travel code meaning

Advertiser Disclosure

Many of the credit card offers that appear on this site are from credit card companies from which we receive financial compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). However, the credit card information that we publish has been written and evaluated by experts who know these products inside out. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse. This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers that are on the market.  See our advertising policy here where we list advertisers that we work with, and how we make money. You can also review our  credit card rating methodology .

Airline Booking Codes Explained & Everything You Need To Know

Former Senior Content Contributor

483 Published Articles

Countries Visited: 24 U.S. States Visited: 22

Keri Stooksbury

Editor-in-Chief

44 Published Articles 3391 Edited Articles

Countries Visited: 50 U.S. States Visited: 28

Director of Operations & Compliance

6 Published Articles 1205 Edited Articles

Countries Visited: 10 U.S. States Visited: 20

Table of Contents

Introduction, what does your airline booking code mean, how can you use airline booking codes to your advantage, final thoughts.

We may be compensated when you click on product links, such as credit cards, from one or more of our advertising partners. Terms apply to the offers below. See our  Advertising Policy for more about our partners, how we make money, and our rating methodology. Opinions and recommendations are ours alone.

Key Takeaways

• Airline booking codes, or fare classes, determine things like ticket flexibility, baggage allowances, and earning rates for miles or points.
• There is no industry standard for booking codes; airlines can use letters and numbers for different purposes.
• Understanding booking codes can help travelers maximize value, especially when it comes to upgrades, earning elite status, or navigating fare restrictions.

The world of aviation is complex, chock full of information stored within airport kiosks. This is especially true within what’s known as the revenue management department. Simply put, this department is in charge of analyzing data and implementing practices that would optimize product quality and profitability. Sounds complex and/or generic? You’re absolutely correct.

Over the years, airlines began bucketing the available tickets on a plane into discrete buckets, known colloquially as fare buckets. The tickets in each of these fare buckets correspond to different rules/policies, which ultimately results in a different customer experience.

Simply separating each cabin class (economy, premium economy, business, and first) is not enough to extract the most value from your airplane ticket, so this guide will be technical and complex.

We’ll explore what your airline booking code looks like and, more importantly, how it affects you.

Airline booking codes are essential because they convey a tremendous amount of information in a succinct string of code letters and numbers. That way, an airline representative (or seasoned traveler) can look at the code and easily figure out what “kind of ticket” they’re looking at.

It’s important to note that although there are standard accepted practices for creating a code system for airline booking codes, every airline has different codes and structures that make unifying the system of airline booking codes impossible amongst all the airlines .

In other words, there are industry best practices for building an airline booking code, but there are no industry standards (i.e. booking codes from Delta Air Lines will look a lot different than booking codes from South African Airways).

Let’s take a look at what exactly an airline booking code looks like.

What Is an Airline Booking Code?

Airline booking codes look like a bunch of gibberish, but they’re really code letters and numbers that have some sort of meaning depending on the key a particular airline creates.

For example, let’s say that you wanted to book the cheapest first class ticket one-way from San Francisco (SFO) to New York City (JFK) on American Airlines on June 20.

By using the ITA Matrix by Google , you’ll see the following result:

The exact airline booking code is boxed in red, and it reads AYAHJNFC . Doesn’t that look like gibberish? That’s because it is. Every airline constructs booking codes differently, and another example is the following ticket from JetBlue in its Mint class.

This ticket says CH2NNE, which has a completely different structure; there are 2 fewer letters and 1 number.

Let’s talk about what exactly the codes mean.

Each letter and number in the string of code represents a different concept. Let’s look at the American Airlines booking code, also known as the fare basis code: AYAHJNFC .

While it’s not essential to know what each of these letters means, it can go a long way in understanding what you get with your ticket. American Airlines, along with most other airlines, makes the fare basis codes extremely difficult to decode. This is mostly because there is no “key” or glossary that helps with these letters and numbers.

It may seem surprising that there’s no international standard for what the structure/meaning of the airline booking code must look like, but even though American Airlines’ bookings codes are extremely nebulous, they typically contain:

• Booking class
• Seasonality
• Day of departure
• Cancellation policy
• Booking/routing restrictions

If you wanted a spoiler alert for American Airlines’ alphabet soup known as the fare basis example of AYAHJNFC , here it is:

• A — booking class (with the exception of upgraded fares)
• YA — Advance purchase requirement (60 days)
• H — day of the week (Saturday)
• J — Time travel restriction (unknown)
• NFC — nonrefundable first class ticket (cancellation policy)

It’s also important to note that even the American Airlines representatives we contacted didn’t know what most of these letters represented. The only reason why we’re pretty certain this is correct is because of investigations comparing similar fares and reading through the detailed fare information.

Booking Class

The first (and arguably most important) aspect of your fare basis code is the booking class. In the example above ( AYAHJNFC ), the first letter “ A ” corresponds to American Airlines’ A fare class, which is shown in the second row here:

As we can see, the A fare class corresponds to a discounted first class fare, which makes sense, seeing as how this itinerary in Flagship First Class prices out at around half the price of the full-fare Flagship First Class tickets (F).

The fare class will help you determine how many miles you’ll earn from flying on a specific ticket, but we’ll get to that in the later sections.

You may also find some discrepancies between the first letter of the fare basis and the booking class. For example, there’s a ticket with fare basis I7AUPNAC on the same exact day. You’d think the fare class is in “I” due to the fact that the first letter is I, discount business class. However, this is actually an instant upgrade ticket with full-fare business class upgrading to first class.

The main scenarios in which the first letter of the fare basis doesn’t match the actual booking class is  when there’s an instant upgrade involved . Some examples of this are corporate fares, such as the well-known Y-Up fares . You will still earn miles equivalent to your actual flown cabin class. 

Bottom Line: Knowing your booking class from your fare basis is great because it can give you insight into your ticket type. Keep in mind that while most airlines denote the booking class with the first letter in the fare basis, some airlines actually tell you what actual seat you’ll be flying on, like Delta Air Lines.

Upgrade Eligibility

Many times, you need to have a minimum booking class in order for a ticket to be upgradable. The best way to illustrate this concept is by using British Airways tickets.

British Airways will  not allow you to upgrade your ticket if your booking class is in the Q, O, or G buckets (the cheapest economy tickets). This makes sense because it would defeat the purpose of selling premium economy tickets. Why buy a $1,000 premium economy ticket when you can buy a super-cheap $200 economy ticket and upgrade it using a few Avios?

Additionally, some airlines, such as United Airlines , actually decide your priority on the upgrade list based on your booking class.

Check out this graphic, showing the official language from United Airlines regarding its upgrade waitlist placement:

As you can see, fare class is the second-most-important factor in determining your waitlist priority, so it’s a pretty big deal, at least on United Airlines flights.

In the case of American Airlines , all published fares besides basic economy and award tickets can be upgraded according to this chart:

Here are all the upgradable tickets:

If you happen to buy a cheaper ticket, you’ll simply pay a higher co-pay to upgrade from a lower fare class. If you purchase a discount economy ticket from San Francisco (SFO) to New York City (JFK), such as in Q class, you can pay 15,000 AAdvantage miles plus $75 to upgrade to business class , provided that upgrade space is available.

Mileage Accrual

Figuring out the number of miles you will earn on your airfare is essential for those who want to get rewarded for their loyalty on paid travel. Let’s analyze our previously discussed SFO-JFK ticket on American Airlines in AYAHJNFC fare basis.

Hot Tip: Want to figure out exactly how many miles you’ll earn on your ticket? Check out our guide on where to credit your miles , which also teaches you how to figure out your mileage accrual! 

In our case, we’re flying in A class on our San Francisco (SFO) – New York City (JFK) ticket, which means we’ll earn AA miles as a multiplier of the total distance flown.

We’ll earn:

Other programs, such as Cathay Pacific, earn miles based on the total distance flown.

As I detailed in my revenue round-trip Cathay Pacific first class flight that I booked for ~$1,200, I decided to credit my miles to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan , netting me the following mileage:

The booking class that I was booked in, A, was instrumental in determining how I was going to credit my revenue travel.

Thanks to my strategy, I was able to accrue over 24,000 Alaska miles on a one-way flight, which is worth ~$480, according to our miles valuations .

Bottom Line: Knowing your booking class will help you figure out where to credit airline miles, which is essential for extracting as much value from paid travel as possible. 

Elite Status Qualification

Not only does your booking class play a role in determining the number of miles you’ll accrue for traveling on the paid ticket, but it will also be  huge in determining what elite status qualification thresholds you’ll get closer to.

Simply put, lower fare classes are generally cheaper than higher fare classes, which means you’ll earn fewer AAdvantage Loyalty Points (since these are tied to your flight spending).

Hot Tip: Want to learn more about AAdvantage? Check out our review of American Airlines’ AAdvantage frequent flyer program .

Cancellation Policy

Travel plans change all the time. Whether it’s due to weather, a desire to stay in a place for a longer time, or an emergency, understanding your airplane ticket’s cancellation policy is probably a prudent thing to do.

The problem is that some tickets have different cancellation policies than others. You need not fret, however, as this won’t apply to a majority of travelers unless you’re a traveler with a specific expense policy.

Most of us book the cheapest ticket, and unless you’re booking right before departure, you’ll be getting a nonrefundable ticket. Our fare basis AYAHJNFC  is nonrefundable due to the “NFC” letters. While NFC implies nonrefundable, the reverse isn’t true. Some nonrefundable tickets have different letters, and there’s no simple way to combine them.

Luckily, cancellation policies are readily displayed on an airline ticket page, so looking at your fare basis isn’t the easiest way to find out your cancellation policy.

If you’re a corporate traveler, your company expense policy may require refundable tickets; in that case, you’ll need to be cognizant of your cancellation policy before booking a ticket that violates your corporate expense guidelines. One of the ways to do this is to look at your fare basis. This isn’t the best way, though, since analyzing your fare basis is a technical exercise.

Hot Tip: See which cards have the best trip cancellation insurance so that you know you’re covered should something go wrong.

Booking/Routing Restrictions

The last major item we’ll be talking about is booking and routing restrictions. With the case of our AA ticket with fare basis AYAHJNFC, the YA  letters represent a 60-day advance purchase requirement.

If you’re booking for travel on June 20, you must book at least 60 days before departure (around April 21) in order to qualify for this fare basis.

Here are some other American Airlines advance-purchase requirement codes:

• YA — 60-day advance purchase requirement
• WA — 30-day advance purchase requirement
• VA — 21-day advance purchase requirement
• UA — 14-day advance purchase requirement
• 7A — 7-day advance purchase requirement
• 3A — 3-day advance purchase requirement
• 0A — 0-day advance purchase requirement

Also, there might be more information on your booking code/fare basis regarding routing rules for round-trip or multi-segment tickets, such as stopover allowance, transfer allowance, and minimum or maximum stay requirements.

Since our ticket we’re discussing AYAHJNFC is a one-way ticket, none of these apply.

Bottom Line: Using a tool like ExpertFlyer is an excellent way to get the full details on all airfare rules pertaining to minimum stay requirements, stopovers, and more. Check out our ultra-detailed guide on how to use ExpertFlyer to check fare information .

Now that we’ve gone through all the basics and informational content surrounding booking/fare basis codes, let’s bring it back to reality and see how we can use them to our advantage.

Special Fare Classes for Added Award and Upgrade Availability

Booking award flights is often tedious and technically challenging. This is especially true for premium cabin flights. Sometimes, however, airlines incentivize loyalty by giving elite status members or cardholders access to extra award space that otherwise wouldn’t be possible.

One of the best examples of this is United Airlines where in many cases you’ll have access to added award availability that non-elites and non-Chase United Explorer cardholders don’t. This can be vital if the particular route/schedule you want is in high demand. Simply by holding the United℠ Explorer Card , you can book more award seats than other people!

Having access like this can help tremendously if you’re in a schedule constraint or if you’re booking close to departure. Here are the appropriate booking classes for United elites/cardholders that afford greater award access:

• JN — High-cost first/business class award for elites and credit cardholders
• IN — Low-cost first/business class award for elites
• YN — High-cost economy class award for elites and credit cardholders
• XN — Low-cost economy class award for elites and credit cardholders

It’s impossible to figure out exact award ticket prices since United uses dynamic award pricing, so keep that in mind.

If you’re in United Expert Mode, you can actually figure out the available fare classes on your exact flight:

Hot Tip: Using United Expert Mode is extremely useful. At Upgraded Points, we use it to find out if United upgrade space is available .

In addition to added award availability, you need to pay close attention to booking classes when looking to upgrade your flights.

For example, American Airlines treats premium cabin upgrades identically as discounted revenue tickets , meaning you can upgrade a paid business class ticket to first class as long as there are A fare tickets available.

This is phenomenal because you’ll be at a huge advantage in terms of upgrading your ticket if you know the exact booking class you need. They have several different ways to upgrade your tickets, including systemwide upgrades, using miles, or even using Business Extra points.

On the other hand, if you can figure out United’s upgrade fare classes, you’ll know which tickets can be immediately upgraded. United’s upgrade fare classes are:

• PZ — Instant upgrades and Global Services upgrades
• PN — All mileage upgrade awards and Platinum/Premier 1K certificates
• RN — Premium Plus upgrades

Bottom Line: The importance of knowing what booking classes are available can’t be emphasized enough if you want to use airline booking codes to your advantage by getting extra award/upgrade space. 

Increase Your Chances of an Upgrade

As we mentioned earlier, upgrading economy tickets to business class is one of the best ways to save big on miles while still offsetting loads of costs associated with booking revenue business class tickets. Most airlines don’t allow any economy ticket to be upgraded all the way up to business class, and one of the biggest mistakes travelers make when trying to upgrade tickets is buying a ticket in too low of a fare class.

If you are diligent in figuring out your booking class via the fare basis, you might save yourself the mistake of buying a super-cheap ticket only to find out you can’t even upgrade it. With the case of United Airlines, you may not upgrade deeply discounted fares or basic economy fares (in fare classes W, S, T, L, K, G, and N).

