What is the difference between an e-ticket and a boarding pass?

An e-ticket is proof of purchase issued when a flight is booked and paid for. A boarding pass is issued at check-in and grants access to the aircraft. Both may arrive as email or mobile documents, but only the boarding pass is accepted at the security checkpoint and boarding gate.

What is the e-ticket number and where do I find it?

The e-ticket number is the 13-digit identifier assigned when a flight is ticketed. The first three digits represent the airline's numeric code. It appears on the booking confirmation email and e-ticket receipt, and can be retrieved by logging into the airline's website with the booking reference and last name.

Do I need to print my e-ticket to board a flight?

No. An e-ticket is stored in the airline's reservation system and does not need to be printed. At check-in, presenting a government-issued ID or booking reference is sufficient to retrieve the record. A boarding pass is then issued — printed at the airport or downloaded to a mobile device — and is required at the gate.

How does a managed travel program use e-ticket data for expense management?

In a managed program, the e-ticket number flows from the booking system into the corporate expense platform, where it matches airline card charges during monthly reconciliation. Navan automates this step by capturing ticket data at booking and pairing it with the corresponding card transaction, reducing manual matching and speeding up the expense close.

Can an e-ticket be changed or canceled?

Yes, subject to the fare rules on the booking. Refundable fares allow changes or cancellations without penalty. Non-refundable fares typically charge a change fee or issue a travel credit rather than a cash refund. Voiding the ticket within the carrier's designated void window avoids fees entirely. The fare basis code on the e-ticket indicates which rules apply.

What does the NDC transition mean for corporate e-tickets?

IATA's New Distribution Capability (NDC) replaces the legacy 13-digit ticket number with an Order ID as the primary reference for NDC-sourced bookings. Corporate expense tools that recognize only traditional ticket numbers may miss these transactions during reconciliation. Navan supports both legacy ticket numbers and NDC Order IDs, maintaining complete data across booking channels.

Navan - Business Travel Solutions & Expense Management

Electronic Ticket

A digital record of a flight reservation stored within an airline's computer reservation system, replacing the paper ticket entirely for commercial aviation since 2008. The e-ticket holds the passenger's booking details, fare rules, and ticket number and remains accessible via the airline's website using the booking reference and last name.

Victoria Landsmann

•June 11, 2026•

5 minute read

Key Takeaways

An electronic ticket, commonly called an e-ticket, is the digital record of a flight reservation stored in an airline's reservation system, replacing paper tickets entirely since IATA's 100% electronic mandate took effect on June 1, 2008 [1]. An e-ticket is proof of purchase; the boarding pass issued at check-in is the separate document that grants gate access.

An e-ticket is identified by a unique 13-digit ticket number — the first three digits encode the airline's numeric code — and contains the passenger name, flight details, fare class, and baggage allowance.
The most common corporate travel confusion: an e-ticket is not a boarding pass. The boarding pass is issued at check-in and is the only document accepted at the boarding gate.
In managed travel programs, e-ticket data feeds automatically into itinerary management tools, duty-of-care platforms, and expense systems the moment a booking is confirmed.
Navan connects e-ticket records to its corporate travel platform at booking, making each trip instantly visible for policy review and expense reconciliation.
Voiding an e-ticket within the carrier's designated void window avoids cancellation fees; the window and conditions vary by carrier and fare type.

What is an Electronic Ticket?

An electronic ticket (e-ticket) is a digital form of a traditional airline ticket, stored as a record in the airline's computer reservation system with no physical document required. The term is now synonymous with all commercial airline ticketing — IATA eliminated paper tickets from its Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) in June 2008 [1].

A corporate travel booking generates an e-ticket the moment payment is processed. The ticket number, a 13-digit string beginning with the airline's three-digit numeric code, becomes the authoritative reference for every downstream action: changes, refunds, upgrades, and interline connections all trace back to this number.

The confirmation email a traveler receives is a receipt for the e-ticket, not the ticket itself. The actual record lives in the airline's database.

What Does an E-Ticket Contain?

Every e-ticket stores a standardized set of booking data defined by IATA's passenger ticketing conventions. A complete e-ticket record includes:

Ticket number: The 13-digit identifier, with the first three digits representing the airline's numeric code
Passenger name: As it appears on the identification document used at booking (name mismatches are a common check-in obstacle)
Itinerary: Origin and destination airports, flight numbers, travel dates, and departure times
Fare class: The one-letter booking class code that determines fare rules, change fees, and upgrade eligibility
Fare basis code: The alphanumeric string encoding restrictions, minimum stay requirements, and refundability
Baggage allowance: Checked and carry-on entitlements per the carrier's tariff
PNR locator: The six-character alphanumeric reference linking the e-ticket to the booking record in the reservation system
Form of payment: The credit card reference or payment method used to purchase the ticket

Travelers who need to retrieve a lost confirmation can log into the airline's website with the booking reference and last name to access the full record.

How E-Tickets Work

When a corporate travel booking is completed through a booking tool or travel agent, the process first creates a passenger name record (PNR) in the Global Distribution System (GDS) or directly through an airline's distribution channel. Ticketing is a separate step: the agent or automated system exchanges payment with the airline's reservation system and receives the 13-digit ticket number in return.

Once the ticket is issued, it moves through a standard sequence:

Booking confirmation: The traveler receives an email with the ticket number, itinerary, and fare summary.
Check-in: At the airport or via the airline's app, the traveler presents ID or the booking reference. The system retrieves the e-ticket and issues a boarding pass.
Boarding: The boarding pass — not the e-ticket — is scanned at the gate.
Post-trip: The ticket number is used to match airline card charges during the expense close.

