From enquiry to e-ticket: the path a flight booking takes when an agency issues it — availability, fare rules, reservation, time limit and issuance.
When a passenger or a partner agency asks for a flight, what looks like a simple “book me a flight” actually moves through several steps behind the scenes. Understanding that path helps you see where your input is needed and why certain steps can’t be skipped.
Enquiry and availability
It all starts with a request — dates, destination, number of passengers, and preferences (a direct flight, a specific airline, a cabin class). The agent checks available flights through the GDS system and returns options based on what’s actually available at the moment of the search, not what was available earlier. Availability and price can change from one moment to the next, so an option shown now isn’t guaranteed until it’s booked. That’s why, when an agent sends you an offer with several options, it’s worth replying within a reasonable time — the longer you wait, the greater the chance that particular option is no longer available.
Fare rules — read them before you book
Every fare carries its own rules: whether changes are allowed, whether it’s refundable, whether a change fee applies, and what baggage conditions apply. These rules vary significantly from fare to fare and airline to airline, so the agent needs to pass them on to you before you confirm a booking. This is the step where the passenger should be most involved — ask openly about the conditions if your travel plan isn’t firm yet. If there’s even a small chance the plan might change, it’s worth discussing alternative fares with the agent in advance, even if they look slightly more expensive at first glance.
Reservation and the time limit
Once you choose an option, the agent makes a reservation in the system — this creates the PNR record with all the travel details. A reservation on its own doesn’t mean the ticket is issued: every reservation carries a ticketing time limit set by the airline, by which payment and issuance must be completed, or the reservation automatically falls away. That deadline varies, and the agent should let you know about it in time. If the deadline passes without payment and confirmation, the seats aren’t automatically held — availability and price need to be checked again, and they may no longer be the same as before.
Issuing the ticket
Issuance is the step where the agent, through the BSP system, turns the confirmed record into an actual ticket — at that point the passenger receives a ticket number linked to the PNR. Until that moment, you don’t yet have a ticket, only a reservation. That’s exactly why payment and confirmation need to be completed before the deadline from the previous step, since once issued the ticket is tied to that specific fare and its rules.
The e-ticket reaches you
After issuance, the agency sends the e-ticket to your email — that document confirms the issuance, but the reservation itself lives in the PNR record in the system, not in the document itself. If there’s a later change to the flight or the passenger, the agent goes back to the PNR, not to the PDF — which is why it’s worth keeping the PNR code from your booking alongside the e-ticket. If you have a question about any step in this process, contact us and we’ll help as soon as possible.