Remember, too, that your specific fare class is the second-highest priority in determining whether or not you’ll get a complimentary domestic upgrade. Unfortunately, the higher the fare class, the most expensive the ticket. All in all, you can use this information to assist in booking your tickets and doing everything you can to increase your chances of snagging an upgrade.

Save Big on Infant/Child Fares

Traveling with family members can be expensive, particularly infants, which are defined as under 2 years old in the aviation world. If you’re planning travel with your child, you’ll want to look for these fare classes to save loads of money:

• IN — Infant fare (usually 10% of an adult fare)
• CH — Child fare (up to 50% off of an adult fare)

Remember that these percentages are based on the revenue ticket cost, unless otherwise stated. This means that even if you book an award ticket in business class that would have cost $10,000, you may need to pay 10% of that for a lap ticket, adding another $1,000 to your travel. This is much better than paying for a full additional ticket, and it can go a long way to preserving the thickness of your wallet.

Some frequent flyer programs, such as Air Canada Aeroplan , allow you to pay with either miles or cash, but most require cash payments.

Earn More Redeemable or Elite Status Miles With Better Fare Classes

We talked above about how different fare classes can offer more/less miles. If you’re particularly close to an elite status level and need Loyalty Points on American Airlines, for example, you may need a better elite status multiplier on your ticket.

This is a perfect example of using your knowledge of booking codes and fare classes to get yourself over the line for coveted Executive Platinum status, for example.

Say you’re extremely close to qualifying for Gold status with 29,000 Loyalty Points (30,000 Loyalty Points are needed for Gold status).

You’re going to be flying round-trip from Los Angeles (LAX) to London (LHR) on American Airlines.

If you booked a basic economy ticket costing $825 round-trip, you’d be just short of the 30,000-point threshold to earn Gold status.

Instead, booking a qualifying ticket in Main Cabin instead of basic economy could mean the difference between qualifying for Gold status and not.

This is just one example of how useful an in-depth understanding of airline booking codes can make or break your frequent flyer travel.

Understand Your Ticket Flexibility

Many of us don’t have the foresight of predicting changes in travel plans. However, if you absolutely need flexibility, and you’re definitely going to cancel your ticket, you don’t want to book a nonrefundable ticket.

Let’s say you’ve waitlisted an award and you think there’s a 99% chance that space will be available. Let’s also say that you realize the 1% could leave you with booked hotels and vacation plans that are fully unrealized. One solution is to book a fully flexible ticket and cancel it when the award space opens up.

In that case, you need to find a refundable ticket. One of the best ways to do that is by leveraging the fare information provided in the fare basis. Specifically, the fare details will go into great detail on the exact cancellation policy. Check out an example below:

Different airlines have unique policies surrounding cancellations, refunds, and changes. These altogether make up the flexibility of an airplane ticket.

If you don’t take the time to properly understand the policies of each ticket, you could soon be stuck with large fees for cancellation or worse yet, have a ticket that you have no choice but to throw away due to the nonrefundable, non-cancelable nature of it.

The most fool-proof way of understanding your exact ticket flexibility is to look up your fare basis on ExpertFlyer or ITA Matrix by Google. Then, you would use the Find function (Ctrl-F) and type “cancel.” It should take you to all the places in the fare details where “cancel” is displayed.

Whew! That was intense! Even the most experienced travelers likely have never heard of airline booking codes or fare basis and certainly don’t know what all the fancy letters and numbers mean. But, ultra-savvy travelers will understand and appreciate how booking codes can help you tremendously when it comes to planning/booking travel.

We’ve covered the main insights for booking codes with a focus on United Airlines and American Airlines, but there are countless other complexities in this matter. Specifically, the lack of an international standard for constructing fare basis codes makes interpreting these codes much more difficult.

Luckily, we’ve dissected everything for you, so now you’re fully equipped with the ultimate guide to airline booking codes.

Related Posts

UP's Bonus Valuation

This bonus value is an estimated valuation  calculated by UP after analyzing redemption options, transfer partners, award availability and how much UP would pay to buy these points.

What All Those Numbers and Letters on Your Boarding Pass Really Mean

Whether you’re a fan of the digital version or prefer the old-school paper printout, a boarding pass is a necessary document for air travel . Not only does it allow entry onto your flight, it also serves as an identity document and security pass, and holds some key information about your trip and passenger details—right down to whether you’ve requested a special meal for your flight.

Some of the letters and numbers on the document are fairly self-explanatory (flight number, boarding group, and an airline’s abbreviation, for example), but the rest can seem like a jumble of alpha-numeric randomness. There’s a method to the madness, however. Here, we dig in to help you decipher what it all means.

One of the most recognizable items on your boarding pass is the bar code . The magnetic strip, called BCBP, or bar-coded boarding pass, often appears on the bottom right side of your pass, but there’s no hard and fast rule about its placement. The bar code must meet the standards of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), an airline trade group that sets criteria for consistency across the airlines and countries. The bar code is often scanned at the gate and helps speed up the boarding process . The scanner also records the information, so gate agents and the crew on the plane can easily tell how many passengers have boarded, what seats are taken, and how many bags have been checked.

Your unique identifier

The six-digit alphanumeric code that appears on your boarding pass is your PNR, or Passenger Name Reference—also known as your record locator, reservation code, or booking code.

This randomly generated sequence is what you need to type into a computer or a self-serve kiosk at the airport to retrieve your boarding pass, and is what identifies you as a unique passenger—you know, just in case there’s someone else with your exact first and last name on your flight. Among other things, this PNR holds information about your meal preferences or other special requests. It’s also one of the main reasons you shouldn’t throw away your boarding pass in a public trash can, as someone may be able to pull your information using your reservation number or bar code.

Flight code and number

There’s generally a simple formula for this one: two uppercase letters, followed by a four-digit number. The letters are the airline code, or the numbers universally recognized to represent the name of the airline in shorthand. Some are obvious—AA is American Airlines, for example. But plenty more are not, especially for carriers based outside of the United States (and some domestic airlines as well: JetBlue, for instance, is B6). IATA maintains a list of all its member airlines , including the airline code for each.

The flight number is determined by the airline, using a complex algorithm that takes into account past and current airline flight numbers, as well as factors like other airlines with similar sounding numbers scheduled to fly through the same airspace at the same time. This helps avoid potential confusion with pilots and air traffic control.

A floating letter

You may notice a letter on your boarding pass that’s distinct from all the others—a lonely “B” hanging out by itself, for instance. That letter may be the most classist part of your ticket (aside from your seat assignment). The stray letter may appear next to your seat assignment , flight number, or even just adjacent to the date and time of your flight. Different letters mean different things to different airlines, but generally, the letter marks your airline status, aka, your likelihood of getting an upgrade based on your loyalty status and which seat you booked. An “A” or “F” mean first-class treatment, while a “B” often means you’re more likely to get upgraded than if you have a “Q” or a “Y” on your ticket—the latter two are typically the cheapest economy fares.

Other airlines

Note the line on your boarding pass that says “operated by,” which tells you what you may have missed during the booking process: that your flight is not actually being flown by the airline you thought you were traveling with. Often, airlines sell tickets on their sites for flights operated by partner airlines , sometimes known as codeshare flights, or subsidiary ones on regional jets that they own but don’t operate. American Eagle is one example, as it’s owned by American Airlines but operated by a different company with distinct rules and structuring.

Security codes

There’s no way to know with certainty whether you’re going to be frisked by security at the airport. But that’s a likely scenario if there’s an “SSSS” on the bottom of your boarding pass. The code, which is the Transportation Security Administration’s way of flagging passengers, stands for “Secondary Security Screening Selection” and means you’ve been pre-selected for additional security screening.

While the criteria for how one ends up on the list isn’t clear, it includes people who appear on the No Fly List and the Do Not Board List put out by the U.S. government’s Terrorist Screening Center and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, respectively. In addition, passengers can be flagged for flying from, to, or through countries deemed “high-risk” by the State Department, or if their name bears even a passing resemblance to someone on a Department of Homeland Security watch list.

In addition, behavior that’s inconsistent with your previous purchasing patterns (paying cash for a flight, for example), buying a ticket less than two weeks out, and buying a series of one-way tickets (a common practice among mileage runners and points devotees ) can also lead to the SSSS appearing on your boarding pass.

You’ll see an S/O on your boarding pass if you have a stopover or layover, and “SPTC” if you have a stopover that lasts longer than a few hours, in which case the airline may even put you up in a hotel. Though many stopover programs are still on pause amid the pandemic, some are up and running again—including Turkish Airlines' Istanbul stopover, which comes with a free stay in a four-star hotel.

This story has been updated since its original publish date.

By signing up you agree to our User Agreement (including the class action waiver and arbitration provisions ), our Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement and to receive marketing and account-related emails from Traveller. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Simple Flying

A brief guide to airline ticket fare classes & codes.

Your changes have been saved

Email is sent

Email has already been sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

New Airline Begins International Flights With 33-Year-Old Airbus A310

Could a miniature airbus a350 compete with the boeing nma, why are turboprop airliners so rare in the us.

Whenever you purchase an airline ticket, you may have noticed that it always has an alphabetic or alpha-numeric code used to identify a fare type. Fare types range from economy class up to first class.

Because computer algorithms determine ticket prices, many factors go into determining how much you are going to pay for your ticket. Airline tickets are always more expensive during peak times like the summer or school holidays and vacations. Other factors also determine how much you will pay based on availability and how long you purchased your ticket before the flight. There was a time, now sadly gone, when you could show up at an airport without a ticket, and if an empty seat was available, easily purchase a "standby ticket" for a considerable discount.

Get all the latest aviation news right here on Simple Flying

Airlines offer between one and four classes of service

Today, generally speaking, on airlines, there are four types of classes:

• Economy: Almost always the rear of the aircraft, a section of dense seating that caters to leisure travelers. On low-cost carriers like Ryanair and easyJet, their aircraft are configured in an all-economy layout.
• Premium economy: Situated behind business class, premium economy seats are slightly wider than economy seats and offer more legroom. Some airlines even offer an upgraded meal service.
• Business class: As the name suggests, catering to people traveling for business, seats in business class offer more privacy and can often be configured into a lay-flat bed perfect for taking a nap on long-haul overnight flights.
• First class: The big three United States carriers Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and American Airlines, all got rid of their first class seats on long-haul flights and replaced them with business class seats. While similar to what you would find in business class, flying first class can include a chauffeur-driven limousine to and from your hotel. First class passengers are also pampered from start to finish with à la carte meals on demand and a paired wine list to match the food offerings. If you have the funds, you can still fly first class with carriers such as Emirates , Etihad, Air France, British Airways, Japan Airways, All Nippon Airways, Lufthansa, Thai Airways, and Singapore Airlines.

Select the best class of service to suit your needs

As you can see, only some travelers are looking for the cheapest ticket, and paying extra for a premium economy ticket can have more benefits, like extra air miles or an increase in your luggage allowance.

A friend discovered this on a recent TAP Portugal flight from Miami to Lisbon. He needed to travel with two suitcases, but his allowance on an economy class ticket was only one. This meant that if he were flying economy, he would have to pay for the second suitcase. In premium economy, the allowance was two suitcases and extra air miles. However, the cost of upgrading to premium economy was the same as paying for the excess luggage, so the choice was simple.

The codes have a letter and a number

Each of the above fare classes is identified with a one-letter code:

• Y = A full-fare economy class ticket
• W= A full-fare premium economy class ticket
• J= A full-fare business class ticket
• F= A full fare first class ticket

There are various other letters to describe lower fares of the same class as well. After the letter, you will see a number that ranges from zero to nine. For example, if your ticket says J2, two seats are still available in business class on your flight. Nine is the largest possible number and indicates that there are more than nine seats available in your class of service. An example of this would be Y9 in economy class.

• airline codes

• Credit cards
• View all credit cards
• Banking guide
• Loans guide
• Insurance guide
• Personal finance
• View all personal finance
• Small business
• Small business guide
• View all taxes

You’re our first priority. Every time.

We believe everyone should be able to make financial decisions with confidence. And while our site doesn’t feature every company or financial product available on the market, we’re proud that the guidance we offer, the information we provide and the tools we create are objective, independent, straightforward — and free.

So how do we make money? Our partners compensate us. This may influence which products we review and write about (and where those products appear on the site), but it in no way affects our recommendations or advice, which are grounded in thousands of hours of research. Our partners cannot pay us to guarantee favorable reviews of their products or services. Here is a list of our partners .

How American Airlines Fare Classes Work

Many or all of the products on this page are from partners who compensate us when you click to or take an action on their website, but this does not influence our evaluations or ratings. Our opinions are our own.

Table of Contents

American Airlines booking classes

American airlines fare classes, american airlines different classes of economy fares, why do american airlines class codes matter, how do i find my fare class on american airlines, how to earn aadvantage miles quickly, american airlines classes and fares recapped.

Booking a flight used to be simple. Travelers had the option of booking a seat in either economy or first class. However, more recently, airlines like American Airlines have focused on "product segmentation" — adding in additional fare classes and cabins in an effort to maximize revenue.

Now, travelers have seemingly endless fare options when trying to book a flight. Should you book basic economy or "Main Cabin" — American Airlines' new term for a standard economy ticket? And what the heck is Main Plus? Let's dig into the American Airlines class codes, fare classes and more so you can make sense of it all.

American Airlines uses the following booking classes for revenue (non-award) fares:

Basic economy: B.

Main Cabin: O, Q, N, S, G, V, M, L, K, H, Y.

Premium economy: P, W.

Business class: I, R, D, C, J.

First class: A, F.

You'll notice that there aren't separate booking fare classes for Main Cabin Extra, Main Plus, Main Select or Flagship Business Plus as these are just add-on packages on top of the standard fare in that cabin.

» Learn more: Business class vs. first class on American Airlines

At current count, American Airlines offers at least 11 different fare classes:

Flagship First .

Flagship Business .

Flagship Business Plus .

First class (domestic).

Business class (short-haul international).

Premium economy .

Main Select.

Main Cabin Extra .

Main Cabin .

Basic economy .

