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I was thinking about airline confirmation numbers the other day. These are 6 digit codes (letters and/or numbers) that show up on your boarding pass or online account when you book a flight. These confirmation numbers are also called PNRs, which stands for Passenger Name Record. PNRs are used to access your flight details through your online account or the airline’s mobile app, they’re used whenever you are talking to airline staff either over the phone, through social media or at the airport, and they are printed on your boarding pass.

a person holding a passport and a purse

Is It Okay To Share Your Airline Confirmation Number?

So first let me address the fact that it is definitely NOT a good idea to share your airline confirmation number or PNR online before you fly. This is because anyone that has your PNR and your name can cancel your travel plans. You likely will not get any additional notice about it, because airlines assume that the PNR is basically the “password” to your flight. If someone has the PNR and the name of the person traveling, they can do just about anything to the flight, including completely canceling it.

I think that it is generally okay to share it with someone you trust, like a spouse, travel agent or trusted friend. For example, I use AwardWallet to track my trips (as well as track all my miles and points balances), and I share my travel plans including confirmation number with them. That way I have easy access to my confirmation numbers in one place if I need to make changes to my travel plans. Just be aware that anyone that has your PNR or confirmation number and your name can change or even cancel your travel plans without your knowledge or consent.

Should You Share Your Boarding Pass Online

This same advice goes to pictures of your boarding pass. I see it quite frequently that people post pictures of their boarding pass online, to social media. This is quite dangerous since your PNR and name are on your boarding pass, and anyone online that sees that information can cancel your flight. And once your flight is canceled, it may not be possible to “un-cancel” it.

DO NOT POST PICTURES OF YOUR BOARDING PASS ONLINE!

Is It Okay To Share Your Airline Confirmation Number After You Fly?

So, now that we know that you don’t want to share your airline confirmation number (or post pictures of your boarding pass) online before you fly, I was wondering if there was any issue in sharing your confirmation number AFTER you fly?

I couldn’t think of any reason that would cause issues, especially a few days or weeks afterwards, when there shouldn’t be any possible issues with baggage, or earning miles on the ticket, or anything.

The reason that I was wondering about this is that I had a “funny” confirmation code on a recent travel trip, and I wanted to post about it. But somewhere in the back of my head the advice about not sharing your confirmation code or PNR is rolling around, and I can’t decide if I am

The Bottom Line – Can You Share Your Airline PNR or Confirmation Number?

You definitely should not share your boarding pass, PNR or airline confirmation number BEFORE you fly. This includes posting pictures of your boarding pass online or to social media. The reason for this is that anyone with your confirmation number and name can change or cancel your flight without any additional consent from you. I was not sure about whether there would be problems with sharing your confirmation number AFTER you’ve flown. I didn’t think there would be a problem, but I figured that I would post here to see if anyone with inside airline knowledge could think of a reason why that might be a bad idea.

What do you think? Is it okay to share your airline confirmation number after you’ve flown?


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