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AA Ticketing Policy & Procedures

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Welcome to the American Airlines web pages for travel agents.

This page details American Airlines' policy & procedure with regard to Ticketing. Please use the links below to navigate to the topic of your choice, and the links on the right to return to the Homepage, or to navigate to other areas of the website.

Thank you for your continued support.

Revalidation Stickets No Longer Accepted

Travel agents are not permitted to use revalidation stickers for travel on AA.
All changes to AA tickets require reissuance to reflect the new flight details.
All applicable change fees and/or additional collections should be charged in the exchange/reissuance process.
Please note that E-ticket revalidation is not supported by AA.

Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

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American Airlines Ticketing Policy

AA is continually striving to improve the systems which it utilizes to provide availability on its flights. A key component of these systems ensure that passengers with discounted seats actually intend to travel. As a result, AA will continue to apply its long-standing policy of requiring tickets to be issued according to the fare rules applicable to the inventory booked.

AA implemented a firming system called SAGE. This improved firming system will scan all advanced bookings looking for unticketed records and queue those PNRs to you for action.

Therefore, it is pertinent that you check your queues on a regular basis otherwise your unticketed bookings may be cancelled.

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AA Ticketing Procedures

| Ticketing Time Limit Control | Duplicate Booking Control | How to Avoid Cancelled Segments or PNRs |

Ticketing Time Limit Control

For all PNRs that are ticketed, ticket numbers need to be attached to the PNR in either an OSI or SSR message.

Note: Many CRS do this for you automatically at time of ticketing
For more information about automated ticket numbers, please refer to your CRS 'ticketing help' references pages.
With this information we can more accurately forecast flights and predict passenger dependability. In turn, this will provide you and your clients with the following benefits:
- Increased ability to accommodate more passengers on their flight of first choice.
- A greater availability of discounted seats as they are opened up through cancellation.
- A reduction in clients who are inconvenienced in oversale situations.
In order to ensure that all passengers have the opportunity to book discounted fares, AA has developed a system which will identify PNRs on our more heavily booked flights which are booked in a fare class that requires an advance purchase, but for which we have not received ticket numbers.
This system places the following message asking for ticket numbers in the PNR:
SAGE AUTO-PROCESS
PLZ SSR TKTNMBR BY 2359/01AUG03 CST
AA FARE RULES STILL APPLY
If you receive this message in a PNR, please reply by either placing ticket numbers in an OSI or SSR message or by cancelling the space.

Please enter only 1 ticket number per OSI line in the PNR.
The only correct format for manually entered ticket numbers is an OSI or SSR message with the IATA standard format as follows:
TKNM 00145678911234 LAST NAME/FIRST NAME
TKNM is the only valid manual ticket keyword.
The ticket number is 14 digits which includes the check digit.
No dashes (-) or slashes (/) are permitted.
Ticket numbers not in this specific format will not be recognized and your space will be cancelled.
Doing so will improve your work environment through the elimination of non productive ticket number requests this system will generate and sendback to your office.
As your CRS develops the technology to place the ticket numbers in the PNR, when the tickets are driven, the need for you to do this will be eliminated. AA reserves the right to cancel space in discounted fare classes for which no ticket numbers are received following such a request.

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Duplicate Booking Control

Duplicate bookings for any passenger are not permitted and will be cancelled upon identification. The duplicate does not have to be booked by the same agency for it to be considered a duplicate. In cases where duplicates exist, the most recently booked PNR will be kept and all others cancelled. This includes sister cities such as LAX and SNA. You will be notified via your queue of any cancelled duplicate bookings.

If the system finds a duplicate domestic segment in a true booking, the oldest flight segment will be cancelled. You will be notified via your queue of any cancelled duplicate bookings.

This improved firming system will help to ensure that American Airlines inventory is available for customers truly intending to travel.

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How to Avoid Cancelled Segments or PNRs

To avoid cancellation of duplicate or unticketed space there are four rules to follow:

Follow the ticketing time limit rules
Include the correctly formatted ticket number in the PNR
Cancel any duplicate segments or bookings
Check your queues daily.

If you are issuing a manual ticket, send the ticket number in the SSR field of the PNR using the code /TKNM/ as outlined above.

For the correct format, please refer to your CRS 'ticketing help' pages.

AA is committed to providing the best possible product for our customers. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

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Flat Fee of USD50 For Ticketing Violations

For tickets issued on or after 1 Feb 98, AA issues a flat penalty of USD50 per ticket for ticketing violations. This penalty will recover the administrative cost of auditing and servicing debit memos issued with ticketing violations.