You can do a deeper dive into the fare classes in our full guide on American Airlines seat selection .

Not every flight is going to have every one of these classes. For example, a domestic U.S. flight will typically offer first class, Main Cabin Extra and Main Cabin seating — with basic economy, Main Plus and maybe even Main Select fares sold on that flight.

Meanwhile, an international flight on American Airlines' flagship Boeing 777-300ER will offer Flagship first class, Flagship business class, premium economy, Main Cabin Extra and Main Cabin seating — typically with basic economy, Main Plus, and sometimes Main Select fares sold in the Main Cabin and the option to buy Flagship Business Plus in business class.

» Learn more: American Airlines' basic economy vs. Main Cabin

Almost every American Airlines flight offers Main Cabin Extra, Main Cabin and basic economy fares. There are also two fare options — Main Plus and Main Select — that give you access to Main Cabin Extra seats and a few other perks.

So, let's break down the differences between these American Airlines economy fare classes:

Compared to other airlines — looking at you, United Airlines — American Airlines' basic economy isn't as punitive . Basic economy passengers still get a full-size carry-on bag, are able to purchase seats from the time of booking and AAdvantage elites are still eligible for upgrades to first class.

However, American Airlines passengers earn 60% fewer miles when booking a basic economy seat compared to a Main Cabin fare. Plus, you won't be able to change your booking.

Purchasing a Main Cabin fare gets you a higher mileage earning rate, free changes (though a fare difference may apply), free seat selection and a slightly earlier boarding group. However, your seat and in-flight experience will be the same — unless you purchase a Main Cabin Extra seat.

» Learn more: American Airlines boarding groups and how you can upgrade your group

Main Cabin Extra technically isn't a different fare class. Instead, you score a couple of extra perks by purchasing a "Main Cabin Extra" extra-legroom seat — or selecting it for free if you have AAdvantage elite status. In addition to extra legroom, perks include an earlier boarding group and complimentary beer, wine and spirits. However, you still generally get the same seat type and service as Main Cabin.

Main Plus is essentially a fare class package that adds a free checked bag and Main Cabin Extra on top of a standard Main Cabin ticket.

Likewise, Main Select is a different type of fare package that makes your fare fully refundable, bumps you up to Group 4 priority boarding and lets you make confirmed flight changes the day of departure. However, you don't get a free checked bag with this option.

» Learn more: American Airlines boarding groups and how you can upgrade

If you're opting to earn AAdvantage miles on an American Airlines flight, your booking class generally doesn't matter. If you booked basic economy, you'll earn a base of 2 miles per eligible dollar spent. Otherwise, you'll earn a base of 5 AAdvantage miles per dollar spent. And AAdvantage elites earn a bonus on top of those base earning rates.

However, your booking class matters if you booked a special fare (e.g. as part of a package), plan to apply a mileage upgrade or plan to credit your flight to another mileage program. In these cases, your American Airlines class codes will determine how many miles you earn or how much your upgrade will cost.

For instance, let's take a flight from New York-John F. Kennedy to Los Angeles. Booking a $108 one-way basic economy fare will earn a base AAdvantage member 174 miles (2x the base fare of $87). If you book the flight as part of a package, it may code as a special fare and earn 248 miles (10% of the 2,475-mile distance). Or, you can credit this basic economy flight to British Airways to earn 619 Avios (25% of the 2,475-mile distance).

However, if you select the $153 Main Cabin fare instead, you'll earn 645 AAdvantage miles (619 if booked as a special fare) or 619 Avios. Plus, you gain the ability to upgrade this fare to business class for 15,000 miles plus $75 — if there's upgrade availability.

If you book at the last-minute or a flight is almost sold out, you'll likely book into a higher American Airlines fare class. AAdvantage mileage earnings would still be calculated based on the cost, but you'll earn additional miles when crediting to another mileage program.

» Learn more: How to know how many miles you’ll earn from a flight

When you’re shopping for a ticket on American, the fare classes are listed under "Details" under each departure time.

Click the "Details" button and a screen will pop up with class code info, broken out by ticket type.

For example, in the screenshot above, the flight from Chicago to Dallas has the following fare classes: B in basic economy, N in main cabin and I in first class.

You can stock up on miles for booking American flights by applying for one of the following cards and meeting the requirements for the welcome offer.

on Citibank's application

on Chase's website

on Bank of America's website

If you're a loyalist, applying for an American Airlines credit card can be a smart money move. But if you value flexibility, consider other card options that allow you to transfer points to AAdvantage or book American flights without "chaining" you to a single brand.

AAdvantage is a partner of Marriott Bonvoy . You can transfer points to American from the hotel brand at a 3:1 ratio.

Because of a special partnership between Alaska Airlines and American , members in either program can use their miles to book flights with either brand.

Unfortunately, AAdvantage is not a transfer partner of any of the major bank / transferable points programs (Chase, American Express, Capital One or Citi).

American Airlines offers a large variety of fare classes and booking codes.

While the alphabet soup of booking fare codes has been a part of airlines for years, new American Airlines fare classes like Main Plus, Main Select and Flagship Business Plus add new complications when travelers are booking a flight.

However, knowing the differences between the fare classes and picking the right one can help you get the features you value most — whether that's an extra legroom seat or higher mileage earnings.

(Top photo courtesy of American Airlines)

The information related to Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® has been collected by NerdWallet and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer or provider of this product or service.

How to maximize your rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are some of the best travel credit cards of 2024 :

Flexibility, point transfers and a large bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

No annual fee: Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card

Flat-rate travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Bonus travel rewards and high-end perks: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Luxury perks: The Platinum Card® from American Express

Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

on Capital One's website

2x-5x Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day. Earn 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options

75,000 Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.

1x Earn 1 Loyalty Point for every 1 eligible AAdvantage® mile earned from purchases.

70,000 Earn 70,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $7,000 within the first 3 months of account opening.

1x-5x 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases.

60,000 Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

List and Description of All United Airlines Fare Classes

June 5, 2013 by Darren 10 Comments

What has changed – just a bit – is the alphabet soup of fare classes used. And with the fairly recent addition of the super-discounted N-class on United, as well as all Star Alliance carriers now using the same letters for award redemptions, every letter of the alphabet is now in use at United.

Here’s a current alphabetical list and description of what each letter translates into (bold letters are award/upgrade classes only):

• A – First class
• B – Economy – Full fare (even though Y-class is the highest level in coach, it’s still considered a full fare)
• C – Business class
• D – Business class
• E – Economy
• F – First class – Full fare (“FN” is for MileagePlus Standard Awards)
• G – Economy – Discounted
• H – Economy (“HN” is for MileagePlus Standard Awards)
• I – First (2-cabin)/Business (3-cabin) – MileagePlus Saver Award class (“IN” is expanded award availability for GS/1K/Plat elites)
• J – Business class – Full fare (“JN” is expanded MileagePlus Standard Award for elites and Chase credit card holders, as well as an upgrade class from Y-fares for elites)
• K – Economy – Discounted
• L – Economy – Discounted
• M – Economy
• N – Economy – Discounted
• O – First Class (3-cabin) – MileagePlus Saver Award (“ON” is upgrade class on 3-cabin aircraft)
• P – First/Business class – Discounted (“PN” is upgrade from B/M-fares for elites; only GS/1K can upgrade from M)
• Q – Economy
• R – First (2-cabin)/Business (3-cabin) – Upgrade bucket (“RN” is expanded availability for elites)
• S – Economy – Discounted
• T – Economy – Discounted
• U – Economy
• V – Economy
• W – Economy
• X – Economy – MileagePlus Saver Award (“XN” is expanded availability for elites)
• Y – Economy – Full fare (“YN” is an expanded MileagePlus Standard Award for elites and Chase credit card holders)
• Z – Business class – Discounted (“ZN” is for MileagePlus Standard Awards)

As far as the revenue fare classes above, here’s the order from highest to lowest in terms of where each class falls on the spectrum of overall contribution to United:

F, A, J, C, D, Z, P, Y, B, M, E, U, H, Q, V, W, S, T, L, K, G, N

One important thing to note is that the leading letter of your fare basis code, not necessarily which letter it books into, is what determines your flight mileage accrual. They can be different, which is often the case for “Y-UP†fares where you purchase a coach ticket that books directly into first class.

Another example is what I encountered earlier this year on my mileage run to Tokyo . United had an unadvertised promotional first class sale which booked into “A†class, but my fare basis code began with a “P,†so I only earned redeemable and Premier Qualifying Miles based on the “P.â€

I think this causes a lot of confusion for some travelers as the “A,†in my example, was the only thing that appeared online or on a ticket receipt. To see the fare basis code, you have to click the “View Rules and Restrictions†link during the booking process, which yields something like this:

Questions? Comments?

– Follow Darren Booth on Twitter, @FrequentlyFlyin , for more airline, hotel and travel industry news, reviews and opinions.

Related posts:

Airfare Pricing Buckets & Airline Fare Basis Codes Explained

The NEW United Airlines Upgrade & Award Fare Buckets

How to Find Mileage Runs – 2013 Edition

[…] about $600ish more than the cheapest economy ticket. And if you’re unfamiliar, a W-fare is the lowest fare class in which you can use a GPU […]

[…] List and Description of All United Airlines Fare Classes … […]

[…] the seat I wanted, with the appropriate economy class code, and not the last seat […]

Your “JN” entry implies that CC holders can Y-Up; that isn’t actually the case.

And I still think the grid format I have them in is easier to read and clearer. 😉

@Seth: Thanks, I reworded “JN” to make it clear.

The UA Fare Pricing & Bucket posts are my favorite. I should know this information better but I don’t. Seeing it on here is always a welcome refresher course.

Any insight into which fare class indicates availability for GPU into int’l first or business? I am sometimes instantly confirmed when I use GPU, other times I am waitlisted and wondered if there’s an easy way to discover this.

@Dave: “R” is the upgrade class for business class, “ON” for international first. If you enable “expert mode” under your United.com profile, you’ll be able to see all fare classes when shopping for flights when signed in. Alternatively, there are other (paid) services, such as ExpertFlyer and KVS Tool with availability displays.

My wife and I traveled to India on Lufthansa. We were DISAPPOINTED to learn that NO credit will be given to Mileage Plus account. The reason fare code K. We checked with United before buying the tickets and were told we will get credit like other Star Alliance members. It was tricky on the part of bot airlines.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

IATA Numbers and Codes Explained

• Published: 7 Jul, 2023
• No comments Share

Overseeing the entire aviation industry isn’t a piece of cake. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is the entity that’s been carrying this burden for decades. It relentlessly develops regulations, sets up procedures, creates digital tools – in short, it does everything to make international air transport safe and efficient. Read our detailed IATA explainer or watch the video below if you’re not really familiar with what IATA is.

Here’s a cool video overview of IATA basics

To make the whole system run like clockwork, IATA had to come up with diverse numbers and codes – to register and categorize all of its components. As we mention in the video, IATA loves all this coding stuff. And in this post, we’ll dive deeper into this intricate cryptography and try to decipher it. We’ll talk about IATA numbers and what they mean to travel agents and also explore the main codes that standardize the aviation industry.

Types of IATA numbers and codes

IATA numbers: verification for air ticket distributors

An IATA number (officially called the IATA Numeric Code ) is basically a unique seven-digit code assigned to IATA-certified travel agencies that want to distribute air tickets and/or gain industry recognition. In addition, airlines’ own points of sale or sales offices also have an IATA number as an identifier of the location that issues flight tickets. IATA acts as the mediator between airlines and travel agents, overseeing the cash streams and protecting the airlines’ interests. So if you, as a travel agent , want to be a full member of this club, you’ll have to undergo a verification process.

Why do travel agencies need IATA numbers?

To start with, there are two main types of IATA accreditation : full and partial. Both grant certified agents worldwide recognition as trustworthy and financially viable partners, allowing them to join the global industry community. However, the full IATA accreditation package also allows travel businesses to issue tickets on behalf of airlines and process transactions via the Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) – and that’s the main reason travel agencies apply for this IATA license. If you want to sell flights but for some reason you can’t or don’t want to go through a complete verification process, you still have options . Most likely, you’ll have to partner with a mediator that has the right to issue those air tickets (such as a consolidator or a hosting agency ) and use its credentials.

Travel Tech Expert answers questions about IATA certification

Types of IATA accreditation programs

So what are your options if you’re a travel business considering getting an IATA number? Full IATA accreditation . The complete IATA certification package is available for non-US-based travel agencies. It allows you to sell air tickets, gives access to IATA payment solutions, includes a PCI certification to enhance trust, and boosts your credibility as a professional. Travel industry designator services (TIDS) . TIDS is the partial accreditation program we mentioned above. The IATA/TIDS Code facilitates the identification of travel businesses and enables reservations to be recognized by travel suppliers such as airlines, cruise lines, hotels, car rental companies, and railways . You can apply for TIDS free of charge if your business is located outside of the US and you don’t issue air tickets but want to certify your professional status on a global scale. IATAN accreditation . IATAN (International Airlines Travel Agent Network) is IATA’s subdivision that provides certification products to US-based travel professionals. Go with the full IATAN accreditation if you’re located in the US, have over two years of experience, and want to sell flights. IATAN Non-ticketing accreditation . Similar to TIDS, this option doesn’t allow you to issue air tickets but gives access to airlines’ inventories and grants industry recognition.

How to get an IATA number?

Obviously, the amount of effort to exert, the fees to be paid, and the paperwork to submit will vary depending on the accreditation type you plan to get.

IATA accreditation overview

To give you an idea of the requirements, here are the key application steps for the full IATA package:

• register at the IATA Customer Portal;
• select one of the three available certification levels (GoLite, GoStandard, or GoGlobal) and request your accreditation;
• fill out and submit an application form;
• submit additional documentation (proof of general business operations, proof of your qualifications, confirmation of prior travel agent experience, and proof of financial viability);
• pay the application fees and accreditation fees once you receive the invoice from IATA;
• provide financial security if required; and
• wait for confirmation (the review process might take a few weeks).

