Book on Hold: Create and Manage Pending Orders
Book on Hold is an essential function that allows the creation of a pending order without requiring immediate payment. This order has not been Issued (paid) and will expire after a defined time period. Agents typically use this option to provide offers to clients before proceeding to Issue ticket upon approval.
Create an Order On Hold
Most airlines support the Book on Hold option.
Procedure:
- Check Eligibility: To confirm which airlines offer the On Hold option, refer to the list of Airlines on this page and check the Issuing column.
- Check if On Hold permitted: During the shopping process, check the bottom of the chosen order details to see if the Book On-hold option is available.
- Complete Order: After entering the passenger details, click the Book On-hold button. Ancillaries can be added at this stage or at any point after the order is Issued.
Order Expiration and Time Limits
The expiration period for a pending order is set by the airline and can vary significantly based on the carrier, fare class, and time of booking.
Expiration Details:
- Navigate to your Orders and select the On Hold filter.
- Click on the desired order.
- The expiration details will be visible below the order summary.
Two time limits: In some cases, you may see two expiration times: one for the Order validity and one for the Price guarantee.
Some airlines may only provide a ticketing time limit (order expiration) without including a specific fare time limit. We recommend performing an order refresh after a few minutes to capture any updates from the airline, as time limits may change shortly after the initial booking.
You can export the order to PDF to share the booking details with the passenger.
Order Cancellation
If the airline permits cancellation of an On Hold booking, the Order Cancel button will be visible in BookingPad.
If the airline does not allow manual cancellation, the button will not appear, and the order will automatically expire after the defined period.
Issuing the Ticket (Payment)
To transition the pending order to a finalized, paid status (Issue ticket), follow this procedure:
- Click the Order Issue button.
- Ensure all required data and remarks are accurately completed. The system will notify you if any mandatory fields are missing.
- Choose the preferred Form of Payment (FOP): BSP (agency cash), card (credit and debit cards), easypay, or UATP.
- Click Proceed to finalize the payment and issuance.
The order status will update from On Hold to Ticketed in BookingPad. You will retain the ability to add remaining seats and services or make changes to the order.
