Airline ticket:

An airline ticket is an electronic or paper receipt issued by an airline or a travel agent to confirm that an individual has purchased an airline flight. The individual can then obtain a boarding pass at the airport, and use the ticket along with the boarding pass to board the flight. The most common ticket is for a return flight from A to B then back from B to A. However, tickets can also be issued for single or multi-stop journeys.

Tickets vary in flexibility. The most flexible tickets can be endorsed by the issuing airline so that they can be redeemed on other airlines. 'Open' tickets can be used for any flight (operated by the issuing airline) between the destinations listed on the ticket. However, most tickets can only be used for a specific flight operated by the issuing airline. Highly flexible tickets generally cost more than restricted tickets.

Airlines are increasingly using electronic tickets. Some airlines no longer issue paper tickets, while others now impose a surcharge if a paper ticket is requested. An actual paper ticket consists of a receipt coupon, and a further coupon for each individual flight (leg) of the trip.

Only one person can use a ticket. If multiple people are travelling together and they purchased their tickets at the same time, they will have the same record locator or reservation number, and can therefore be seated together. If they did not purchase their tickets together, most airlines can connect their tickets at the airport, though it may then be too late for the airline to seat the passengers together.