Every GDS does the same basic jobs — search availability, sell a segment, display and end a PNR — but each uses its own command syntax. If you regularly switch between systems, or you're learning a second GDS after training on one, this cheat sheet keeps the essentials side by side.
Core Command Comparison
| Action | Amadeus | Sabre | Galileo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sell a segment | SS1Y15JULJFKLAX1 | 0DL145Y15JULJFKLAX1 | 0:DL145Y15JULJFKLAX1 |
| Display PNR | RT | *R | *R |
| End transaction | ET | ER | E |
| Ignore/cancel changes | IG | IG | IG |
| Encode city/airport | DAN LONDON | WA/LON | DAC/LON |
| Decode city/airport | DAC LHR | WC/LHR | DAN/LHR |
| Fare display | FQD | FQ | FQD |
Note: exact syntax can vary slightly by market, agency configuration, and system version — treat this as a quick reference, not a definitive command manual.
Why the Commands Differ So Much
Amadeus, Sabre, and Galileo (Travelport) were each built independently, decades apart in some cases, by different companies for different regional markets. Sabre grew out of American Airlines and IBM's original system built for the US market; Amadeus was developed later by a consortium of European airlines; Galileo has its own separate lineage under Travelport. The underlying concept — a Passenger Name Record holding names, segments, and remarks — is shared, but the command language layered on top of it never converged.
Regardless of which system generated the PNR, the underlying data — airline, flight number, route, date, time, status — reads the same way once converted into plain text. This is exactly what a universal PNR converter is useful for when you work across multiple GDS platforms.
What Stays the Same Across All Three
- The core PNR concept: names, itinerary segments, contact, ticketing
- Two-letter status codes like
HK/SSfor confirmed,HLfor waitlisted - Single-letter booking class codes (though which letter maps to which fare rules can vary by airline)
- The general workflow: search availability, sell the segment, add required fields, end the transaction
One Converter, Every GDS Format
Paste a PNR from Amadeus, Sabre, Galileo, or Worldspan — PNRGenius auto-detects the format and gives you a clean itinerary instantly.
Try the Free Converter →