How to Pick the Right Dummy Ticket Provider

The dummy-ticket market has good services, mediocre services, and outright scams. Here's a checklist for telling them apart.

Five questions to ask

1. Is the PNR verifiable on the airline's own website?

This is the single most important question. A real reservation can be looked up on the carrier's "Manage my booking" page using just the surname and booking reference. If the PNR doesn't load there, the document is fake regardless of how nice the PDF looks.

Test it: order a reservation, then immediately try to verify it on the airline's site. If verification works, the provider is real.

2. What's the validity window?

Standard is 48 hours. Anything shorter (24h) is fine for last-minute orders but limits flexibility. Anything claiming more than 72 hours is suspicious — airlines don't allow holds that long without a fare class upgrade.

3. What's the per-passenger price?

Real reservations cost the provider money in GDS fees. A real one-way reservation can't profitably be sold below ~$10. Anything significantly cheaper is generating fake PDFs.

Standard pricing is $10-$20 for one-way, $15-$30 for round-trip. Higher than that is usually a markup; lower than that is a red flag.

4. Is there a real refund policy?

Reputable providers refund if delivery fails. Look for an explicit refund timeline (5 business days is standard) and a clearly named contact email. Providers that disclaim all refunds without exception are usually overselling reservations they can't always deliver.

5. How fast is delivery?

The standard is "within minutes" for routes covered by the major GDS systems, with some routes taking up to 4 hours during peak times. Anything over 24 hours is too slow for emergency use; instant delivery (under a minute) is suspicious because real bookings need a few minutes to propagate to the airline's system.

Red flags

• "Free" dummy tickets — these are always fake PDFs with no booking behind them.
• No mention of an airline name, just "ticket provider".
• Generic Gmail/Hotmail contact addresses instead of a domain-matching email.
• Claims of "premium" or "VIP" reservations — there's no such thing for unpaid bookings.
• Delivery promises measured in seconds — real bookings take a few minutes minimum.

Good signals

• Clear 48-hour validity window stated upfront.
• Per-passenger pricing in the $10-$20 range.
• Domain-matching support email and a refund policy in the terms.
• Customer reviews that mention specific airlines and routes.
• The booking reference verifies on the airline's own website.

Frequently asked questions