Ticketing violations reflect errors in ticket issuance and reporting, such as improper use of fare basis or ticket designator. In these instances, the correct fare has been collected,but the violation creates exception processing and drives additional cost for the airline. Currently these violations are repriced at the full Coach or First class fare and the debit memo is issued for the difference in the repriced versus reported value. These infractions will now be charged a ticketing violation penalty of USD50 rather than the difference.

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Exemption of domestic US tax by crossreferencing with an international ticket

Two domestic US taxes: US1 tax and ZP tax can be exempted on a domestic US ticket if the passenger has a separate international ticket.
It is necessary to crossreference the domestic and international tickets in order to exempt the tax. To do this please put the international ticket number in the endorsement box of the domestic ticket when issuing the domestic ticket.
If you issue a US domestic ticket and exempt the taxes without crossreferencing the international ticket an ADM will be raised for the amount of the taxes.
The US government mandates that the international ticket number must be on the face of the domestic ticket when issued in order to exempt the tax. Hence we are unable to reverse tax ADMs if the ticket number is supplied afterwords.
It the passenger had international travel to/from the US by ship, or on a US military transport aircraft rather than a international scheduled flight, it is also possible to exempt these taxes. In these cases please give details of the international travel (origin/destination and name of the ship or details of the military flight) in the endorsement field of the domestic ticket.

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Claim PNR

American Airlines participates in the claim PNR programme, which allows you to overtake or claim a PNR made by American Airlines on to your own set.

For formats on how to use claim PNR, please refer to

CRS	Entry
Amadeus	HERO
Galileo	H/CLAI
Worldspan	HELP CLAIM
Sabre	See your help pages

We would like to point out that occasionally you will not be able to claim a PNR, if for example it has been split, or it contains a name change, etc.

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Back-to-back Ticketing Policy

This is to clarify American Airlines' position on "back-to-back" ticketing.

Since passengers utilizing back-to-back tickets are not remaining at their original destination over the required Saturday night, but returning on a second ticket, the intent to circumvent our tariffs is clear, and may be construed as common law fraud. As such, passengers who attempt to use back-to-back tickets may be denied boarding, have the remainder of their ticket confiscated, and may be assessed the difference between the fare paid and the lowest applicable fare.

Restrictions on Back-to-back Ticketing Help

American offer frequent flights to Business travellers, and inexpensive travel to leisure travelers. Leisure travellers are willing to accept various kinds of restrictions, including nonrefundability, advance purchase and minimum stay requirements, in exchange for low prices. They then help fill the excess capacity that is a natural consequence of providing frequent service to fit the Business travellers needs. Without the ability to charge different fares to Leisure and Business travellers, American would not be able to offer as many flights.

In most cases the minimum stay requirement on discount fares is a Saturday night stay. This is intended to discourage use of the restricted fares by Business travellers since, in most cases, Business travellers prefer to get home quickly. indeed, part of the reason Business travelers like frequent flights is that frequent service increases a Business travelers ability to minimize overall travel time, and maximize time either at the office or at home. Leisure travellers, however, are choosing to spend their leisure time traveling, and frequently stay over a Saturday night.

Although the issuance and usage of back-to-back tickets is not illegal in the sense that one could be fined or sent to jail by the government, it is a breach of a passengers contract with AA. Both tariff rule 100AA and American's condition of carriage, which are incorporated into every ticket sold by American as part of our agreement to carry the passenger named on the ticket, bar back-to-back ticketing. In addition, it violates the agency's contract to act as an agent for American Airlines.

Achieving the correct proportion of passengers who purchase the higher unrestricted fares and those who purchase the lower discounted fares allows us to continue offering timely and frequent schedules with the type of service our frequent flyers desire and at a reasonable price. It also enables us to make airfares even more affordable for those who wish to travel for pleasure. Back-to-back ticketing upsets this balance and, if it is allowed to proliferate, will lead to higher airfares and less service for all.

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Hidden City Ticketing Policy

Additional Fare Collection Policy

Hidden city or point beyond ticketing utilizes a false origin or destination point to obtain a lower fare for an itinerary intended to be flown.

Below is an explanation of American airlines hidden city ticketing policy for agent and passenger reference :

"The ticket you have presented for transportation reflects an unauthorized fare. A false origin or destination point has been used in pricing your ticket, and the fare you have paid is less than the fare applicable to your actual travel plans. It is a violation of American's ticketing and tariffs regulations to travel on a ticket that contains a false origin or destination point. American Airlines policy prohibits the acceptance of your ticket as it does not reflect the correct fare for the travel you intend to take. You will be accommodated once the applicable fare is collected for your trip. You may apply any remaining value of this ticket to the applicable fare."

