An Airline ticket generally refers
to a document created by an airline or a travel agent to confirm
that an individual has purchased a seat on an airplane. This
document is then used to obtain a boarding pass at the airport.
Then with the boarding pass and the attached ticket, the
passenger is allowed to board the aircraft.
A paper 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 paper 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.
It is now common for a traveler to pay a surcharge for a paper
ticket. Many airlines no longer issue paper tickets.
A ticket is made up of one or more flight coupons. These flight
coupons are the actual tickets that are used for travel. One
flight coupon is used for each leg of the flight.
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 connect the tickets together in their reservation system.
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).