Note that for IATAN accreditation, you’ll be required to present the ARC Agency Code Number (read more about ARC accreditation in our dedicated post). If you plan to apply for TIDS or IATAN Non-ticketing certifications, the requirements are less strict and the whole process is a lot easier. To get a plain, detailed guide on how to obtain each of the certification options, we recommend you check out our comprehensive overview of IATA accreditation . You can also visit the IATA’s official Travel Agency Program webpage or the IATAN site if you still have questions left. And if you're interested in other travel agency accreditation options (e.g., CLIA or TRUE), we got them described in a separate post. Those were IATA numbers that probably matter most to most travel agents. However, IATA has more code types. Let’s have a look at what they are.

IATA’s codes: main industry identifiers

Standardization – or development and implementation of protocols, policies, processes, and, well, standards that ensure consistency and enable interoperability between parties within the industry – is one of IATA’s key areas of responsibility. And that’s why it devised multiple code systems – to standardize the identification of locations, companies, equipment, etc., optimizing flight operations and information exchange. Here are the main aviation industry code systems.

Airline codes

IATA assigns a unique two-character code ( Airline Designator Code) to all airlines – even the ones that aren’t IATA members. It consists of 2 letters or a letter and a digit. For example, AA stands for American Airlines, KL for KLM, 7S for Ryan Air, etc. These codes are used to identify an airline in a wide variety of commercial scenarios: reservations, schedules, timetables, telecommunications, ticketing, cargo documentation, legal, tariffs, etc.

Airline codes are the first two characters of the flight number. Source: online departure information of the Boston Airport

Note that IATA’s 2-character codes are different from ICAO’s 3-character codes. ICAO, or International Civil Aviation Organization, also assigns airline designators, but those serve mainly for operational purposes like identification of aircraft in flight. For example, Delta Airlines has the DL designator from IATA and DAL designator from ICAO.

Airport codes and other location identifiers

IATA’s location identifiers are 3-letter codes assigned to airports that have commercial activity. These codes can also be given to bus stations, heliports, rail stations, and ferry terminals if they are involved in intermodal airline travel. In many cases, the airport code is created from the city name, like ATL for Atlanta, IST for Istanbul, or MEX for Mexico City, so it’s easily recognizable. If a city is served by more than one airport, IATA’s location codes are also assigned to such metropolitan areas. For example, the New York City region has the NYC code, which is different from the ones of the surrounding airports, i.e., John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), and LaGuardia Airport (LGA). Other examples of such metropolitan areas are London (LON), Tokyo (TYO), Paris (PAR), and so on. These metropolitan area codes are widely used by online booking engines of airlines, OTAs , and other distributors as they greatly facilitate the flight search in or out of the entire region.

Expedia flight search via metropolitan area identifiers

Interesting facts: As of today, IATA administers over 11,000 location identifiers worldwide. Some airport codes might sound really funny or weird. For example, the code for Pocos De Caldas Airport in Brazil is POO and the code for Sembach Airport in Germany is SEX.

Accounting and prefix codes

Airline accounting and prefix codes are 3-digit numbers that are essential for various accounting activities. They identify airlines in all passenger and cargo traffic documents, transactions, etc. Passengers can see the accounting code on the ticket and sometimes on the boarding pass as the first three digits of the 13-digit ticket number. Note that the ticket number is not the same as the PNR (Passenger Name Record) number that’s created when the flight is booked but before the ticket is issued.

The sample e-ticket number where 176 is the accounting/prefix code for the Emirates airline

The difference between the accounting code and the prefix code is that the former relates to passenger operations and the latter is about cargo transportation. For example, the commuter Boutique Air has the accounting code 184, while the prefix code of the cargo carrier Atlas Air is 369. One airline can apply for both codes if its operations involve both passenger and cargo service. For example, American Airlines has 001 as both accounting and prefix code, Air Canada has 014, Aeromexico has 139, etc.

Baggage tag issuer code (BTIC)

Baggage tag issuer codes identify each piece of checked luggage through all baggage handling processes. The BTIC is a part of the so-called license plate code . The license plate is basically the ten-digit numeric code on a bag tag that’s printed both in the barcode form and in human-readable form. It’s issued by the airline (or handling agent) at check-in to track luggage throughout the complete journey. Interesting fact: Baggage handling practices have optimized a lot over the years, and as of 2023, there are only 6 reported cases of lost luggage per 1,000 checked bags.

Other IATA codes

If you are a true code lover, you're gonna be so excited because we've got more of them for you. But those are the ones you won’t see on the boarding pass or the airport flight information display . They're service-type codes that are only used in the back office of airlines and airports. Here are some of them. Aircraft Type Designators are 3-character codes distinguishing between aircraft types and variants that have differences from an airline commercial perspective. They are used for airline timetables and computer reservation systems . For example, 744 stands for Boeing 747-400, 388 for Airbus A380-800, and D3F for Douglas DC-3. Meal Codes identify the types of meals served on board that are especially important to provide the right food to passengers with specific dietary requirements. Some examples are a diabetic meal (DBML), a gluten-free meal (GFML), a non-lactose meal (NLML), or a baby meal (BBML). Geographic and currency codes can be found in the City Code Directory (CCD) which is a list of city, airport, country, province, state, and territory names and codes. It also contains a list of currency codes and IATA Tariff Conference areas. This information is used for computing tariffs, creating mileage distances, and calculating fares and rates. There are also Traffic Restriction Codes, Service Type Codes, Coordinator Reason Codes, etc.

Useful links for further research

If you want to dive even deeper into this coding topic, we've got a few more resources for you to explore. You can download the complete Airline Designator Codes and Location Identifiers database from IATA’s website as it’s the official industry source. You can also use a free IATA online search tool to find airline and airport codes. Here’s a list of IATA airline members with corresponding designator and accounting codes. If you want to apply for a code, check out the requirements for obtaining an airline designator code , an accounting and/or prefix code , a location code , and BTIC .

List of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Codes, Meaning

When you travel to the US and arrive at a US Port of Entry(PoE) location, you would go through the US port of entry procedures .  In the past, you may have filled out an I-94 form ,  or sometimes, you may go through Automated Control Process (APC) Kiosks and after that be interviewed by a CBP Officer. 

In the past, the CBP officer, after a short interaction or interview, may have put a stamp on your passport in the past. If you look closely, the stamp will have a three letter code on it on the top, that indicates the port of entry location or border checkpoint of the US that you used to enter America. 

Many may wonder what are these Port of Entry Abbreviations or CBP Codes. Below are a few samples of the US CBP Stamp and their codes highlighted. Also, you can check out the complete list of CBP codes below.

Sample CBP Stamp put at PoE on Passport with the CBP Location Code

The image below is of the CBP stamp that was stamped in New York by a CBP Officer. The NYC code on the stamp represents New York.

Below is a CBP stamp that was stamped in San Francisco. The CBP Code SFR representing San Franciso is on the stamp.

Below is the screenshot of the CBP Stamp from Philadelhipa. The CBP code is PHI.

Below is the screenshot of the CBP stamp from Houston, which is indicated by the CBP code of HOU.

CBP Pilot program – No Physical Ink Stamps in Passport

CBP started a pilot program in August 2022 called the ‘Simplified Arrival Program’, where they no longer put in any physical ink stamp in passports when someone arrives at the US port of entry. The plan is going forward, CBP wants to eliminate stamping passports with physical stamps.

You may not see the CBP codes stamped on the passport if such is the case. These would be captured as part of the US Travel History and users can check the I-94 Official Website

Many US PoE Locations now do not put any stamps in passports for F, M and J Students. Read CBP article

US Customs and Border Protection Port of Entry Codes

Below is a full list of CBP Codes that are related to all port of entry locations in the US. These codes are nothing but the US Port of Entry abbreviations as well.

For any updates on the locations and their codes, check out the latest info at  US CBP Codes on State.gov website

Common FAQs

No, the electronic I-94 will not have the Port of Entry(POE) code. You cannot find out the location of entry from the I-94

No, there is no implication to you or your stay in the US, if you do not have the PoE stamp or PoE code on your passport. The process now is completely electronic and it does not have any impact.

Other Articles

The Travel Glossary - find the best Terms, Definitions and Acronyms

Travel terms, glossary, definitions and acronyms of the travel industry from A – Z. Click on a letter to see the terms and descriptions in our glossary.

A     B     C     D     E     F     G     H     I     J     K     L     M     N     O     P     Q     R     S     T     U     V     W     X     Y     Z

Add-collect, adjoining room.

Average Daily Rate. A hotel industry term used to calculate average hotel room rate. Equal to room revenue divided by rooms sold.

advance purchase

The advance time before travel that a fare requires a ticket to be issued, normally 3,7,14 or 21 days.

Agent Error. An incorrect entry made by a consultant during the reservation process.

AEA (see “Association of European Airlines”)

A US based travel agency that has entered into an agreement with BCD Travel to use the BCD Travel trademarks and provide travel services to customers in the affiliate’s territory.

Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC)

An independent corporation jointly owned by most of the major United States airlines; ARC collects payments for tickets sold by travel agencies and distributes the monies to the airlines; ARC also governs appointment of travel agencies to sell domestic air transportation.

airport code

The three-letter code used by airlines and the air travel industry to identify airports around the world, e.g. LHR=London Heathrow, JFK=New York John F. Kennedy. http://www.world-airport-codes.com/

airport security check

Airport security checks are procedures and measures for screening passengers and baggage to ensure security against terrorist threats and other dangers.  Find out how to get through quickly

airport tax

Tax levied by certain airports throughout the world. In many cases this can be built into the total ticket price, although some airlines will not co-operate, thus making payable locally by the passenger.

On outbound journey’s, airside includes all those areas of the airport terminal after you have passed through passport control. On inbound journey’s, airside includes all those areas of the terminal before you pass through passport control.

A short-hop aircraft for up to 20 passengers, usually flying unscheduled services with a 200 / 500-mile range.

all-inclusive

A hotel program which usually includes all meals, snacks, beverages and activities.

A joint partnership between specified carriers which may include, but not limited to, interlining, code-sharing, joint frequent flyer program participation, and even equity participation of stock ownership.

The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, a government-subsidized corporation that operates all passenger train service in the United States.

Automatic Number Identification. A contact center term for a telephone network feature that passes that number of the phone the caller is using to the contact center, real-time.

American Plan. A hotel rate that includes breakfast and dinner, sometimes lunch.

Asia Pacific. A geographical term used interchangeably with ASPAC and often used in reference to the entire Asian market.

Advance Purchase Excursion Fare

applicable fare

The fare to be applied.

Accounts Receivable. Money which is owed by a customer to a company for products or services provided on credit.

ARC (see “Airlines Reporting Corporation”)

An eight-digit identification number issued by ARC to travel agencies who have met accreditation standards.

Arrival Unknown. An ARNK is added to a reservation when there is a break in the itinerary and continuity is not recognized; it does count as a segment when ticketing.

Around-the-world

A continuous journey circumnavigating the globe in one general west-to-east or east-to-west direction in which both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans are crossed not more than once each.

ARR (see “Average room rate”)

Asia South Pacific. A geographic term used interchangeably with APAC.

Automated Ticket & Boarding Pass. IATA standard transportation ticket and combined boarding pass which features a magnetic strip containing passenger and journey details.

Average Ticket Price. The average price of all tickets purchased; domestic and international are sometimes calculated separately.

availability

The total number of seats allowed to be sold at a particular rate.

average room rate (ARR)

Ratio of hotel’s sales revenue to the number of occupied rooms.

back-to-back ticketing

An against-the-rules practice whereby a traveler books a return ticket nested inside another return ticket to avoid minimum stay requirements for the purpose of saving money. For example, the traveler uses the first ticket to fly from origin to destination on Monday in week 1, then he uses the second ticket to fly from destination to origin on Friday in week 1 and back to destination on Monday in week 2, and then he uses the first ticket again to fly back to origin on Friday in week 2. The normal Saturday night stay requirement is then avoided. While this will sometimes save money, most airlines do not allow this practice and doing so might result in penalties.

backtracking

Having to return to your original airport of entry in a country to make the return trip home. A time-consuming and costly procedure to overcome by arranging an op-jaw itinerary, which allows you to fly out to one point and return from another.

Carry-on-baggage and checked baggage have many restrictions. Most notable are the number and size of the baggage. Many airlines allow only 1 carry-on bag, plus one personal item (purse, back-pack, computer bag). For checked baggage restrictions and fees, refer to the carrier’s website for details.

banker’s buying rate (BBR)

Exchange rate used to convert from one currency to another; called the ‘buying rate’ because it is the rate used when banks purchase currency from an individual

banker’s selling rate (BSR)

Exchange rate used to convert from one currency to another; called the ‘buying rate’ because it is the rate used when banks sell currency to an individual

Best Available Rate. A hotel industry pricing method for yielding room rates (floating) based on demand while ensuring the best rate is presented for sale to agents, consumers.

A fare without tax.

Measurement of hotel occupency.

blackout dates

Certain dates or periods when travel on specific fares is not permitted (usually holidays).

blocked space

Multiple reservations, often subject to deposit forfeiture, which wholesalers or travel agents make with a supplier in anticipation of resale.

boarding pass

A permit to board a ship, plane, or other form of transportation. In the case of air travel, the card indicates boarding gate and aircraft seat number.

booking code

A letter code used to make an airline reservation at a particular fare level in a computerized reservation system. (CRS/GDS)

Bank Settlement Plan. Outside the USA, a system by which the travel agent community pays carriers for tickets it issues.

Business Travel Account. If a company has a corporate credit card program where certain purchases such as air, rail, and associated transaction fees are centrally billed to one “master” credit card number, this is referred to as the Business Travel Account (BTA). This account allows for the purchase of certain air travel expenses for corporate employees without the need to issue individual credit cards to each traveler for the designated expenses. Because the account has no physical card, it’s often called a “ghost card.”

BTC (see “Business Travel Center”)

Business Travel News. A travel industry publication that delivers news and research to the corporate travel population.

bucket shop

An unlicensed, unbonded travel agency used by some airlines to dispose of excess capacity seats that are available on certain flights.

buffer zone

For taxation purposes, an extension of the US border 225 miles north into Canada and 225 miles south into Mexico border; all cities within this area are assessed the 7.5% US domestic tax when tickets are purchased and sold in the US.