Clarification of American Airlines' Position on Hidden City or Point Beyond Ticketing.

Purchasing a ticket to a point beyond the actual destination and getting off the aircraft at the connecting point is unethical. It is tantamount to switching price tags to obtain a lower price on goods sold at department stores. Passengers who attempt to use hidden city tickets may be denied boarding, have the remainder of their ticket confiscated, and may be assessed the difference between the fare paid and the lowest applicable fare.

Because we compete with other airlines with different route structures, we sometimes find it necessary to give a traveller who is traveling beyond a connecting point a better price than travelers who are just traveling to the connecting point. For example, a passenger who is traveling to Austin, Texas, from Los Angeles can go on one airline via Phoenix for a price that is lower than the cost of travelling on American between Los Angeles and Dallas. If we want to offer the same price to Austin as the other airline, but the only way we can get travelers there is via Dallas, we find ourselves charging the Austin passengers less than the Dallas passengers.

Although the issuance and usage of hidden city tickets is not illegal in the sense that one could be fined or sent to jail by the government, it is unethical and a breach of a passengers contract with AA. Both tariff rule 100AA and American's condition of carriage, which are incorporated into every ticket sold by American as part of our agreement to carry the passenger named on the ticket, bar hidden city ticketing. In addition, it violates the agency's contract to act as an agent for American Airlines.

If American Airlines continues to lose revenue as a result of hidden city transactions, the fares we charge must inevitably rise.

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Credit Card Authorisation

Travel agents are required to obtain credit card issuer authorizations on all credit card sales. Additionally, agents must ensure that the authorization code appears on the ticket.

Recently, Mastercard has begun assessing merchants a USD50 fee for any transaction that does not contain a valid authorization. As a result, effective for tickets issued on/after 09 Dec 2002, AA will pass on this fee to travel agents, in the form of a debit memo, for each mastercard transaction that does not contain a valid approval code.

These fees can easily be avoided by obtaining a valid approval code for all credit card transactions in accordance with the guidelines set forth in section 8.2 of the ARC industry agents handbook.

Credit card authorizations should be obtained through your CRS/GDS. For instructions on how to obtain the credit card authorization, contact your CRS/GDS help desk.

Agents who do not have access to a CRS/GDS may obtain credit card authorizations by telephoning the appropriate credit card company authorization center.

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Manual Ticketing

If you are issuing a handwritten or manual ticket, the ticket number must be inserted in the PNR via OSI or SSR in the following format:
SSRTKNM00123456789123 LAST NAME/FIRST NAME
There must be 14 digits, including the three digit carrier code at the beginning and the check digit at the end of the entry. TKNM is the only valid manual ticket keyword. No dashes (-) or slashes (/) are permitted. Ticket numbers not in this specific format will not be recognised and your space will be cancelled
Exact entry for your CRS can be found in your GDS reference system.
Each passenger ticket must be sent using a separate TKNM entry.

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Non-refundable Use It Or Lose It Fare Rule Change

Effective 19 Aug 2003, customers on non-refundable tickets that allow changes who cancel their flight prior to scheduled departure, will have one year from the date of purchase (for wholly unused tickets) to reuse their ticket. Partially used tickets will be valid for one year from the first travel date. Appropriate change fees and add-collects will apply and the ticket must be reissued when the itinerary is rebooked.

The previous rule, initiated in Aug of 2002, required customers to have their tickets re-issued no later than 11:59pm on the departure date of the first unused coupon.

As an example of the new policy, a customer purchases his ticket on Sep. 1, 2003 for travel departing on Oct. 15, 2003. On Oct. 1, 2003, his plans change and he calls his travel agent to cancel his itinerary. He will now have until Sep. 1, 2004 (one year after his original ticket issue date) to rebook, have his ticket reissued, and commence travel on his new itinerary.

Customers who "no-show" a flight without cancelling will lose the value of the remaining coupons.

Customers who face unavoidable delays - traffic jams, for example - will continue to be allowed to stand by for same-day flights, (if the fare rules allow) if they arrive at the airport within 2 hours of scheduled departure. As an example of the new policy, a customer purchases his ticket on Sep. 1, 2003 for travel departing on Oct. 15, 2003. On Oct. 1, 2003, his plans change and he calls his travel agent to cancel his itinerary. He will now have until Sep. 1, 2004 (one year after his original ticket issue date) to rebook, have his ticket reissued, and commence travel on his new itinerary.

