Airline ticket

An airline ticket is a document or electronic record, issued by an airline or a travel agency, that confirms that an individual is entitled to a seat on a flight on an aircraft. The airline ticket may be one of two types: a paper ticket, which comprises coupons or vouchers; and an electronic ticket (commonly referred to as an e-ticket).

The ticket, in either form, is required to obtain a boarding pass during check-in at the airport. Then with the boarding pass and the attached ticket, the passenger is allowed to board the aircraft.

General
An air ticket consists of one or more flight coupons and several vouchers: the audit coupon that the airline receives for its bookkeeping, the agent coupon retained by the issuing office, and the passenger receipt given to the passenger along with the flight coupons and the passenger ticket Whereabouts of the passenger is determined.

Each flight coupon is issued for exactly one flight segment (flight segment). Example: a ticket for flights from Munich to Honolulu with the routes Munich-Frankfurt, Frankfurt-Los Angeles, Los Angeles-Honolulu are thus three tickets (flight segments).

Tickets are only available before departure and not during a flight. A ticket is exchanged at the check-in counter for a boarding pass, boarding card. The retained ticket will be sent to the airline for settlement.

Until the introduction of electronic tickets in 1994, tickets were issued on paper. Today, paper tickets are rarely issued except in rare cases, such as power outages, system downtime, and trips involving more than 16 segments supported by electronic tickets.

Details
Regardless of the type, all tickets contain the following information:

The passenger’s name.
The issuing airline.
A ticket number, including the airline’s 3 digit code at the start of the number.
The cities the ticket is valid for travel between.
Flight that the ticket is valid for. (Unless the ticket is “open”)
Baggage allowance. (Not always visible on a printout but recorded electronically for the airline)
Fare. (Not always visible on a printout but recorded electronically for the airline)
Taxes. (Not always visible on a printout but recorded electronically for the airline)
The “Fare Basis”, an alpha or alpha-numeric code that identifies the fare.
Restrictions on changes and refunds. (Not always shown in detail, but referred to).
Dates that the ticket is valid for.
“Form of payment”, i.e., details of how the ticket was paid for, which will in turn affect how it would be refunded.
The Rate of Exchange used to calculate any international parts of the fare and tax.
A “Fare Construction” or “Linear” showing the breakdown of the total fare.
Times on airline tickets are generally for the local time zone where the flight will be at that moment.

Issuing air ticket
A revenue passenger on an airline must hold a valid issued ticket. In order for a ticket to be issued, there are two distinct process:

Reservation
A reservation for an itinerary is made in the airline system, either directly with the airline of by an agent. The itinerary includes all the above details needed for the issuance of an air ticket, except the ticket number.

When the reservation the made, a passenger name record (PNR) will be created which is used to manage the reservation and check in. It is possible to have multiple passengers in a single passenger name record.

Issuance
Having a reservation does not entitle the passenger to travel. Only when the airline receives the payment, a ticket is issued which is linked to the reservation which allows the passenger to travel.

Traditionally, reservation and payment are separate steps, which the time between them are defined in the fare rules when the reservation is made. However, it is more common to require immediate payment on online booking systems.

Each passenger must hold his/her own air ticket, as shown by an individual ticket number, even when the reservations are linked by a single PNR.

Replacement of paper tickets
IATA announced that as of June 1, 2008, IATA-member airlines will no longer issue any paper tickets.

A ticket is generally only good on the airline for which it was purchased. However, an airline can endorse the ticket, so that it may be accepted by other airlines, sometimes on standby basis or with a confirmed seat. Usually the ticket is for a specific flight. It is also possible to purchase an ‘open’ ticket, which allows travel on any flight between the destinations listed on the ticket. The cost for doing this is greater than a ticket for a specific flight. Some tickets are refundable. However, the lower cost tickets are usually not refundable and may carry many additional restrictions.