A net fare contract for certain number of seats. Similar to blocked space except that the tour operator, wholesaler, or travel agent usually contracts for airline seats at a low, non-commissioned price without the option of releasing space back to the airline.

A partition (usually a wall) on an airplane separating compartments.

Travel slang for the removal of a passenger from a flight through overbooking; usually applied to those holding concessionary tickets.

bundled pricing

A pricing proposal, always a transaction fee, where elements other than air (e.g. car hire, hotel, rail) are included in the fee with the air transaction.

business class

Level of airline service between First class and Economy class. On European routes business class has now replaced first class as premier service level. Most airlines have their own brand names. (e.g. British Airways – Club World and Club Europe: Air France – Le Club etc.)

Business Travel Center (BTC)

Standard full service and online service in a local call center, undedicated, team environment.

Business Travel Management

Business travel management is the process of planning, organizing, and overseeing business travel for an organization. This includes booking travel arrangements, managing expenses, and developing policies and procedures for business travel.

cancellation policy

The advance time a hotel requires a booking to be canceled by to avoid being billed for the room

carrier (CXR)

Another term for airline.

Credit Card. A system of payment whereby the issuer of the card grants a line of credit to the cardholder, to be used to make payment to a merchant or to withdraw cash.

Collision Damage Waiver. An industry term for optional insurance provided by car rental companies that eliminates all responsibility of the driver in an accident.

centralized billing

System under which a travel supplier, credit card company, agency or other supplier consolidates all costs/charges incurred by different employees or departments into one total invoice.

change of equipment

Also known as “change of gauge”. A single flight number used to represent flights on two different aircraft; usually on international destinations.

Notification to an airline or hotel that a traveler has arrived to take a flight or stay at a hotel; some airlines provide curbside check-in while others only allow check-in at the ticket counter.

Advice to a hotel that a guest is leaving the property and usually includes payment for the stay.

A traveler who has had his/her second birthday, but not yet his/her twelfth birthday (this definition may vary by carrier).

Churning refers to any repeated booking or canceling of the same itinerary in the same class or different classes of service in one or more PNRs or GDS.

circle pacific

Travel from IATA Area 1 (North and/or South America) to IATA Area 3 (Asia, Australia, South Pacific) by way of the North Pacific Ocean in one direction, via the South Pacific Ocean in the opposite direction, and at least one flight within IATA Area 3 that crosses the Equator.

circle trip (CT)

A journey from origin to destination with a return to origin in a continuous, circuitous route using two or more fare components

The orgin (from) and arrival (to) points of a trip, usually by air or train.

city terminal

Airline office, usually city center, where passengers may check-in, receive seating details and board special bus/ taxi/ helicopter/ rail/ shuttle services to the airport.

class of service

The interior of an aircraft is divided into sections, each with a different level of service and amenities; common classes of service are first, business, and economy.

Cruise Lines International Association. An association dedicated to the promotion and growth of the cruise industry.

Section of a hotel offering higher security and special facilities either for a premium payment or as an incentive/ privilege for frequent users.

club ticket

Fully flexible, redeemable business class ticket valid one year from date of issue. Phrase used primarily in the U.K.

Another term for bus.

Close of Business. A term meaning the end of the business day.

A marketing agreement between two airlines (very common amongst airlines that have an alliance) where a seat is purchased on one airline (the selling carrier), but the flight is actually operated by a different airline (the operating carrier).

combination

Two or more fares shown separately in a fare calculation.

Computerized Reservation System

System used to book and process travel reservations, also known as a Global Distribution System (GDS).

A hotel employee who attends to guests’ needs for special information, theater and restaurant reservations, and any other special requests.

connecting flight

A flight which the passenger must change aircraft.

A stop in a given city for less than 4 hours (domestic US); less than 12 hours (domestic US as part of an international journey); less than 24 hours (international); continuing on the next applicable flight to an onward destination; designated by X/ in a linear fare construction line.

conjunction ticket

Two or more tickets concurrently issued to a passenger and which together constitute a single contract of carriage.

connecting rooms

Two rooms that are side-by-side that have a common connecting interior door.

consolidation fare

A group inclusive tour fare available to travel agents and other operators to construct packages to destinations which are inclusive of accomodation. Consolidation fares, although group fares, are for sale to individual passengers.

consolidator

A person or company which forms groups to travel on charter or at group fares on scheduled flights to increase sales, earn override commissions or reduce the chance of tour cancellations.

A group of independent companies that join together to gain greater profits.

construction point

A city through which fares have been combined for the purpose of pricing an itinerary; a destination city or a turnaround point; a fare break shown on the ticket.

A contact center term for an individual who is calling or visiting your company by phone or through the website, and who is requesting an interaction with an agent.

contact center

An umbrella term that generally refers to reservations centers, help desks, information lines or customer service centers, regardless of how they are organized or what types of transactions they handle.

continental breakfast

A light breakfast of such things as coffee, pastry and sometimes juice.

contract fare / contract discount

A discounted fare agreed upon by the client and a carrier; contract fares require a client give the carrier a certain percentage of its business in all markets.

corporate fare

A discounted airfare for business travelers.

corporate rate

A special rate negotiated between a supplier (hotel or car for example) and a company.

corporate hotel rate

Learn how to get corporate hotel rates .

Corporate Travel Department (CTD)

A CTD (Corporate Travel Department) establishes a direct purchasing relationship between the company and its travel suppliers. The accrediting body, ARC (Airline Reporting Corporation) authorizes the company to function as its own “travel agency” and control it’s financial settlement.

co-terminals

A group of cities/airports considered to be the same point; example: JFK/LGA/EWR.

country of commencement (COC)

The country in which a journey begins; the base fare is converted from NUCs into the currency of the Country of Commencement by using the IATA ROE.

country of payment (COP)

The country in which a ticket is being purchased; the base fare is converted from the currency of the Country of Commencement into the currency of the country of payment using the Bank Rate if the countries are not the same.

Cost Per Mile. A calculation of the average price paid per mile.

Cost Per Transaction. A calculation of the total cost a company incurs for generating a customer transaction.

Customer Relationship Management. A term used for a database that is used to house and maintain customer information.

CRS (see “Computerized Reservation System”)

Corporate Social Responsibility . A concept whereby companies consider the impact to society and the environment of their actions.

Central Security Record. A hotel industry term for the name of the Viewership Management Table used to maintain a list of offices authorized to access a client’s negotiated hotel rates.

Central Standard Time. A time zone in the US, also known as Central Time or CT.

Corporate Travel Department. A company’s in-house travel agency that purchases air transportation and related travel services on behalf of its own employees.

Computer Telephony Integration. A contact center term for the software, hardware, and programming necessary to integrate computers and telephones so they can work together seamlessly and intelligently.

A checkpoint at which imported goods are verified for legality and value.

Data Release Authorization (DRA)

Under a DRA, Client instructs, as of the date specified, BCD Travel to receive, process, and/or transfer certain personal travel data from Client’s travelers, including, but not limited to, transactional ticket-level, segment-level, and traveler-level information, which may include, without limitation, traveler name and address, origination and destination, corporate and/or personal credit card number, passport number, drivers license, travel preferences, and other special needs or any other sensitive data as may be provided by or behalf of the travelers (“Travel Data”).

Decision Source (DS)

A BCD Travel product that allows our customers to interact with their reservation data.

delegate rate

An inclusive rate for meetings on a daily basis. Twenty-four hour delegate rate also includes accommodation. Phrase primarily used in the U.K.

denied boarding compensation (DBC)

Commonly called “bumping,” – When more passengers arrive to take a flight than can actually fit on the plane; although legal, the carrier is only responsible for providing compensation to a traveler if he/she has a confirmed reservation and is checked in and has arrived at the departure gate within a pre-determined time period; compensation may be in cash or in a voucher for future travel; passengers who voluntarily relinquish their seats are compensated with a cash payment or voucher towards a future trip and are then accommodated on the next available flight; if an airline delivers a bumped passenger to his/her destination within an hour of the originally-scheduled time, no compensation is required.

deregulation

Originally applied to American air travel: in 1978, federal law phased out the civil Aeronautics Board and stopped government intervention or regulation of airline routes and fares.

destination

The final stopping place as shown on the ticket; the furthest point on a fare component used to price an itinerary.

Destination Management Company

Company, possibly an incoming tour operator, who organizes local ground services at destination.

differential

The difference between the fares for two different classes of service between two cities; this fare construction principle is only used internationally.

direct fare

The fare for one-way or half round-trip travel visa the shortest route operated between two cities.

direct flight

A flight from origin to destination that makes one or more intermediate stops, but passengers do not change planes.

directional fare

Fare valid only in a specified direction of travel.

discount fare

Transportation fare lower than the full published tariff for an airline’s route. A discount fare usually entails certain stipulations regarding purchase or travel (space availbility).

DMC (see “Destination Management Company”)

Domestic travel.

Travel wholly within any one country; typically used to designate intra-US travel.

A hotel room with two double beds and/or accommodating 2-4 people.

double booking

The practice of making reservations for two or more flights, cars or hotels as a type of backup; considered to be unethical.

double occupancy

The way in which almost all cruise fares and tour packages are quoted, that is, based on two people traveling together. Most hotel rooms are quoted based on two adults to a room, as well.

double open jaw (DOJ)

Travel in which the outbound departure point and arrival and the inbound point of departure and arrival are not the same.

To move a passenger to a lower class of service or accommodation.

drop-off charge

A fee charged for dropping a rental car at a different location from where it was picked up.

Being exempt from any import tax.

economy class

The rear area of the aircraft in which passengers having paid one of the lower fare types are seated.

electronic miscellaneous document – Associated (EMD-A)

Document that allows for the fulfillment of all flight related services and fees (such as bags, seats, meals, etc.). An EMD or EMD-A is linked to a specific eticket coupon in the airline’s database.

electronic miscellaneous document – Standalone (EMD-S)

Non-flight related services (such as lounge access or change fee collection) a stand alone EMD, a EMD-S is issued. To issue an EMD-S a manually created service segment must be in the PNR. Specific services that can be charged on an EMD-S is dependent on the airline’s own requirements.

electronic ticket (eticket)

An airline transportation ticket that is entirely in a GDS; no physical ticket is required for travel.

EMD (see “electronic miscellaneous document”)

Endorsement.

Permission from the plating carrier, the ticketed carrier or the carrier losing air space for the traveler to use the flight coupon(s) for travel on another airline at no additional cost; usually only required for international tickets.

end-on-end combination

A special type of combination in which two round trip fares are combined to produce a complete itinerary.

In this example, the passenger buys a round trip ticket from AAA to BBB (Rule 1), and a separate round trip fare from BBB to CCC (Rule 2). The net effect is to travel from AAA to CCC, but breaking the fare at BBB, which may in some cases be less expensive than the round trip (through) fare from AAA to CCC.

equivalent fare paid

An amount converted into the currency of the country of payment when the published fare is in a currency other than that of the country of payment.

ERA (see “European Regions Airline Association”)

Eastern Standard Time. A time zone in the US, also known as Eastern Time or ET.

Electronic System for Travel Authorization. ESTA is a free, automated system that determines the eligibility of visitors to travel to the U.S. under the Visa Waiver Program. The ESTA application collects the same information collected on Form I-94W. ESTA applications may be submitted at anytime prior to travel, though it is recommended travelers apply when they begin preparing travel plans.

Estimated Time of Arrival. A measure of when an object is expected to arrive at a certain place.

Estimated Time of Departure or Delivery. The expected start time of a particular journey or the expected delivery of a good or service.

e-ticket (see “electronic ticket”)

Electronic Ticket Record.

European Regions Airline Association

Association which aims to identify, protect and promote the interests of regional air transport in Europe. Over 170 memebers including airlines, aircraft manufacturers and airports. www.eraa.org

excess baggage

Baggage in excess of the allowable number, size or weight.

The process of reissuing a ticket due to a change of flight, fare basis, dates or routing.

excursion fare

Round-trip fare with restrictions, such as minimun and maximum stays and the need to purchase well in advance.

executive card

Types of privilege cards available to frequent users of airlines, hotel chains, car rental companies, etc. Most carry benefits and have their own brand names, e.g. British Airways Executive Blue, Executive Silver, Executive Gold and Premier.

executive room

Higher grade than standard room and usually slightly larger, the executive room often has additional facilities for the business traveler such as trouser press, desk etc. and may be located on a separate Executive Club Floor.

Expatriot (or expat)

An expatriate (in abbreviated form, expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person’s upbringing or legal residence.

explant/ outplant/ offsite

Branch office dedicated to serving a single client that is not located on the client’s premises, but rather operates as a separate part of a BTC.

familiarization tour

A complimentary or reduced-rate travel program for travel agents, airline or rail employees, which is designed to acquaint participants with specific destinations. Often known as “Fam-Trips”.

family plan

A hotel rate that allows children to stay free with adults in the same room.

A combination of letters and numbers used to identify a fare type which may also indicate the rules of the fare

fare component

A fare between two points.

fare ladder

A vertically-written fare construction that includes fare components, surcharges and additional amounts collected.

• fee – bundled air transaction fee An air transaction fee that includes the costs associated with servicing air, hotel and car transactions. Therefore, hotel and car only bookings (not to exceed XX% of air bookings) are not charged a transaction fee.
• fee – management fee Fee assessed in addition to direct costs. Covers primarily overhead and profit. Can be assessed as % of sales, per transaction or fixed amount.
• fee – management fee structure (formerly cost plus offering) Client fee arrangement whereby direct expenses are passed through to the client in addition to management fee. Management fee could be % of sales, fixed fee, or per transaction.
• fee – online booking tool fee (PNR fee) Charged per unique reserved PNR. Additional fees may be assessed for transactions booked on a website accessed via the online booking tool.
• fee – online transaction fee (e-fulfillment fee) Charged per online transaction – that excludes any ‘flow through costs’ charged by the online booking tool provider.
• fee – transaction fee structure Client fee arrangement whereby client is billed per transaction for all major program costs including direct expenses and contribution to overhead and profit, usually at POS.
• fee – unbundled (menu) transaction fee Separately charged per each type of transaction, e.g. hotel, car, rail and air. AM and MIS costs might also be charged separately.

final destination

The last point on an itinerary/fare component.

first class

The cabin on an aircraft where there are fewer seats, more elaborate service and amenities.

