR: Mr.
- MRS: Mrs.
- MS: Ms. (Female of unknown marital status)
- MSTR: Master (Male child)
- MISS: Miss (Unmarried female, or female child)
Review: Mandatory Booking File Fields
The five mandatory fields of a booking file are:
- Number of passengers and their names
- Contact telephone numbers
- Ticketing information
- Received-from information
- Itinerary
Quick Check: Key Booking Concepts
- Passenger names are grouped together by surname, such as Smith, Brandt, and so forth.
- The passenger data field contains information or advice about passenger ticketing.
- The Received-from field contains a record of the person who requested the service.
- The entry E is used to end a transaction.
- The entry *R is used to erase the work area without saving the current data.