These rules apply to non-refundable tickets issued from all points of sale as follows:

For travel within the 50 U.S. states
For travel between the 50 U.S. and Canada
For transatlantic, transpacific, Mexico, Central America and South America fares for travel originating in the U.S. only.
For Caribbean and Puerto Rico/USVI non-refundable fares originating in either direction.

To support and enforce the new policy, AA will implement new automation on 01 Sep 2003 that will change the coupon status on electronic non-ref tickets in which the customer has no-showed their flight. The system will automatically update the VCR status from 'OK' to 'SUSPEND' for E-tickets that meet the following criteria:

Must be an AA validated 001 E-ticket
Must be an AA operated flight coupon no codeshare or OA coupons
Must be a coupon with a fare basis code that ends in N or NR
The first coupon in the VCR must be from the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, USVI or the Caribbean.
The coupon status must be OK.

The following exceptions apply to this process:

Any VCR that contains OA flight coupons will be exempt
Any VCR that has a coupon with (BZN) - bizflex fares - in the fare basis code is exempt
Any VCR with coupon status other than 'OK' is excluded
Paper tickets

For paper tickets, travel agents must determine if the customer cancelled the flight prior to scheduled departure before reissuing a paper ticket for new travel dates. If the flight was not cancelled prior to scheduled departure, the ticket has no value.

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Use It Or Lose It Fare Rule (Q& A)

Do the new fare rules apply to all itineraries?
The ticket validity rules apply to non-refundable tickets issued from all points of sale as follows:

for travel within the 50 U.S.
For travel between the 50 U.S. and Canada
For transatlantic, transpacific, Mexico, Central America and South America fares for travel originating in the U.S. only.
For Caribbean and Puerto Rico/USVI non-refundable fares originating in either direction.

Does the new cancel policy apply to tickets issued prior to 19 Aug 2003?
The new policy applies to all ticket for travel 19 Aug 2003 and beyond, regardless of ticketing date. Please refer to the fare rule for any other restrictions.

Does the new policy apply to partially used tickets?
Yes. Return/onward segment coupons will have no value unless the flight is cancelled prior to scheduled departure time.

Can a passenger simply cancel the itinerary prior to the scheduled departure, then reuse the ticket later?
Yes. The ticket will be valid for reuse for one year from the date of purchase for wholly unused tickets and one year from the first date of travel for partially used tickets. Appropriate change fees and add-collects will apply. The ticket must be reissued when the itinerary is rebooked.

Which, if any, off-tariff fares will be reusable if the flight is not canceled prior to the scheduled departure?
Internet fares are non-refundable and fall under the new rules. For bulk fares, contact the applicable wholesaler for the rules.

Do the new fare rules apply to rule 240 schedule change/cancellation situations?
No. The new fare rules apply only to voluntary changes. Rule 240 changes are unaffected.

If the passenger knows their new travel dates when cancelling their flight, must the new itinerary be booked in the same PNR?.
Yes.

How will no-shows be handled?
No shows will result in the entire ticket having no value.

How will travel agents know if the ticket qualifies for reissue and subsequently avoid debit memos?
On 01 Sep 2003, AA will implement automation that will change the coupon status on electronic non-refundable tickets in which the customer has 'no-showed' their flight. The system will automatically update the VCR status from 'OK' to 'SUSPEND' for E-tickets that meet the following criteria:

Must be an AA validated 001 E-ticket
Must be an AA operated flight coupon no codeshare or OA coupons
Must be a coupon with a fare basis code that ends in 'N' or 'NR'
The first coupon in the VCR must be from the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, USVI or the Caribbean.
The coupon status must be 'OK'.

The following exceptions apply to this process:

Any VCR that contains OA flight coupons will be exempt
Any VCR that has a coupon with 'BZN' - bizflex fares - in the fare basis code is exempt
Any VCR will coupon status other than 'OK' is excluded
Paper tickets

For paper tickets, travel agents must determine if the customer cancelled the flight prior to scheduled departure before reissuing a paper ticket for new travel dates. If the flight was not canceled prior to scheduled departure, the ticket has no value.

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Compassion/Bereavement Fare Ticketing Rule

AA compassion/bereavement fares must be booked by AA only.
Tickets may be issued by travel agents.
Tickets must be completed within one day after the reservation is completed and changes to reservations must be made by AA.
Agencies that make or change the reservations for these fares are subject to a debit memo.

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