FIT (see “Fully Independent Traveler”)

Flag carrier.

The airline that internationally represents a given country; sometimes financed or owned by the government.

flight coupon

A section of an airline ticket; one flight coupon is required to take each flight.

flight/time specific

A fare rule that requires a to fly on a specific flight or at a specific time of day.

FOI (see “Form of Indemnity”)

Form of Payment. The method of payment for a transaction.

form of indemnity

A form that needs to be completed by the passenger in order to claim refund in respect of an air ticket that has been misplaced or stolen.

frequent flyer number

Find out what a frequent flyer number is and how to get one

frequent flyer program

An airline loyalty program that provides awards to travelers who use an airline or its partners.

frequent guest program

A hotel loyalty program that provides awards to guests who use a hotel chain.

frequent renter program

A car rental loyalty program that provides services (such as fast pickup) to those who use a car rental vendor.

front office (FO)

An industry term used for products associated with customer-facing activities. The GDS is a front office system.

fuel surcharge

A surcharge assessed for fuel use applicable for travel between specified points and/or for departure from a specified city.

Hotel rate with accommodation, breakfast, lunch and dinner included.

full economy

This is a fully flexible, fully refundable ticket which is valid for one year from date of issue in economy class.

full exchange

Change an already ticketed reservation, with no flown flight segments.

full to full exchange

Change to a ticketed reservation when no segments are flown and the change is to any segment other than the outbound flights. Or when a segment has been flown and there is a change to a remaining flight segment. In either of these instances, the FULL value of the original ticket must be exchanged for the ‘combined’ FULL value of the new ticket.

fully independent traveler

A traveler / tourist not part of a tour group.

One of the world’s CRSs (GDSs).

Area in an airport where passengers for a flight gather before boarding their flight or deplane on arrival.

gateway city

The last domestic city from which a passenger departs prior to arriving at an international destination; the first point of arrival in a given country (e.g., on the journey SFO-CHI-FRA-MUC, CHI and FRA are gateway cities).

GDS (see “ Global Distribution System “)

Gds operations (gdso).

An industry term for computer reservation systems that book and sell tickets for multiple airlines.

GEBTA (see “Guild of European Business Travel Agents)

In the credit card industry a system used by corporations whereby travel related charges made through designated travel agencies are centrally billed but no plastic card actually exists. Often referred to as “Lodge card” in Europe.

global distribution system

An industry term for computer reservation systems that book and sell tickets for multiple airlines.  Learn more

global indicator

Two-letter code used to identify the direction of travel applicable to a given fare.

governing carrier

The airline whose fares and rules are used on a given itinerary.

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)

Solar based time in Greenwich, England, from which time in all other time zones in the world is based.

ground time

The time not flying.

A booking solution that allows the booking and managing of all ground transportation services, such as limousines, executive sedans, taxis, vans and parking services.

A fare that offers discounts to groups of varying minimum sizes in selected markets, with various conditions, and usually require round trip travel within a specified time limit.

guaranteed hotel reservations

This means that the hotel will hold the room all night. However if the room is not required, failure to cancel will result in a charge. Where reservations are made on an ad hoc basis, rather than through a regular account arrangement, a credit card number will be required to effect this guaranteed reservation.

Hotel rate for accommodation, breakfast and one other meal.

half round trip fare

Half of a fare designated for use on round-trip journeys.

Fee or tax some countries or cities levy on arriving or departing travelers.

Half of the globe; the North and South hemispheres are divided by the Equator; the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans divide the East and West hemispheres.

higher intermediate point (HIP)

A pair of cities within a one-way or half round-trip fare component that has a direct fare higher than the direct fare between the origin and destination of the fare component; this fare construction principle is only used internationally.

hotel sourcing

Hotel sourcing or procurement is the process of identifying, negotiating and contracting with hotels to secure accommodations for a specific group, event or organization.

An airport at which an airline centers many of its schedules, particularly connecting flights to smaller destinations.

(see “International Air Transport Association”)*

IATA Number (see “ARC Number”)

Iata rate of exchange (roe).

Rates of exchange designated by IATA to convert local currency to NUCs and to convert NUCs into the currency of commencement of travel.

ICAO (see “International Civil Aviation Organization”)

Interline e-ticket. An interline agreement between airlines that allow e-ticketing on each other’s flights. Interline agreement between airlines permitting travel service cooperation in areas such as: baggage transfer services, guaranteed connection times.

IGK (see “International Gatekeeper”)

Immigration.

Area at which a traveler’s documentation (e.g., Passport and Visa) are verified to ensure the traveler may enter the country.

implant (on-site)

Dedication operational team, based within an office of the client.

implementation

Phase of launching a new relationship, including e.g. opening a new location, training staff, installing technical equipment, and informing clients, travelers and travel arrangers.

inbound travelers

Travelers coming into a specified location are considered inbound. Travelers departing from the location are considered outbound.

A traveler who has not yet reached his/her second birthday.

Term used in the U.S. to describe an implant.

international departure taxes

Taxes levied on all travelers departing a country on an international journey that are, typically collected at the airport at the time of departure.

Between two airlines; TUS-HP-DEN-UA-LON is an interline journey.

interline baggage agreement

An agreement between two air carriers that a carrier will transfer baggage to the other carrier.

interline connection

When a passenger changes airlines as well as aircraft during a journey (same as off-line connection).

interline ticketing agreement

An agreement between two air carriers that permits air travel of one carrier to be on a ticket issued and/or ‘plated’ on another carrier.

intermediate point

A ticketed point of an international journey at which there is no fare break; an intermediate point may be a stopover or connection.

intermediate stop

An enroute stop at a city between the origin and destination (see also Direct Flight).

International Air Transport Association

The world trade association of international air carriers; appoints travel agencies to sell tickets; determines rules and regulations for international carriers. www.iata.org

International Civil Aviation Organization

Specialed agency of the United Nations with responsibility for civil aviation action in standardization, technical co-operation and the formulation of international aviation law. www.iaco.int

A chronological plan showing a traveler’s booked arrangement.

A special through fare (usually only internationally) that permits travel on two or more different airlines.

The origin to final destination of a fare construction.

BCD Travel provides support for KDS. KDS provides an online booking platform for the confirmation of air, car, hotel and rail itineraries.

On outbound journeys, landside includes all those areas of the terminal before you arrive at passport control. On inbound journeys, landside includes all those areas of the terminal after you’re through passport control.

last date of purchase

The date by which a ticket must be issued – fares are not guaranteed until tickets are issued.

last room availability (LRA)

A hotel industry term for ensuring a negotiated rate is always available when standard inventory is available or when the room type negotiated is available.

LDW (see “Loss Damage Waiver”)

One flight; one part of an entire journey.

Lowest Fare Routing. The least expensive airfare available to a destination.

local currency fare (LCF)

See Country Of Payment (COP).

locator reference

Unique identifying booking number used within a computer reservations system as part of a booking file.

In the credit card industry a system used by corporations whereby travel related charges made through designated travel agencies are centrally billed but no plastic card actually exists. Often referred to as “Ghost Card” in the U.S.

Loss Damage Waiver

Additional insurance pertaining to car rentals, covering theft and vandalism in addition to accident damage.

low cost carrier (LCC)

An airline that offers generally low fares in exchange for eliminating many traditional passenger services.

lowest combination principle

Construction of a fare using a particular combination of sector fares to provide the lowest fare when there is no published fare between two points.

Marine Travel

Specialized travel services, available 24/7, provides travel arrangements (including helicopters and charter aircraft) for marine personnel.

Market Number (MK)

A code all online booking tools (OBTs) add at the time each reservation is made, as a way to track PNRs for online adoption and fulfillment purposes. It should never be removed once added to the PNR.

Married Segments

Two or more connecting flight segments joined, or “married,” meaning that these segments are inseparable and the subsequent rebooking or cancellation of any one flight segment must, at the same time, be applied to the connecting flight segment.

maximum permitted mileage (MPM)

The number of miles that may be flown on a published direct fare between origin and destination; this fare construction principle is only used internationally.

maximum stay

The maximum amount of time a traveler may stay at a destination before return is required.

MCO (see “Miscellaneous Change Order”)

Meetings, Incentives and Corporate Events. An industry term for a department within a company that offers meeting planning services to customers. BCD Travel’s department is called BCD M&E

midoffice (MO)

An industry term for the management information (MIS) portion of a travel agency’s system.

mileage fare

A fare based on the total miles flown from the origin to destination; this fare construction principle is only used internationally.

mileage surcharge

A percentage of fare increase applied to a fare because the routing exceeds the maximum permitted mileage; the percentage is in 5% increments to a maximum of 25%; this fare construction principle is only used internationally.

minimum connection time

The amount of time required to change planes; varies by airport and often varies by carrier.

minimum stay

The minimum time a travel traveler must stay at a destination (or be gone ‘away from home’ internationally) before return travel can commence.

miscellaneous charge order (MCO)

An accountable document issued by a travel agency or airline as proof of payment for a specific fee (such as pet service fee) or as residual amount of an exchange (higher priced ticket exchanged for a lower priced ticket) to be used on a future purchase.

Mountain Standard Time. A time zone in the US, also known as Mountain Time or MT.

National Business Travel Association

U.S. business travel association which is a member of IBTA. www.nbta.org

NBTA (see “National Business Travel Association”)

New distribution capability. Read more

negotiated fare/rate

This is a term used by travel agents to descibe reduced airfares that have been negotiated by their air fare specialists on behalf of clients.

neutral units of construction (NUC)

An imaginary currency established by IATA that allows fares of different currencies to be added together; this fare construction principle is only used internationally.

Non Last Room Availability. A hotel industry term for restricting availability of a negotiated rate when occupancy levels are high. Negotiated room rate is not guaranteed to be available.

Net Operating Income. A financial term for the amount by which operating revenue exceeds operating expenses in a specific accounting period.

non-endorsable

This expression often appears in the endorsements box of an airline ticket and it means that the flight coupon on which the worlds appear may be used only on the services of the airline indicated.

non-refundable(NR)

A ticket issued on a fare that does not allow for a refund; most non-refundable tickets can be changed for a fee and any difference in fare.

normal fares

The full fare established for first, business, economy or an intermediate class and any other fares published designated as normal fares.

normal open jaw (NOJ)

Travel from a country and return to the same country with a surface sector at either the origin or turnaround point (single open jaw – SOJ) or at both the origin and the turnaround point (double open jaw – DOJ).

An airline passenger or hotel guest who fails to use and/or cancel a reservation.

National Transportation Safety Board. An independent US government agency that investigates accidents including aviation, highway, marine, pipelines and railroads.

OBT and OBLT (see Online Booking Tool”)

Off-airport location.

Usually a car rental office serving an airport but physically located off the airport site (and often picking up renters at the airport in buses or taxis). When the office is located on-site, the term used is on airport location.

A destination that a carrier does not serve; see also Interline.

off-line connections

When a traveler changes airlines as well as aircraft during a journey (may also be referred to as interline connection). Changes of aircraft with the same airline are known as on-line connections.

offline transaction (traditional transaction)

A transaction that initated by an agent following a call/email request by a client.

Time of year or day of the week when travel is less common.

off-line point

Airline term to describe points (areas or cities) they do not serve.

off-loading

This occurs when an airline has over-booked: that is, it has sold more seats on a particular flight than the aircraft has to offer. The passengers to be off-loaded are usually those who have paid the lowest fares. Off-loaded passengers will normally qualify for denied boarding compensation. Passengers may also be off-loaded at the captain’s discretion if they are unfit to travel due to drink, drugs, illness or for bad behavior.

BCD Travel is a re-seller of onesto. On-esto provides an online booking platform for the confirmation of air, car, hotel and rail itineraries.

Online Booking Tool

A web-based platform allowing travelers to make self-service reservations (e.g. Cliqbook, GetThere).

operating carrier

In a codeshare, the airline providing the plane, crew and ground handling services.

online or online point

On the same carrier; TUS-UA-DEN-UA-LON is an online journey.

online adoption

An account’s use of their predetermined online booking tool.

online high touch transaction

A transaction that originates via an online booking tool, but then requires more than one agent intervention (one touch).

online low touch transaction

A transacion that originates via an online booking tool, and then requires agent intervention or manual review/processing that is initated by the customer.

online transaction fee

(E-fulfillment fee) A fulfillment fee canged per online trasaction – that excludes any ‘flow through costs’ charged by the online booking tool provider.

A BCD Travel office located at/on/in a client’s location.

Term used to describe the principle of showing a client the complete cash-flow cycle, including commissions and overrides.

open date sector

Part of a journey for which no firm reservation has been made (usually owing to changeable plans on the part of the traveler) but for which the fare has been paid.

open jaw ticket

Where passengers fly out to one destination and return from another. Open jaw arrangements save backtracking and make a trip more cost effective.

Much-used term for unrestricted air services between several countries.

open ticket

A ticket valid for transportation between two points but has no specific flight reservation.

originating carrier

The first airline of a passenger’s journey and/or portion of a trip.

Other Service Information. A GDS entry that provides information to a carrier that does not require action for traveler action such as contract discount code, record locators of additional family members traveling together (TCP), age information for children/infants, etc.

Travel from the point of origin to the farthest destination.

outplant (off-site)

Dedication operational team, based within a BTC office.

overbooking

Also known as bumping. Airlines and hotels can predict, with some accuracy, how many travelers/guests will show up for previously made reservations; when more people show up than what is expected, travelers/guests are re-accommodated; see also Denied Boarding Compensation.

Abbreviations for ‘passport and visa’ used in the U.K. Some affliates have a specialist team which advises on and acquires passports/visa on behalf of their clients.

