How to Read a Sabre PNR Line by Line (With Real Examples)

Sabre PNRs follow their own structure, distinct from Amadeus. If you're used to one and switching to the other — or just learning Sabre from scratch — this breaks down exactly what each line means.

A Real Sabre PNR Example

1.SMITH/JOHN MR
2  DL 145 Y 15JUL 3 JFKLAX SS1  800A  1105A
3  DL 892 Y 22JUL 3 LAXJFK SS1  600P  205A/23JUL
4  AP 555-1234
5  TK OK15JUN/AGT

Line 1 — The Name Field

1.SMITH/JOHN MR follows the same LASTNAME/FIRSTNAME title pattern common across GDS systems. The number before the period is just the passenger's position in the name list — useful when a PNR has multiple travelers.

Lines 2-3 — The Segment Lines

Breaking down DL 145 Y 15JUL 3 JFKLAX SS1 800A 1105A:

• DL 145 — Delta Air Lines, flight 145
• Y — booking class (full economy)
• 15JUL — travel date
• 3 — day of week code (Sabre includes this inline, unlike some other GDS formats)
• JFKLAX — New York JFK to Los Angeles
• SS1 — status: sell segment confirmed, 1 passenger (Sabre's equivalent of Amadeus's HK1)
• 800A / 1105A — departure and arrival times

Line 4 — Contact Field

AP 555-1234 is the "agent phone" or contact field — a callback number tied to the booking. Sabre requires at least one contact field before the PNR can be finalized.

Line 5 — Ticketing Field

TK OK15JUN/AGT records the ticketing status and time limit. OK means the ticket has been issued, followed by the date and who issued it (AGT for agent).

Common Sabre-Specific Quirks

A few things that trip up agents moving from another GDS: Sabre inlines the day-of-week digit directly in the segment line rather than as a separate token, arrival dates on overnight segments appear appended after a slash (like 205A/23JUL above), and the ticketing field format differs meaningfully from Amadeus's ticketing arrangement lines.