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[edit] Passenger Name Record

A Passenger Name Record (PNR) is a travel record for one or more people indicating the passenger name, travel agent contact information, ticketing details, itinerary, and name of the person making the booking. (N.B. As PNRs recycle after a time, the ticket number are more useful for some retrospective transactions with the airline.)

AA PNRs are six alphabetic characters, e.g. DOGRYN. (AA ticket numbers begin with "001" followed by ten digits; your itinerary may include by several ticket numbers.)

If you make a reservation on AA.com for four people in a single booking, then they will all appear on the same PNR. On the other hand if you buy four tickets in sequence, then the passengers will all have their own PNR. AA.com doesn't allow booking more than six passengers on a single PNR.

Linking and splitting PNRs are two procedures that agents might have to perform.

• If travel plans within the group change, then individuals might need to be split off from the original PNR so they can be assigned new itineraries.
• If you have elite status and want to use a Companion Upgrade, then only you and your companion can be in the PNR. The other travelers will have be split off from the PNR.
• If separate PNRs are ticketed, then you may want to have them linked together for a Companion Upgrade. Similar to when two passengers are on a single PNR, the companion temporarily inherits the status of the eligible elite member.

There is no way to undo a split or to combine multiple PNRs into one. Linking is the only option. Various events, such as a change of equipment, can cause a PNR to no longer be linked.

Some advantages of being on the same PNR:

• You're less likely to be split up in case of a seat reassignment
• When things go wrong (missed flights, mechanical issues, etc...) then having a single PNR can be simpler for the agent since there is less typing involved.

Some disadvantages of being on the same PNR:

• In some circumstances, you may want to be able to check-in separately for an international flight. In a multi-passenger international PNR everyone must check in at the same time.
• If one requests "sticker" upgrades for multiple (two) passengers on the same PNR, standard procedure dictates that the upgrades will clear only if two seats in the appropriate inventory are available at the same time. This may mean that individuals lower on the upgrade list may be granted the upgrade simply because they are requesting a single seat and not two. Even on the same PNR it is possible to request that upgrades be treated individually. Sometimes this works; sometimes it doesn't.

[edit] Other Aspects of a PNR

• If your status changes, you may want to call AA to refresh the PNR of any existing reservation so your new status is associated with your PNR so you will get a better chance at the upgrades. Using the automated "reconfirm your reservation" option should be sufficient to trigger it. There are reports that the refresh is now happening automatically. Best to double-check.