A flight reservation has a reference, but the ticketing work may still be unfinished. Someone needs to know the deadline, arrange the permitted payment and check that ticket issue has succeeded. If those jobs belong to different people, the handover needs to be explicit. "I'll do it later" is a poor instruction when the booking has a clock running against it.

Your process should show what remains outstanding for each flight booking. Keep the customer payment record separate from the supplier's ticketing result. A deadline is useful only when the person who can act sees it in time. Build the workflow around the actual supplier arrangement, including any earlier instructions from your consolidator.

Distinguish the deadlines before making a promise

A search offer, a held reservation and a price guarantee can have different lifetimes. Read the conditions attached to the actual booking rather than applying a familiar deadline from another airline. If the information is unclear, ask the supplier before telling the customer how long they have. Record the answer where another adviser can find it.

Duffel's hold-order guidance separates the payment deadline from an optional price-guarantee expiry. It explains that some offers can hold space without guaranteeing the price. Eligibility must be checked for the particular offer. This is a useful example of why "held" needs a fuller explanation when you speak to a customer.

Don't turn a search result's expiry into a promise about a reservation you haven't created. Equally, don't assume a held booking includes a fixed price until its final payment deadline. Record the reservation status and any separate price condition in plain language. Your sales message should describe exactly what the supplier has provided.

Give the deadline an owner and a working time

Keep the supplier deadline with its stated time zone and identify the colleague responsible for completing ticketing. Set an internal action time that allows for your actual process, including approval or supplier assistance where required. That working time is your team's control, not an extension of the supplier's limit. Check bookings approaching a deadline before the responsible person finishes their shift.

Travelport's Smartpoint Cloud ticketing instructions show the ticketing date and time when retrieving an unticketed NDC booking. They also explain that agencies can restrict permission to issue tickets. Having the reference in front of you therefore doesn't establish that you can finish the job. Confirm who has the required access and who covers their absence.

Try a fictional handover where a booking needs attention after the original adviser leaves. Ask the covering colleague to find the deadline, the latest supplier record and the approved ticketing route. They should also be able to identify anything still required from the customer. If an answer depends on a private message, move the instruction into the shared booking record.

Fit payment collection to the permitted selling arrangement

Check how your business is allowed to collect payment and issue tickets before offering a delayed process. The CAA's airline-ticket-agent guidance sets conditions for the relevant exemptions from ATOL protection on flight-only sales direct to consumers. Those conditions include issuing confirmed tickets immediately upon payment. An airline's later commercial deadline doesn't remove that requirement.

Have the person responsible for your ATOL arrangements confirm the process that applies to your sales. Then document how customer payment, payment to the supplier and ticket issue are connected. Avoid importing a pay-later option simply because the booking platform supports it. The operating process must fit both the supplier's terms and your own selling arrangement.

Before completing ticketing, check the current itinerary and any required price verification. Duffel, for example, instructs partners to retrieve the latest order price before payment. Follow the equivalent procedure for the connection you use, then obtain any necessary customer agreement to a change. Our guide to comparing flight fares and baggage covers the details to examine when the offer itself has changed.

Check the result before closing the task

Submitting an instruction is a step in the process. Your team still needs evidence that the intended passengers and flights have been ticketed. Travelport's documented workflow displays passenger ticket information after ticket issue, including ticket numbers. Use the confirmation route specified by your provider and compare the returned details with the booking you intended to complete.

If the result is unclear, leave the task open and follow the supplier's support procedure. Record the original transaction reference and what has already been checked. Ask the person handling the case to coordinate any further attempt. This avoids two colleagues independently trying to resolve the same uncertainty.

When a deadline has passed, establish the actual supplier status before discussing replacement options. Duffel's hold-order guidance says unpaid space is released after its payment deadline. Other connections need their own documented handling, so don't assume your old reservation or fare remains available. Explain what you have confirmed and agree the next action with the customer.

Five checks for your next unticketed booking

1. Record the ticketing or payment deadline exactly as supplied, including its time zone. Keep any separate price-guarantee condition beside it so the team can explain the hold accurately.

2. Name the person responsible for ticket issue and their cover. Set a working action time that accounts for permissions, supplier opening hours and any required approval.

3. Check that payment collection and ticket issue fit your permitted selling arrangement. Resolve that process before offering a customer a hold or delayed payment option.

4. Verify the latest itinerary and required price information, then check the ticketing result. Keep the returned evidence against the booking and leave unresolved cases with a named owner.

5. Take the process to a flight booking engine demonstration or your next supplier review. Ask a colleague to complete a fictional handover and fix the first point where they have to guess.