Pacific Asia Travel Association

Association which aims to promote travel to Asia Pacific. www.pata.org

PAR (see “Passenger Account Record”)

Passenger account record.

In Galileo, the profile showing passenger information.

passenger facility charges

An airport-designated surcharge to raise funds for airport expansion, renovation, operating costs, etc.

passenger name record

Record held within a CRS/GDS which gives the personal details associated with a particular booking.

An official document issued by a government to its citizens that establishes an individual’s identity and nationality and enables travel abroad.

PATA (see “Pacific Asia Travel Association”)

Abbreviation for passengers.

Payment Card Industry. Security standards set to help protect account data information.

Time of year or day of the week when travel is most common.

A fee charged by a carrier or vendor for changing and/or canceling a reservation or ticket.

Per diem is a daily allowance given to an employee to cover business travel expenses such as lodging, meals and incidentals while traveling for the company. Learn more about per diem .

Penalty excursion fare. Public excursion fare are within minimum stay requirements, but which has no advanced purchase requirements.

PIR (see “Property Irregularity Report”)

Plate / plated.

See Validating Carrier.

PMS (see “Property Management System”)

Pnr (see “passenger name record”).

Purchase Order. A commercial document issued by a buyer to a seller that indicates the quantities and agreed upon prices for products / services.

point-to-point fares

De-regulation has led to a growing number of these on routes throughout the world. They are low fares in first, business, or economy class between two points by direct flights. Stopovers are usually, but not always, prohibited.

Point of Service or Point of Sale. The time and place in which a transaction is made.

prepaid ticket advice (PTA)

A form used when a person is buying a ticket that will be issued at the airport of the same or a different city. Example: A ticket purchased in Chicago to be picked up by the traveler in and for a departure from Buenos Aires.

pre-trip auditing

A product offered by travel management companies that allows for the review of travel itineries before departure to identify savings or prevent unnecessary expenditure.

pricing unit (PU)

A journey, or part of a journey which can be priced and ticketed as a separate entity; a round-trip, circle trip, one-way, normal open jaw or special open jaw; this fare construction principle is only used internationally.

pricing unit concept (PUC)

An alternative method of fare construction for multiple-stopover journeys that uses pricing units; this fare construction principle is only used internationally.

primary carrier

Airline flying the governing sector (prime segment).

prime segment

The first “true” international journey; often called the “over-the-water” segment; see also Gateway.

A computerized file containing company and traveler information.

promotional fare

A fare designed to attract passengers who would not otherwise travel.

proof of citizenship

Documentation that establishes nationality.

property irregularity report

Form submitted by passengers to ground handling agents at airports in the event of loss or damaged baggage.

property management system

Computer-based system for controlling hotel inventory, check-in and -out and billing.

Pacific Standard Time. A time zone in the US, also known as Pacific Time or PT.

PTA (see “Pre-paid Ticket Advice”)

Public fares (air).

Fares that anyone can obtain and is available in a regular fare display.

Quality of Service Index. An index developed by the Civil Aeronautics Board to provide a comparative rating of service offered by individual airlines.

A computer’s electronic filing system. Also a contact center term for the holding point for a number of calls or interactions that are waiting to be answered by an agent. The calls or interactions are usually assigned to available agents in a first-arrived, first-answered basis, but may also be assigned based on a company’s routing strategies.

queue group

A contact center term for a group of virtual queues. Also referred to as a DN Group or Group of Queues.

The official posted rate for each hotel room.

rate desk (see “International Rate Desk”)

Rate of exchange (roe) (see “iata rate of exchange”), rearden commerce.

BCD Travel is a referrer for Rearden. Rearden provides an online booking platform for the confirmation of air, car, hotel and rail itineraries.

reason codes (RC)

An industry term for codes used to document and report on traveler decisions and behavior.

reconfirmation

Particularly on international flights, passengers are required to indicate their intention of using the next leg of their itinerary by contacting the appropriate carrier before departure; internationally, reconfirmation is requested 72 hours prior to departure.

record locator

A computerized number that identifies a Passenger Name Record – PNR or other reservation; when speaking to travelers, usually called a confirmation number.

red-eye flight

Usually an overnight flight that arrives early in the morning – great when you don’t want to lose precious sightseeing time at your destination.

If necessary for a passenger to change journey en route, the ticket must be reissued. The value of the original ticket will be offset against the new fare and any extra or refund, calculated. Settlement can be direct with airline or with referral to the issuing agent.

BCD Travel is a re-seller for ResX. ResX provides an online booking platform for the confirmation of air, car, hotel and rail itineraries.

return journey

A journey for which the fare is assessed as a single pricing unit using half round-trip fares.

revalidation

If the passenger’s travel date or flight needs to be changed, without affecting the route, there is not always a need to reissue the ticket. The relevant flight coupon is simply revalidated by means of a revalidation sticker.

Revenue Per Available Room. A hotel industry measure that calculates room revenue divided by rooms available (occupancy times average room rate will closely approximate RevPAR.)

Rate Loading Instructions. A hotel industry term for the instructions provided to hotel properties for loading client-specific or TMC-specific rate codes as displayed in the GDS.

room with facilities

Describes a hotel room which has a bathroom en-suite. In some smaller two-star or three-star hotels facilities may refer to toilet and washbasin only.

round-the-world (RTW) (see “Around-the-World”)

A trip that begins and ends in the same city with no un-flown portions; internationally, with the same dollar amount on both portions .

route deal / route incentive

An agreement between a corporate customer and an airline. The agreement allows for an incentive payment to be made to the cient by the airline as a reward for loyalty.

The carrier and/or cities and/or class of service and/or aircraft type via which transportation is provided between two points.

routing fare

A fare based on a specified routing.

run-of-the-house (ROH)

A flat rate for which a hotel offers any of its available rooms.

Schengen Visa

A special visa that permits holders to travel to any of the 25 Schengen member countries on a single visa (rather than obtaining a visa for each country. It is only issued to citizens of countries who are required to obtain a visa before entering Europe for leisure, tourism or business travel. Schengen Visa holders are not permitted to live permanently or work in Europe. The following countries are currently active Schengen Visa members: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.

A specific time of year for a fare; High Season is the most popular time of year to travel to a specific destination and fares are more expensive at that time; Low Season is the least popular time of year to travel to a specific destination and fares are less expensive at that time; Fares affected by seasonality are usually indicated as such by fare basis coding and/or seasonality details listed in the fare’s rules.

The distance between aircraft seats, measured in inches and commonly used to show a passenger’s legroom.

security surcharge

Surcharge assessed by a carrier to cover costs of airport and in-flight security.

secondary carrier

Airline(s) flying the sectors preceding and/or succeeding the prime segment.

A journey from one point to another.

A flight; see Leg.

self-service reservations

Situation where the traveler makes his/her own reservations. A reservation generated by the customer using an online booking tool.

selling carrier

In a codeshare, the airline offering the flight for sale, under their vendor code

service fee

A fee charged by a travel agency to a company/individual for travel services.

Service Level Agreement

An agreement stating measurable performance commitments made to our customers.

Regular or schedulable bus/van transportation such as from an airport to a downtown location; regular air service on heavily-traveled routes (e.g., BOS-LGA).

A journey from and/or to an enroute point of a fare component.

Accommodations designed for one person.

SLA (see “Service Level Agreement”)

Designated take-off and landing times allocated to airlines at certain airports.

soft opening

Period when new hotel is open for business although not entirely finished – some services of facilities may not yet operate.

Standard Operating Procedure. A set of instructions that define the official standard for a specific process or situation.

Scope of Services. A document that defines the number, type, and intensity or complixity of services to be provided.

space available

Confirmation of a reservation subject to availability at the last moment.

special needs

Atypical traveler needs such as a special meal or wheelchair service.

split ticket(ing)

Issuance of two or more tickets usually for the purpose of obtaining a lower fare; usually applied to international itineraries to take advantage of fare and/or currency conversion differences.

Spouse fare

This type of are applies to selected destinations on a round-trip only basis and offers a discount of 50% to the spouse of a full first class or business class passenger. Economy passengers also qualify where there is no business fare.

SSR (see “Self Service Reservation”)

Special Service Request. A GDS request for a carrier to provide additional action for a traveler such as special meal, ticket number transmission, wheelchair, etc.

standard room

The normal hotel room type, generally with television, and en-suite bathroom.

A passenger on waitlist or one prepared to travel if space becomes available at the last moment.

Interruption of travel for more than domestic US – 4 hours; domestic US as part of an international journey – 12 hours; international – 24 hours .

stopover charge

An additional fee assessed for making a stopover.

STP (see “Satellite Ticket Printer”)

Any extra literature included with the delivery of travel documents.

sub-journey

A self-contained pricing unit that is combined end-on-end with another self-contained pricing unit on the same ticket; this fare construction principle is only used internationally.

surcharge (Q)

An airline-imposed fee included in fare calculations; see also Excess Mileage Surcharge, Fuel Surcharge, and Security Surcharge.

surface sector

Travel from one point or another not by air (ARNK – which stands for Arrival Not Known).

Travel 24. A BCD Travel department that services customers 24 hours a day when their normal business office is closed.

Ticket Fulfillment Location. An industry term for a virtual ticket printer that is shared by various BCD Travel ARC ticketing locations on the same GDS.

through fare

A fare applicable for transportation via an enroute city(ies) between the origin and destination of the fare that allows for intermediate points of travel.

A contract of carriage for an airline to transport a passenger from one point to another.

ticket on departure

Transportation ticket collected at the point of departure such as an airline ticket counter at an airport.

ticketed point

A city for which a flight coupon has been issued.

time and mileage rate

Car rental rate based on fixed charge for the rental period plus a charge for each kilometer or mile driven during the period of the rental.

TOD (see “Ticket on Departure”)

Tourist card.

A registration form required by certain countries indicating a traveler’s intended stay; used in lieu of a Visa and common in Latin America.

transaction

A Ticket issued; defined as all airline and rail tickets (electronic and paper) issued by BCD Travel or reserved by BCD Travel through a third party, regardless of whether the ticket is subsequently used, refunded, or voided in whole or in part. Cancellation of a reservation before a ticket is issued is not considered a transaction. Optional: Hotel and car booking made, regardless of whether or not the traveler uses the hotel or car reservation.

transaction – domestic air

Domestic – travel between two destinations that are within the same country. e.g. Frankfurt to Berlin

transaction – regional air

Regional – Travel within the same continent. e.g. Madrid to London

transaction – international air

International – Travel between two continents. e.g. New York to London

transaction – offline – traditional

A transaction that is initiated by an agent following a call/email request by a client

transaction – online high touch

Transaction – online low touch.

A transaction that originates via an online booking tool and then requires agent intervention or manual review/processing that is initiated by the customer.

transaction – online no touch

“Touchless E-fulfillment transaction” An electronic transaction entirely processed through an online booking tool and BCD central fulfillment service, without any agent intervention and where invoicing is provided via email.

A point at which the passenger changes aircraft; if the change is to/from the same carrier, it is an online transfer; if the change is to/from different carriers, it is an interline transfer.

transit lounge

An area within an airport for the sole purpose of international flight connections; travelers do not clear immigration or customs to enter the transit lounge as it is considered to be an international point.

transit point

Any stop at an intermediate point which does not fall into the definition of a stopover whether or not a change of planes is involved.

Travel Management Company

A travel management company (TMC) is a company that provides corporate travel services to businesses.

A BCD Travel umbrella brand name for our technology suite, which includes a variety of products listed below. read more

• TripSource:Active Itinerary A single point of access for traveler and travel arrangers for active and historical travel detail, including real time flight status, itinerary details, destination information and invoicing, billing and expense information.
• TripSource:Flight Alert Keeps travelers informed & productive while on the road by providing flight status information, including delays and real-time gate changes, for BCD Travel bookings.
• TripSource:Fulfillment Drive touch-less transactions with as little human intervention as possible while driving traveler contact behavior to minimize touches.
• TripSource:Portal (TSP) A comprehensive global solution to address traveler needs, travel program and corporation objectives. Arming travelers with rich content, productivity tools and critical safeguards for business travel, TripSource:Portal empowers travel programs as a centralized communications vehicle to deliver relevant, timely information and critical alerts to targeted audiences. The Portal expands traveler services while aligning program needs to drive savings, support business objectives and avoid corporate travel program risks.
• TripSource:Profile Manager (TSPM) Drives optimal data management by integrating profile management and online booking, and promoting secure web-based self-service maintenance of traveler-level detail.
• TripSource:Quality Measurement (TSQM) Ensures a means to track and manage supplier & transaction quality in addition to resolution of client concerns.
• TripSource:Rail Search (TSRS) BCD own rail booking tool for Deutsche Bahn only.
• TripSource:Ticket Tracker BCD manages and recovers committed travel dollars. Based on markets and supplier rules, BCD communicates with travelers to prevent loss of committed funds and when to apply unused funds toward future travel.
• TripSource:Trip Authorizer In response to growing concern for compliance, this module enables clients to implement pre-trip authorization requirements as well as post-ticketing compliance reporting.

Transportation Security Administration

twin for sole use

A twin-bedded reserved for sole occupency and charged out at a rate that falls between the single and double room price.

Two Factor Authentication

Also known as 2FA. Method of accessing a secure environment where a person proves their identity with two of three methods

User-Defined Interface Data. UDID remarks are standard and contain predefined reporting information such as lost hotel night reason codes, merchant billing codes or additional traveler data fields.

unlimited mileage rate

Car rental rate that covers all costs, other than insurance and petrol, for the duration of the rental, regardless of the distance driven.

Move to a better class of airline service, larger rental car or more luxurious hotel room.

validating carrier

Airline designated as the “owning” ticketed carrier; the carrier on whose “plate” the ticket is issued. The validating carrier is the carrier to which payment is submitted and is usually the first carrier on the itinerary (domestic) or the carrier on the first international flight (international). If a ticket is issued on multiple carriers or is validated on a carrier not on the itinerary, the validating carrier is responsible for payment to the other airlines on the ticket.