The carrier is represented by a standardized 2-letter code. In the example above, Thai Airways is TG. The departure and destination cities are represented by International Air Transport Association airport codes. In the example above, Munich is MUC and Bangkok is BKK. The International Air Transport Association is the standard setting organization.

Only one person can use a ticket. If multiple people are traveling together, the tickets are linked together by the same record locator or reservation number, which are assigned, if the tickets were purchased at the same time. If not, most airlines can cross-reference the tickets together in their reservation systems. This allows all members in a party to be processed in a group, allowing seat assignments to be together (if available at the time of the assignment)

Resale
When paper tickets were still frequently used, a practice existed by travellers to get rid of their tickets (which are person-specific), when they decided to alter the course of their trips. This practice consisted of selling the ticket to other travellers (often at discount prices), after which the seller accompanied the buyer at the time of departure to the airport. Here, the original owner checked in under his name and provided the airline with the buyer’s baggage. After this, the buyer boarded the airplane at the moment of departure. However, since most airlines check identification on boarding, this procedure is rarely functional. The practice of using another person’s ticket is illegal in many jurisdictions.

Paper ticket
Types of Paper Tickets
There were three types of paper tickets accepted by IATA:

Manually completed tickets
TAT tickets, tickets created with a printer
ATB tickets (Automated Ticket and Boarding), with magnetic stripes
On May 24, 2006, IATA decided that as of January 1, 2008, no standard paper documents will be issued and settled worldwide. Excluded are ATB tickets with machine-readable magnetic stripes, in which both booking and check-in information can be stored.

Included data
Tickets recognized by IATA must include this information:

Such a ticket contains a separate flight coupon with u. a. following data:

the title, first and last name of the passenger
the route
the booked calendar date
the booking class
Information on the airfare and on flight taxes (air traffic control fees, airport taxes, government fees, aviation tax)
the issue date
the issuing office (eg IATA agency)
the number of the ticket
the validity period
Endorsement Information: if this ticket can still be changed after the exhibition (route, date etc.)
the payment method (cash, credit card, mco)
Fields for the number of checked baggage items and their weight
The first three digits of a ticket number indicate for which airline this ticket was issued. This 3-digit number is given by IATA and is called IATA prefix. Magnetic-stripe tickets contained multiple copies for check-in, airline management, the issuing travel agent, and the passenger.

Electronic Ticket
In the course of the technical development since the 1990s (electronic data processing, Internet) a ticket as a paper document for the proof of a promotion right today, at least for most European airlines unnecessary, since this proof of the passenger by naming a personal booking number assigned to him (Booking code) in combination with the presentation of his ID card or his used for the booking credit card. Due to the electronic data storage of passenger data (Passenger Name Record) is possible with many airlines even without booking code a call of the booking in the system of the respective airline. A pioneer in flying without a paper ticket was United Airlines, which offered electronic tickets for the first time in 1994. “Etix” means the electronic ticket procedure of the German Lufthansa AG and is protected by this trademark. For other airlines, the process is simply called “electronic ticket”.

Even before the abolition of paper tickets in 2008, the share of electronic tickets for bookings increased from 16% in June 2004 to 84% in 2007. In 2014, the proportion of paper tickets was only 0.1%.

Other ticket forms
Chartertickets made of paper were used by tour operators, eg. As TUI or Alltours issued and were usually part of a whole package of rights, which also Rail & Fly / train to the flight tickets, the hotel reservation, a transfer from the airport to the hotel or z. B. car rental reservations could contain. These tickets were not subject to the IATA regulations and therefore contained significantly less information, mostly only:

Name of the passenger
flight number
Flight date and time
flight route
Name of the tour operator
Since the introduction of electronic tickets in the charter sector and in many low-cost airlines usually the booking confirmation is a ticket. In addition, the reservation code, file key and transaction number are listed here. The reason for the procedure, which was first introduced in the charter flight sector at the end of 2004, was in particular the cost savings due to the lower procedure costs for travel agency and ground personnel. In order to reduce or even eliminate personnel costs in this area, many airlines have granted discounts to passengers as an incentive to use the ticketless process.

