Amadeus lesson 3: Ticketing Arrangement & Save PNR

A Complete Beginner’s Guide to Finalizing a Booking in Amadeus GDS

After learning how to search for a flight in Lesson 1 and how to add passenger names in Lesson 2, you’re now ready for the most critical step in the booking process: ticketing arrangement and saving the PNR. In this third lesson, we’ll show you exactly how to finalize a reservation in Amadeus using the TKOK, RF, and ER commands — with a full video demonstration at the end.

Why Is This Step So Important?

A PNR (Passenger Name Record) is not a confirmed booking until it has been properly saved and ticketed. Without a correct ticketing arrangement, the reservation can be automatically cancelled by the airline after a short time limit — usually between 24 and 72 hours. That’s why every travel agent must master the final commands that turn a temporary PNR into a fully secured reservation.

Step 1: Add a Received From (RF) Element

Before saving the PNR, Amadeus requires a Received From (RF) element — this is the name of the person or agency requesting the booking. The format is:

• RF – The command to add a Received From element
• GDSHUB – The name of the agency or agent (replace with your own)

Step 2: Confirm Ticketing Arrangement (TKOK)

To confirm that the ticket will be issued according to the airline’s rules, you use the TKOK command:

This confirms to the system that ticketing will be handled according to the standard rules. If you need a different ticketing arrangement (for example, a specific time limit), you can use TKTL instead — but for most beginner scenarios, TKOK is the correct choice.

Step 3: Save and Retrieve the PNR (ER)

Once everything is in place, you save the PNR using the ER command (End and Retrieve):

After pressing Enter, Amadeus will save the reservation and return a 6-character Record Locator (e.g., ABC123). This is the unique code used to retrieve the booking later. Note that ET also saves the PNR but does not retrieve it — while ER does both in one step.

Step 4: Verify the Saved PNR

After saving, always review the PNR to confirm everything is correct. Check that:

• All passenger names match the passports exactly
• Flight details (dates, times, flight numbers) are correct
• The Received From element is present
• The ticketing arrangement is confirmed (TKOK)
• The Record Locator is visible at the top of the PNR

Common Mistakes Beginners Make

The most frequent errors with this final step include: forgetting to add the RF element (which prevents the PNR from being saved), using ET instead of ER and then losing track of the PNR, and ignoring the ticketing time limit — which leads to automatic cancellation by the airline. Another common mistake is closing the session without saving, causing all the work to be lost. Always double-check before ending your session, and never share the Record Locator publicly since it contains personal passenger data.

Video Lesson

Watch the practical, step-by-step walkthrough in the video below:

Conclusion

Ticketing arrangement and saving a PNR in Amadeus come down to three simple commands: RF to add the Received From element, TKOK to confirm ticketing, and ER to save and retrieve the PNR. Master these, and you’ve completed the core booking workflow in Amadeus. In the next lesson, we’ll learn how to issue the actual ticket and handle post-booking changes.