The process of stamping an air ticket or other airline document, at the time of issue, with the issue date, name and location of the issuing office and its IATA code number. Tickets not bearing such a stamp re invalid and will not be accepted by airlines.

value-added tax (VAT)

A general tax that applies, in principle, to all commercial activities involving the production and distribution of goods and the provision of services.

VAT reclaim

Value-added tax, or VAT, is included in hotel, dining and car rental bills and more when travelers go to countries that assess the tax. It can be a significant expense: VAT rates can be as high as 25%. The good news is most T&E-related VAT is eligible for reclaim. The bad news: In the past, it’s been hard to collect. But automation has made VAT reclaim for European Union transactions much easier. BCD Travel has partnered with VAT-recovery firm Taxeo to automate the process.

virtual credit card (VCC)

A VCC isn’t a physical card, but it has many of the same features as plastic corporate cards.

virtual payment

A virtual payment is a terminal-based payment method where the payment is delivered through a virtual card (VCC) instead of by check or cash.

An endorsement or stamp placed into a passport by officials of a foreign government giving a traveler permission to visit; not all countries require visas.

VCC (Virtual Call Center)

A network of call centers where the client calls one phone number, regardless of where they are based, that will be routed through to an available agent. For multi-national accounts this service would be multi-lingual as appropriate.

Virtual Multiple Purpose Document. A document issued by a travel agency or airline, working with BSP, as proof of payment for transactions and services, either related to an eticket already issued (example: rebooking fees) or for services other than flights (for items like surface transportation, transfers, and excess luggage charges).

A traffic document which has been spoiled or canceled.

Documents issued to confirm arrangements or used to be exchanged for services.

A list of people seeking a travel service that is sold out; generally, as other travelers cancel, waitlisted individuals are confirmed in the order in which their waitlist request was received – sometimes prioritized by frequent traveler membership.

When a hotel is sold out and there are no rooms available for a person who has a confirmed reservation, the hotel provide alternate accommodations at a different hotel.

an agreement to pay to use an aircraft with a crew , fuel, and insurance

wide-body aircraft

Aircraft with wide passenger cabins and seating configurations that require more than one aisle. Current models include Boeing 747, 777 or Airbus A380, A350

system that checks hand luggage at an airport, without damaging, for example, light-sensitive film material or laptops.

Yield Management

is a variable pricing strategy, based on understanding, anticipating and influencing consumer behavior in order to maximize revenue or profits from a fixed, time-limited resource (such as airline seats or hotel room reservations).

Zulu Time Zone (Z) has no offset from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Zulu Time Zone is often used in aviation and the military as another name for UTC +0. Zulu time, also known as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), is the time zone used by the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England. It is the basis for all other time zones in the world.

2FA, or two-factor authentication, is an extra layer of security used to protect online accounts. In addition to a password, users are also required to enter a code that is sent to their mobile device. This makes it more difficult for hackers to gain access to an account, as they would need to have both the password and the code.

Travel smart. Achieve more.

Get solutions for business travel that help you save time, money and stress.

• Search Please fill out this field.
• Newsletters
• Trip Planning

The Phonetic Alphabet for Aviation

It's Understood Worldwide No Matter What Language You Speak

Pilots and those in the aviation profession learn a special type of alphabet: the aviation alphabet. This is the alphabet used by pilots , air traffic controllers, and the military, among others, to correctly issue instructions.

The International Civil Aviation Organization created the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet, tied to the English alphabet, to ensure that letters are properly pronounced and understood by air traffic controllers and pilots around the world, despite what languages are spoken. The ICAO alphabet (as it's called for short) is used to avoid mistakes caused by letters and numbers that sound similar. Some letters—M and N, B and D—are easy to mistake for each other. That can be exacerbated if there is static or interference when communicating between the cockpit and the tower.

As an example, every aircraft has a tail number, like N719BW. When a pilot speaks with air traffic control or ground control, that plane would be identified as "November Seven One Niner Bravo Whiskey."

Organizations Using the Aviation or ICAO Alphabet

After the aviation organization created the phonetic alphabet in the 1950s, it was adopted by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the International Telecommunication Union, the International Maritime Organization, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions, and the International Amateur Radio Union.

Because the alphabet has been adopted by so many organizations, you'll also see the alphabet termed "The NATO phonetic alphabet" and there is a variation known he "ITU phonetic alphabet and figure code." But if you learn the alphabet explained here, you'll be communicating successfully via radio or telephone in terms accepted worldwide.

The Aviation Alphabet Worldwide

There are a few variations in this alphabet. Outside of North America, some pilots use the non-English spellings Alfa (instead of Alpha) and Juliett (instead of Juliet). This is because speakers of languages other than English and French may not know that "ph" is pronounced like the letter "f." With Juliett, the extra T is added because French speakers know that the single letter T is silent.

The ICAO Phonetic Alphabet

ICAO offers recordings and posters that help users properly pronounce the numbers and letters. Only 11 of the 26 letters—Bravo, Ernest, Hotel, Juliet(t), Kilo, Mike, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Whiskey, and Zulu—are given English pronunciations by the agencies listed above, although it's not necessarily the same pronunciations.

• N: November

ICAO Numbers

The ICAO also offers guidance on pronouncing numbers.

• 100: Hundred

Use of the Phonetic Alphabet in Today's Culture

Of course, non-military or those not in the aviation business are familiar with the alphabet through watching aviation and military shows on television. In the movie,  Whiskey Tango Foxtrot , Tina Fey stars as a journalist who travels overseas to Pakistan and Afghanistan to cover the war. It's easy to understand why the phonetic title was chosen over the original title, The Taliban Shuffle . "WTF," is a common Internet slang expression and may be exactly what the journalist would have said upon finding herself in an unfamiliar, war-torn land.

Related Articles

More related articles.

An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

• Explore sell to government
• Ways you can sell to government
• How to access contract opportunities
• Conduct market research
• Register your business
• Certify as a small business
• Become a schedule holder
• Market your business
• Research active solicitations
• Respond to a solicitation
• What to expect during the award process
• Comply with contractual requirements
• Handle contract modifications
• Monitor past performance evaluations
• Explore real estate
• 3D-4D building information modeling
• Art in architecture | Fine arts
• Computer-aided design standards
• Commissioning
• Design excellence
• Engineering
• Project management information system
• Spatial data management
• Facilities operations
• Smart buildings
• Tenant services
• Utility services
• Water quality management
• Explore historic buildings
• Heritage tourism
• Historic preservation policy, tools and resources
• Historic building stewardship
• Videos, pictures, posters and more
• NEPA implementation
• Courthouse program
• Land ports of entry
• Prospectus library
• Regional buildings
• Renting property
• Visiting public buildings
• Real property disposal
• Reimbursable services (RWA)
• Rental policy and procedures
• Site selection and relocation
• For businesses seeking opportunities
• For federal customers
• For workers in federal buildings
• Explore policy and regulations
• Acquisition management policy
• Aviation management policy
• Information technology policy
• Real property management policy
• Relocation management policy
• Travel management policy
• Vehicle management policy
• Federal acquisition regulations
• Federal management regulations
• Federal travel regulations
• GSA acquisition manual
• Managing the federal rulemaking process
• Explore small business
• Explore business models
• Research the federal market
• Forecast of contracting opportunities
• Events and contacts
• Explore travel
• Per diem rates
• Transportation (airfare rates, POV rates, etc.)
• State tax exemption
• Travel charge card
• Conferences and meetings
• E-gov travel service (ETS)
• Travel category schedule

Federal travel regulation

• Travel policy
• Explore technology
• Cloud computing services
• Cybersecurity products and services
• Data center services
• Hardware products and services
• Professional IT services
• Software products and services
• Telecommunications and network services
• Work with small businesses
• Governmentwide acquisition contracts
• MAS information technology
• Software purchase agreements
• Cybersecurity
• Digital strategy
• Emerging citizen technology
• Federal identity, credentials, and access management
• Mobile government
• Technology modernization fund
• Explore about us
• Annual reports
• Mission and strategic goals
• Role in presidential transitions
• Get an internship
• Launch your career
• Elevate your professional career
• Discover special hiring paths
• Climate Action
• Events and training
• Agency blog
• Congressional testimony
• GSA does that podcast
• News releases
• Leadership directory
• Staff directory
• Office of the Administrator
• Federal Acquisition Service
• Public Buildings Service
• Staff offices
• Board of Contract Appeals
• Office of Inspector General
• Region 1 | New England
• Region 2 | Northeast and Caribbean
• Region 3 | Mid-Atlantic
• Region 4 | Southeast Sunbelt
• Region 5 | Great Lakes
• Region 6 | Heartland
• Region 7 | Greater Southwest
• Region 8 | Rocky Mountain
• Region 9 | Pacific Rim
• Region 10 | Northwest/Arctic
• Region 11 | National Capital Region
• Per Diem Lookup

To eliminate the confusion caused by a duplicate regulation, we discontinued hosting the FTR. Follow the link below to view the official copy.

Access the federal travel regulation on eCFR.gov

Explore the official regulation publications on the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations.

Explore eCFR

The eCFR allows you to:

• Browse the Code of Federal Regulations as it existed at any point in time.
• Compare the regulations as they existed on any two dates.
• View a timeline of how the eCFR content has changed.
• Search for specific terms.
• Subscribe to changes in the regulations.

The Federal Travel Regulation summarizes the travel and relocation policy for all federal civilian employees and others authorized to travel at the government’s expense. Federal employees and agencies may use the FTR as a reference to ensure official travel and relocation is conducted in a responsible and cost effective manner.

Download the FTR (41 CFR) [PDF]

Last annual edition updated July 1, 2021. Prior years may be found at Code of Federal Regulations (Annual Edition) . Contents may be out of date. Refer to eCFR.gov for the most up-to-date regulation information.

Explore bulletins and other documents .

Tell us what you think

Per diem look-up, 1 choose a location.

Error, The Per Diem API is not responding. Please try again later.

No results could be found for the location you've entered.

Rates for Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. Territories and Possessions are set by the Department of Defense .

Rates for foreign countries are set by the State Department .

2 Choose a date

Rates are available between 10/1/2022 and 09/30/2025.

The End Date of your trip can not occur before the Start Date.

Traveler reimbursement is based on the location of the work activities and not the accommodations, unless lodging is not available at the work activity, then the agency may authorize the rate where lodging is obtained.

Unless otherwise specified, the per diem locality is defined as "all locations within, or entirely surrounded by, the corporate limits of the key city, including independent entities located within those boundaries."

Per diem localities with county definitions shall include "all locations within, or entirely surrounded by, the corporate limits of the key city as well as the boundaries of the listed counties, including independent entities located within the boundaries of the key city and the listed counties (unless otherwise listed separately)."

When a military installation or Government - related facility(whether or not specifically named) is located partially within more than one city or county boundary, the applicable per diem rate for the entire installation or facility is the higher of the rates which apply to the cities and / or counties, even though part(s) of such activities may be located outside the defined per diem locality.

Insider knowledge

Myidtravel help, frequently asked myidtravel support questions, what is myidtravel.

• How to cancel & refund a myIDTravel ticket?

How to contact myIDTravel?

Interpreting the myidtravel fare codes.

• The same itinerary has already been booked for a passenger with this name

An error occurred while booking a ticket on myIDTravel

Chances are that you need myIDTravel to  book your staff travel tickets . It is an online portal created by Lufthansa Systems for airline employees to book their non-rev tickets.

You are visiting the StaffTraveler website

You might have found this page on Google while searching for myIDTravel. StaffTraveler is an app to get reliable flight loads for your non-rev flights. We are not associated with myIDTravel.

How to cancel & refund a myIDTravel ticket?

Refunding a myIDTravel ticket involves two steps:

• Find your ticket
• Refund the ticket

1. Find your ticket ticket

To initiate a refund, the easiest way is to access the ticket via  Your flight list . You can also click on the  Manage Bookings & Tickets  button and enter your e-ticket number.

2. Refund the ticket

Click the  Refund  button. The details of your ticket will be shown. Click  Refund now  to initiate the refund.

• Refunds may be processed on any e-ticket with an  open  status, issued less than 365 days ago (this period may differ per airline).
• Partially used tickets and segments flown out of sequence may need to be refunded manually, which may take some time.
• It may take 4 weeks or longer for the refund to be processed. Fares and taxes for unused segments will be refunded by the ticketing airline to the credit card used during the listing process. You may not receive an confirmation by email.
• Refunds will not be issued for the mylDTravel fee for used portions of any ticket.

MyIDTravel support is notoriously hard to get in contact with. If you face any problems with:

• login or password problems

... myIDTravel suggests you contact your airline's staff travel department.

For other inquiries, you can contact myIDTravel using a form on  their website . You'll find a link to their contact form on the bottom of the page.

StaffTraveler is not in any way associated with myIDTravel.

When checking the flight loads in myIDTravel, you are presented a variety of fare codes. These letters represent a category of airline tickets available for purchase. The corresponding number is a rough indication of the number of available tickets for sale. These numbers might be out-of-date and are capped to 7 or 9 (depending on the operating airline). Also, the sum of the numbers does not equal the total number of available seats. Lastly, most airlines overbook flights, so these numbers do not represent how many seats are actually available to non-rev on.

• Business/first class: A, C, D, F, I, J
• Premium economy class: W
• Economy class: B, E, Y, X

Accurate and up-to-date load information can be obtained in the StaffTraveler app.

MYIDTRAVEL ERROR

The same itinerary has already been booked for a passenger with this name. please change itinerary data..

When you get this error, something has gone wrong with your booking. Most likely, the payment has failed. Your tickets are held for about half an hour, during which you cannot make a new booking for the same itinerary.

Wait 30 minutes and try again.

If you cannot access an unused PNR, it has either been cancelled previously or purged from the airline’s reservation system and is no longer available.

Access your e-ticket via the  Your flight list  to relist or refund.

myIDTravel is known to have reliability issues. If you're having trouble booking tickets on myIDTravel, it's worth trying again the next day. We advice anticipating errors and book your tickets in advance.

Making staff travel easy and stress-free