Price
The price of a plane ticket varies greatly depending on the destination, the date of departure, the airline, the airport of departure and arrival of the chosen flight. A significant part of the price of the air ticket corresponds to the different airport taxes. The rest depends on the price of fuel, as well as the services on board. Thus, for low cost flights, services are reduced to a minimum, which explains the reduced price of low-cost airline tickets.

Generally, the airline ticket in paper form contains the various information of the corresponding flight (departure and arrival airports, departure and arrival times, flight number…)

Conditions
A plane ticket is actually a real contract of carriage. However the obligations of the carrier are only to take the passenger and his luggage from a starting point to a designated point of arrival; but the carrier does not commit to the following points：
the type of aircraft is not guaranteed, the carrier can replace it without notice
there may be a subcontracting of the flight or part of the flight by another company
the carrier does not commit to an exact date, the flight may be delayed for technical reasons or over-booking
there is no commitment on the number of steps
an airline ticket is nominative and non-transferable.

Types of air tickets
Domestic flight tickets and international tickets
Air tickets include domestic flight tickets and international flight tickets, and international flight tickets are subject to international conventions such as the Warsaw Convention and the Montreal Agreement.

Classification by form of aviation travel
Forms of air travel for determining fares are mainly classified into the following five types.

One way, OW
Round Trip (RT)
The round-trip in this case means that the fare amounts on the outward route and the return route are the same, and the respective routes are not always the same.
Circle Trip (CT)
Circumference in this case refers to the case where the fare for the outgoing and return passes are different.
Open Jaw (Open Jaw, OJ)
In a round-trip or round trip, either one of the departure place and the arrival place, or both are different travels.
Round the World Trip (RTW)
It refers to a trip that goes through the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean once and then returns to the departure point by eastward or westward. A dedicated air fare is set. For details, please refer to the round-the-world ticket.
Purchase of tickets
Ticketing of air tickets
Air tickets are issued not only by airlines but also by travel agencies. Where it was issued is stated on the ticket face of the air ticket. In case of ordinary fare, you do not necessarily need to reserve a use flight at the time of purchase (it is possible to issue an open ticket), but for most discount air tickets you have to purchase a return trip flight after booking it (round trip FIX Obligation).

In some airlines outside of Japan, there are cases where contracts with a Japanese travel agency are directly entrusted to tickets without passing through BSP JAPAN. Since domestic and international flights are contracted and authorized by designating shops, even the same travel agency has shops that can issue tickets and shops that can not be done.

In recent years, with the spread of the Internet reservation system, ATB tickets are issued at the time of check-in at the airport to be described later or even switched to an electronic air ticket, and paper tickets are lost at a travel agency.

When using domestic domestic flights, it was mostly the case that airline tickets were purchased by checking vacancy status at travel agencies and airline business offices, but in Japan airlines since around 2002 Internet reservation and settlement on the airline website is starting to be expanded, and in this case it is possible to use “ticketless service” in which air tickets are not issued.

* In this case, payment means, like some high-speed buses, pay the fare at the convenience store after reservation, if substitute airline tickets are issued for reserve printed from the checkout, or if you choose to pay by credit card, boarding In the case of entering a reservation number at the airport counter or check-in machine on the day of the day, or by inserting the used credit card into the check-in machine at the time of reservation / purchase, etc., it may take the form of receiving the air ticket and boarding pass Many. Just in case it is good to print the reservation screen.
Regarding international flight tickets from Japan, the case where it purchased at a travel agency or a sales office of an airline company in the past was mainstream, but recently airlines including major players have gained power to ticketless service sale of Internet reservation We put in a fee so that there is a little cheaper there until we introduce ticketing fee etc. The ticketless discount of the domestic flight of major Japanese airlines ended with the 30th September 2007 boarding and was abolished. It applies to most fares that can be booked on the website, even if it is a discount fare, 2% discount was applied moreover.

