Dummy ticket sample: every field on the itinerary explained

A dummy ticket sample shows what the PDF itinerary for a flight reservation contains before you order one: passenger names, flights, cabin, local dates and times, airports, a booking reference (PNR), and on some layouts a status and a baggage allowance. This page walks through each of those fields on one invented example, so you know what every line on your own PDF means.

A reservation from Dummy Tickets Visa (DTV) is a flight reservation held in the airline's system without paying the fare, and it arrives as a PDF itinerary. The booking desk chooses the airline for your route, and each airline lays out its itinerary in its own way. Your PDF will follow that airline's format, so read the example for the meaning of each field rather than for its exact look.

The card shows the core details of the example: one passenger, one flight from New Delhi to Paris, a date and a booking reference. The table and the sections below fill in the rest of the same invented booking. None of it belongs to a real traveller, a real flight or a real airline.

The dummy ticket sample, field by field

Every airline itinerary carries the same core fields, even when the layout differs. The table lists them, says what each one tells a visa officer or an airline agent, and shows how it appears in the invented example. The sections after the table explain the fields that raise the most questions.

Passenger name: surname, given names and title

Reservation systems commonly hold a name as SURNAME/GIVEN NAMES with the title at the end, which is how the example prints SHARMA / ARJUN MR. Some itineraries keep that order. Others rearrange it and put the title first, as in Mr Arjun Sharma. The order on the page does not matter. The spelling does, so every letter should match the passport, given names and surname alike.

Our order form asks for the title, first name and last name separately, and the reservation is made from exactly what you type. When several people travel together, each traveller gets a line of their own on the same itinerary, up to nine in one order. Family and group bookings explains how that works in a visa file.

Airline, flight number and booking class

Each flight shows the airline's two-character code and the flight number. In the example the code is XX, a placeholder, because the example is not tied to any real airline. On your PDF it will be the code of the airline your reservation is made on, followed by the flight number. Some layouts add an "Operated by" line. That line matters on codeshare flights, where one airline sells the seat and another flies the aircraft, and the itinerary then names both.

Next to the flight sits the cabin, and sometimes the booking class. The example prints "Economy (L)", where L is the booking class letter, the fare category the seat was booked in. Each airline sets its own letters, so an L on one airline tells you nothing about an L on another. The letter also says nothing about whether the fare was paid. The glossary explains booking class and the other short codes.

Airports, dates, local times and time zones

Every flight shows a departure and an arrival, each with the airport, the day, the date and the local time at that airport. Airline itineraries often add a note that all times are local. Because of that, the clock difference between departure and arrival is rarely the flying time.

A worked example across time zones

Take the example flight. It leaves New Delhi (DEL) at 23:55 on Monday 12 October and lands in Paris (CDG) at 05:30 on Tuesday 13 October. On the clock that looks like 5 hours 35 minutes, but the flight takes 9 hours 5 minutes, because in mid-October Paris is 3 hours 30 minutes behind India. Europe's clocks go back one hour on the last Sunday of October (25 October in 2026), and after that date the gap becomes 4 hours 30 minutes. India does not change its clocks.

Flights that land after midnight

Watch the date on late flights. The example leaves on the 12th and lands on the 13th, and the itinerary prints the 13th against the arrival. If your last flight lands after midnight, the arrival date on your visa form is the landing date, and your hotel check-in should fit it. Flights home to India from Europe often do the same, leaving in the evening and landing the next morning. What travel dates to put on a flight itinerary covers choosing the dates themselves.

Airport codes and terminals

Airports appear as three-letter IATA codes with the city, and some layouts add the full airport name and a terminal. The code matters where a city has more than one airport: Paris has Charles de Gaulle (CDG) and Orly (ORY), so check that the code on your PDF is the airport you mean. In the example, the itinerary prints Terminal 3 at New Delhi and no terminal for Paris. A missing terminal is normal on an itinerary.

Booking reference (PNR) and status codes such as HK

The booking reference, or PNR, is usually six letters and numbers and appears near the top of the itinerary. In the example it is X4K9TR. You enter it with a passenger's surname, here SHARMA, on the airline's manage-booking page, as how to verify your PNR explains. Because the example is invented, that lookup would find nothing. Your own reference opens your booking while the hold is live.

Some itineraries print two codes: the airline's own booking reference, and a second reference from the travel agency or reservation system that made the booking. The airline's manage-booking page takes the airline's code. The other one identifies the same booking in the agency's system.

Many itineraries also show a status next to each flight. In reservation systems it is a two-letter code, and Travelport's published list of status codes gives HK as "Holds confirmed". Airline emails often print a word such as "Confirmed" instead, and some print nothing. A confirmed status means a seat is held on that flight for the passengers shown. It does not mean the fare has been paid.

If any flight on your own PDF shows HL, UC, UN or HX, message us on WhatsApp with your order ID before you put it in your file.

Baggage line, and why a reservation has no e-ticket number

Some layouts print a checked-baggage allowance for each flight, and others leave it out. The example shows 25 kg. Airlines state the allowance either by weight, such as 25 kg (sometimes written 25K), or by the number of bags, such as 1PC or 2PC, where PC means piece. The allowance comes from the fare the booking was made in, and it says nothing about whether that fare was paid.

A reservation has no e-ticket number. A ticketed booking has a 13-digit e-ticket number that starts with the airline's 3-digit code, and that number is created only when a ticket is issued against payment. Amadeus's developer guide to its flight APIs puts payment after the booking and says: "In the final step, a flight ticket is issued." A dummy ticket from DTV is held before that step, so your PDF carries a booking reference and no e-ticket number. It cannot be used to check in or board, as can I travel with a dummy ticket explains.

That gives you a quick test for any itinerary you are shown. If it lists a 13-digit e-ticket number for each passenger, or a fare and a form of payment, it documents a ticketed booking, not an unpaid reservation. PNR vs e-ticket number compares the two codes in more detail.

How a consulate reads a dummy ticket

An officer reads the itinerary against the rest of your file: the names against the passport, the route against the visa form, and the dates against the cover letter, hotel booking and travel insurance. What the rules ask for differs by destination. For Schengen visas, the EU Visa Code lists a "reservation of or return or round ticket" among the documents a consulate may ask for. For a UK visitor visa, the Home Office calls flight bookings "less useful" evidence, so an itinerary is optional there, as it generally is for US, Canadian and Australian visitor visas. A few rules, such as New Zealand's for visa-waiver travellers, ask for a paid ticket, which a reservation does not meet.

Check the rule for your destination in the visa guides, and see flight itinerary format for visa for the details an itinerary should show. We cannot tell you how a particular officer will read your file, and no document guarantees a visa. What a reservation gives you is a concrete travel plan that can be checked.

What to check on your own PDF when it arrives

• Each name matches the passport letter for letter, with given names and surname in the right places
• The route and dates are the ones on your visa form and cover letter
• The arrival date is the landing date, even when a flight lands after midnight
• The airport codes are the airports you mean, in cities that have more than one
• No flight shows HL, UC, UN or HX
• There is a booking reference and no e-ticket number
• You received it about one day before you need it, because how long a reservation stays live depends on the airline

When the format makes sense, order your own reservation with your passenger details. If you would rather see a real airline itinerary first, ask on WhatsApp for a sample with the passenger details removed.

Frequently asked questions