The e-ticket remains valid through all legs of a journey, including connections. When a flight changes or cancels, the ticket number stays the same; what changes is the associated fare transaction (a refund, reissue, or travel credit).

E-Ticket vs. Boarding Pass

These two documents are frequently confused because both arrive via email and both contain flight information. The distinction matters most at the gate and in expense workflows.

Document	Issued when	Primary purpose	Required at gate?
E-ticket	At booking (payment)	Proof of purchase and reservation record	No
Boarding pass	At check-in	Security and boarding access document	Yes

The boarding pass contains seat assignment, boarding group, and gate information determined at check-in. It is not generated until the traveler initiates check-in, which is why having the e-ticket alone is not sufficient to pass through airport security.

For corporate travelers managing back-to-back trips, the practical rule: the e-ticket number belongs in the expense tool; the boarding pass belongs on the phone.

Transform Your T&E Management with Navan

Make business travel work for everyone.

Get started

E-Tickets in Corporate Travel Management

In a managed travel program, an e-ticket plays a role well beyond air travel logistics. The ticket number is the primary key connecting the booking system to three critical downstream functions.

Duty-of-care tracking. The moment an e-ticket is issued, the confirmed record becomes available to the traveler-location monitoring system. Travel managers tracking personnel during disruptions or security incidents rely on ticketed records rather than unconfirmed bookings, since an e-ticket confirms the traveler has paid and the seat is held.

Expense reconciliation. The 13-digit ticket number is the reconciliation key that matches corporate card charges against booked flights during monthly close. When an airline charge appears on the card statement, the ticket number — often embedded in the transaction data via airline merchant codes — lets the expense system match the charge automatically. Navan captures e-ticket data at the moment of booking and surfaces it alongside the corresponding card charge during reconciliation, reducing the manual matching effort for finance teams.

Policy compliance. Corporate travel policy typically specifies advance booking windows, cabin class restrictions, and approved fare classes. When a booking is made through the corporate channel, these restrictions are enforced at ticketing. Trips booked outside the approved tool may not generate a ticket number visible in the company's system, creating gaps that finance teams resolve manually during close.

E-Ticketing and the NDC Transition

The standard e-ticket is defined by IATA's legacy EDIFACT-based messaging protocols. As airlines accelerate adoption of New Distribution Capability (NDC), the underlying data model is changing. NDC-sourced bookings use an Order ID as the primary reference rather than the legacy 13-digit ticket number, which means corporate systems that rely on ticket number matching for reconciliation need NDC-aware integrations to maintain data continuity.

For most travelers, this transition is invisible — a confirmation email still arrives, and boarding still requires check-in. But for travel managers and finance teams using travel expense management tools, the shift requires confirming that their platforms can ingest both legacy ticket numbers and NDC Order IDs without creating reconciliation gaps in the expense ledger.

Passenger Name Record (PNR): The booking record in the GDS or airline system holding passenger and itinerary data; the e-ticket is created from the PNR at the ticketing step.
Boarding pass: The document issued at check-in that grants gate access; distinct from the e-ticket and required to board the aircraft.
Global Distribution System (GDS): The intermediary platform through which most corporate e-tickets are issued; connects airlines, travel agents, and booking tools.
Itinerary: The flight schedule summary sent alongside the e-ticket confirmation; contains departure times, flight numbers, and connection details.
New Distribution Capability (NDC): The IATA standard modernizing airline distribution; NDC-sourced bookings may use Order IDs rather than legacy 13-digit ticket numbers.

Sources

[1] IATA, "E-ticketing." International Air Transport Association. The transition to 100% electronic ticketing across all IATA Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) markets was completed on June 1, 2008. https://www.iata.org/en/programs/airline-distribution/e-ticketing/

Frequently Asked Questions About Electronic Tickets

An e-ticket is proof of purchase issued when a flight is booked and paid for. A boarding pass is issued at check-in and grants access to the aircraft. Both may arrive as email or mobile documents, but only the boarding pass is accepted at the security checkpoint and boarding gate.
The e-ticket number is the 13-digit identifier assigned when a flight is ticketed. The first three digits represent the airline's numeric code. It appears on the booking confirmation email and e-ticket receipt, and can be retrieved by logging into the airline's website with the booking reference and last name.
No. An e-ticket is stored in the airline's reservation system and does not need to be printed. At check-in, presenting a government-issued ID or booking reference is sufficient to retrieve the record. A boarding pass is then issued — printed at the airport or downloaded to a mobile device — and is required at the gate.
In a managed program, the e-ticket number flows from the booking system into the corporate expense platform, where it matches airline card charges during monthly reconciliation. Navan automates this step by capturing ticket data at booking and pairing it with the corresponding card transaction, reducing manual matching and speeding up the expense close.
Yes, subject to the fare rules on the booking. Refundable fares allow changes or cancellations without penalty. Non-refundable fares typically charge a change fee or issue a travel credit rather than a cash refund. Voiding the ticket within the carrier's designated void window avoids fees entirely. The fare basis code on the e-ticket indicates which rules apply.
IATA's New Distribution Capability (NDC) replaces the legacy 13-digit ticket number with an Order ID as the primary reference for NDC-sourced bookings. Corporate expense tools that recognize only traditional ticket numbers may miss these transactions during reconciliation. Navan supports both legacy ticket numbers and NDC Order IDs, maintaining complete data across booking channels.