If I book a flight ticket and indicate a frequent-flyer program membership number during the booking, will the membership number always appear on the flight ticket or boarding pass?
asked Jan 20, 2019 at 20:58
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When was the last time you got a printed flight ticket? I get booking confirmations and boarding passes but no tickets anymore.– Willeke ♦Jan 20, 2019 at 21:18
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@Willeke thanks, good point, I've widened the question to include boarding passes.– Franck DernoncourtJan 20, 2019 at 21:30
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3Formally, the FQTV or FQTS number(s) will never appear on a paper ticket or the e-ticket, because there is no space for it in these documents. However, the numbers are stored in the PNR and may appear on a printout of the PNR or an e-ticket receipt. If there are multiple PNRs held by multiple airlines FQTV details can get out of sync. The number will usually appear on the boarding pass but it was never mandated as required when there were boarding pass standards. If a FQTV number is missing from a BP, I would normally enquire to make sure it is recorded.– CalchasJan 20, 2019 at 23:17
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@Calchas Thanks! In case anyone wonders, PNR = passenger name record; FQTV = frequent traveller number for mileage earning; FQTS = frequent traveller number for status purposes. What they mean by ". If there are multiple PNRs held by multiple airlines FQTV"? Isn't there a 1-to-1 mapping between PNR and FQTV given one frequent-flyer program and one passenger?– Franck DernoncourtJan 21, 2019 at 0:49
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@FranckDernoncourt Say you have an AA&BA itinerary with AA (Sabre) holding the master PNR, if you go to ba.com and find your booking manually and update your FQTV number there on the Amadeus ghost PNR, it won't propagate back to Sabre. So when you print the master PNR from aa.com it won't show the FQTV info correctly as far as the Amadeus airlines on the ticket are concerned. At least, not usually.– CalchasJan 21, 2019 at 23:15
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3 Answers
The answer will potentially depend on the airline involved as there's no standard for things like this, but from my experience...
The Frequent Flyer number WILL appear somewhere on the "ticket". By "ticket", I mean that it will appear on the e-ticket receipt, or when the ticket is viewed on the relevant website. It's certainly possible that you'll need to go looking for it (ie, it might not be visible - you may need to go into the section to change it in order to see it, for example), but it'll be there.
The Frequent Flyer number MIGHT appear on the boarding pass. Generally there will be some indication there there is a frequent flyer number assigned to the passenger, and potentially what status they have, but it's not uncommon for the number itself not to be there, or for it to be truncated/masked in some form.
For example, on a United Airlines boarding pass, my FF number shows up a "UA-*G ******123" which means that my Frequent Flyer number is from United Airlines (UA), I have Star Alliance Gold status (*G), and the last three digits of my number are 123. For security reasons, the entire number is not printed.
As I said, at the start, other airlines will be different...
In my experience, yes, it typically will. (I can't prove that this will always be the case.)
If you don't see your frequent flyer number on your ticket or boarding pass, you should check with the airline to see whether your number was properly linked to your reservation, and to make sure that your miles / points get credited to your account.
(Of course, if the airline tells you "yes, your number is linked, we don't normally print them on the boarding pass", then that obviously should take precedence over this answer.)
answered Jan 20, 2019 at 21:36
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1If the passenger has status, that increases the likelihood that at least status will be shown.– jcaronJan 20, 2019 at 21:40
Just to confirm Doc's answer, here is an example of boarding pass issued by Alaska airline and with no mention of the frequent flyer program membership number:
answered Jan 25, 2019 at 21:40