An airline booted me from a flight over a minor mistake (its own)

When it comes to flights, I’m meticulous. My seats are pre-selected. My frequent flyer number is linked without fail. I even double-check the spelling of my name. So, imagine my surprise at the airport, hearing that I don’t have a valid ‘ticket’ – and because of that, I can’t check in.

I certainly didn’t forget to book the flight: I did that months ago. I’ve noted my six-character booking reference and checked that the reservation still loads. But the airline I booked through has let me down.

Almost all airline bookings require a ticket number (Jetstar is a rare exception). It’s always 13 consecutive digits, separate to the usual six-character booking reference, and to the ‘flight number’ you’ll look for at the boarding gate. Airlines generate ticket numbers behind the scenes. To the traveller, it doesn’t matter what those numbers are – just that they exist.

At first, I had a valid ticket number: shown clearly on my booking. But later, flight schedules changed. My midday hop became a 3pm departure on a different flight number. I’d seen and accepted that change and received an updated itinerary. But the airline forgot the most important step, leaving me stranded.

There I am, at the Saudia Airlines ticket counter in Doha Airport, being told I can’t fly … and, to take it up with their SkyTeam partner Air France because they made the original booking (I’d used Air France points). But this issue can happen almost anywhere – including when booking using Qantas points.

Travellers often spend their Qantas points on airlines like British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Emirates. But it could be any combination of carriers. Any flight change – even when instigated by the airline – requires a formal update to the reservation. In industry terms, it’s known as ‘revalidating’ or ‘reissuing’ the ticket, depending on the circumstances.

As travellers, it shouldn’t be on us to know that. But know that some airlines require this all to happen very quickly when something changes. If it doesn’t, the whole booking could be lost – and it mightn’t be recoverable.

The problem became so widespread that in 2023, Qantas assigned a dedicated team to deal with these broken tickets. If travellers spot that something isn’t right, they can contact [email protected] for a fast fix (under six hours, if a separate, recent experience of mine is anything to go by).

That’s still not helpful if you’ve made it to the airport, so how can you avoid a meltdown in the first place and keep your journey on track? Every time you fly, check for a 13-digit ticket number. More importantly, if your flights change, look for a new ticket number or a fresh ticketing date.

Air France’s mistake was that my booking had neither, even though the new flight appeared. It’s a minute detail, but one that had me stuck buying a new, same-day ticket, and chasing Air France for my points back. One phone call a few days earlier could have avoided everything.

In the infamous words of Jerry Seinfeld talking about restaurants: “You know how to take the reservation … you just don’t know how to hold the reservation, and that’s really the most important part of the reservation, the holding.” Airlines, this applies to you, too.