Ticketing fee etc.
In recent years, airline companies that collect ticketing fees are increasing when reserving, changing, issuing tickets, etc. by an airline company city counter, airport counter, call center, etc. manned channel. In Japan, Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airlines collects ticketing fees when making reservations for international passenger customers through the above (free for domestic flights). Even on domestic routes in Japan, cheap airlines often collect booking fees, payment fees, seat designated fees, etc. Many companies in the world airlines also collect fees as well.

Also, many companies that collect the ticketing fee set by the travel agency even when booking and issuing tickets at a travel agency after abolishing (commissioning) the sales commission paid by the airline to the travel agency.

Air fares / charges
When purchasing an air ticket, pay the tax, such as consumption tax and immigration tax, in addition to the air fare (except for a free ticket or an award ticket). In addition, airport usage fee (passenger service facility usage fee, passenger security service fee etc.), air insurance fee, fuel surcharge special fare (fuel surcharge) and air insurance special fee may be required. However, in many cases, taxes, fees, etc. are incorporated in air fares for their equivalent amounts.

Effectiveness of tickets

Ticket validity period
The ticket is validated by stamping the validator (valid stamp) of the issuing airline company or its agency.

In the case of ordinary fare tickets, if there is no reservation for domestic flights in Japan, the expiration date is 90 days from the day following ticketing date. However, as discount fares such as “Early Budget” and “Specific Flight” are applied along with the liberalization of air fares, only that flight / seat is valid.

In addition, in the case of reservationless tickets issued (OPEN tickets), international fare tickets are valid for one year starting from the day following the ticket issuance date. However, in the case of applying a discount fare also on that flight or seat In addition, it may be effective, furthermore the minimum necessary number of days of travel and the maximum number of days may be determined. Group fare tickets and round-trip fare tickets have validity periods of several months or weeks.

For most cheap airline tickets, change reservation, stopover (stopover, stay in cities other than the destination for more than 24 hours), open jaws (make one of the departure / arrival places or both different routes ) And so on.

In the case of cheaper tickets, it is not a direct flight but a use of a transfer flight (in the case of heading from Europe to Europe, it will be a connection in Seoul, Hong Kong, Moscow etc.), it takes more time than a normal direct flight, The waiting time of the transfer may be extremely long.

Change etc.
What is described below is general handling of airline companies in cases arising from self-circumstances other than diseases. In the case of booking and issuing a ticket by a travel agency, there may be cases where it follows the agreement specified by a travel agency and a travel agent agency. In addition, when it is caused by force majeure such as bad weather, volcanic eruption, earthquake, etc., due to airlines such as equipment malfunction etc. Handling differs from the following and it is likely to be handled on a case by case, so in this case, Please contact the airline or travel agency you purchased (eg traffic paralysis due to the eruption of Eya Fayatra York in 2010, battery problems of the Boeing 787, Flex Travelerer system, etc.).

Change
There are fares for which reservations can be changed and fares for which reservation can not be changed. Even a reservation changeable fare may require a reservation change fee or exchange issuance fee. There are also airline tickets that can change reservation only for return flights even if you can not change reservations for outbound flights.

Refund
For international tickets, in case of accepting only the higher fee of the cancellation fee and refund fee, or if it is a bundled fee, there are some tickets that can not be refunded, so check the provision of refund for each fare I want to wish. Some airlines also offer refunds for mileage points, coupons and spot benefits, among other cheap airlines.

If you purchase a ticket with a credit card, it will be refunded through the credit card company, but otherwise it depends on the airline’s decision, the place of payment and the method of payment. In many cases it is direct deposit transfer, but in some cases you can only refund at airport counter or branch office. Costs for refunds, such as transfer fees and transportation expenses, are often borne by you. Depending on the method of payment, such as gift cards such as travel tickets, refunds may not be available in some cases.

Please note that the refund period is often predetermined in advance.

Source from Wikipedia