A PNR is the six-character code your airline uses to store your reservation. A ticket number is a longer numeric code, often 13 digits on full-service airlines, where the first three digits identify the airline. A booking ID is the reference a travel website creates for its own records. For check-in, refunds or airport queries, the airline always needs your PNR.
Updated September 2026 · HappyFares
If you have ever looked at your confirmation email and wondered why there are three different reference numbers, you are not alone. Here is what each one is actually for, and which one to reach for depending on what you need to do next.
What Is a PNR and Where Do You Find It?
PNR stands for Passenger Name Record. It is a six-character alphanumeric code, a mix of letters and numbers, that the airline’s reservation system generates for your specific booking. It holds your itinerary, passenger names, contact details and any add-ons you selected. You will find it printed on your e-ticket or confirmation email, and it is the code the airline’s own website or app will ask for when you want to check in, view your booking, or request a refund. If you booked multiple passengers together in one transaction, all of them typically sit under the same PNR, which is why airline staff can pull up your whole group with a single code.
What Is an E-Ticket Number and How Is It Different?
A ticket number is a separate, longer numeric identifier tied to a specific passenger’s fare, not the whole booking. On full-service airlines, this is typically a 13-digit number, and the first three digits are the airline’s own IATA numeric code. Air India’s e-tickets, for example, begin with 098. The remaining ten digits identify your individual ticket. If you are travelling with family on one PNR, each passenger usually gets their own ticket number under that same PNR, which matters if you ever need to sort out a fare-related issue for just one traveller rather than the whole group.
What Is a Booking ID and Why Does a Travel Site Give You One?
A booking ID, sometimes called an order ID or reference number, is generated by the website or app you booked through for its own tracking, customer support and payment records. It is not an airline document. The travel site uses it internally to pull up your order, but once you actually need to interact with the airline directly, for check-in, a schedule change or a refund on the fare, the airline’s own PNR is what matters, not the booking site’s internal ID. Think of the booking ID as the receipt for your purchase and the PNR as the actual reservation the airline operates from.
Which Number Do You Need for Web Check-In, Refunds or the Airport?
For web check-in, always use the PNR (and often the last name) on the airline’s own site or app. For refunds and fare disputes, quote the PNR and, if you have one, the ticket number, since the ticket number ties directly to how the fare was issued. At the airport counter, staff will usually look you up by PNR or by your boarding pass, which encodes the PNR in its barcode. A booking ID from a travel site is mainly useful if you need to go back to that site for customer support, not for anything the airline’s own systems need.
Why Do Low-Cost Airlines Like IndiGo Only Show a PNR?
Several low-cost Indian airlines run on reservation systems that are effectively ticketless. Instead of issuing a separate 13-digit ticket number for each passenger, they rely entirely on the PNR as the single reference for the booking. This is a system design choice common among low-cost carriers worldwide, not a sign that anything is missing from your booking. If your confirmation only shows a PNR and no long ticket number, that is normal for that airline and you do not need to look for one. Full-service airlines, by contrast, tend to keep the traditional numeric ticketing format inherited from older global reservation systems, which is why you will see a long ticket number on some airlines and not on others.
Common Questions
Can two passengers on the same booking have different PNRs?
Usually no, if they were booked together in a single transaction, they share one PNR. Each passenger may still get an individual ticket number under that shared PNR on full-service airlines.
Does the PNR change if my flight is rescheduled?
Typically the PNR stays the same when an airline reschedules or reroutes your existing booking. A brand new PNR usually only appears if the airline cancels your original booking and issues a fresh one.
What if I only have a booking ID and not a PNR?
Check your confirmation email again or log into the booking site’s manage-booking section, since the PNR is almost always listed there even if the booking ID is more prominent. You can also contact the site’s support with your booking ID to retrieve the PNR.
Is a boarding pass barcode the same as the PNR?
The barcode on a boarding pass encodes several details, including your PNR, flight and seat, so scanning it effectively retrieves your PNR record, though the printed characters you see may show other reference numbers too.
Can I check in using just my ticket number?
Most airline check-in pages ask for the PNR rather than the ticket number, since the PNR is the reservation-level reference. Some full-service airlines also allow lookup by ticket number, but PNR is the safer, more universal choice.
What happens if I lose my PNR?
Search your email for the airline’s confirmation message, since the PNR is always included there, or contact the airline or the site you booked through with your name, travel date and payment details so they can look it up for you. Saving a screenshot of your confirmation before you travel is a simple habit that avoids this problem altogether.
Booking your next trip? Search and compare flights on HappyFares and keep your confirmation email handy, it has every reference number you will need.
Rules and fees change. Verify current specifics with the airline before you travel.
