American Airlines: confirmation code, 24-hour hold and US visas

How to look up a booking on American Airlines

1. 1On aa.com, open Manage trips / Check-in, or Your trips if you have an AAdvantage account.
2. 2Enter the confirmation code: six letters, shown on the confirmation email and the boarding pass.
3. 3Add the passenger’s last name. For a travel-credit lookup, the 13-digit ticket number beginning 001 works too.
4. 4For a held trip, pay from the confirmation email or from Your trips before the 24 hours run out.
5. 5If a travel agency or another website booked it, you can change it on aa.com without an extra American fee; later changes then stay with aa.com or American Reservations.

The free 24-hour hold, and who it suits

American’s hold page says: “On select American Airlines flights, you can hold your trip for free up to 24 hours if you book at least 7 days before departure.” You pick “Hold for 24 hours” on the Review and pay page and pay later from the confirmation email or Your trips. An unpaid trip cancels automatically, trip insurance is not saved during the hold, and you may hold only one trip per destination and timeframe; duplicates are cancelled.

Separately, a bought ticket can be changed or cancelled for a refund within 24 hours of purchase if you booked at least seven days before departure. Both policies sit alongside a US Department of Transportation rule that requires covered airlines to hold a quoted fare without payment, or allow penalty-free cancellation, for at least 24 hours on bookings made a week or more ahead.

For Indian travellers the hold is most useful once the US visa is already in the passport: it gives a day to confirm leave or family plans. It does nothing for a B1/B2 application, which needs no flight booking and comes after interview waits reported at six to twelve months in September 2026. If you still want to show intended dates, a flight reservation does that.

No airside transit in the United States

The US offers Indians no way to change planes without a visa. The State Department’s Foreign Affairs Manual says the Transit Without Visa programme “has been suspended indefinitely”, and describes the C-1 transit visa for people “traveling in immediate and continuous transit through the United States en route to another country”. Every American Airlines connection in the US therefore needs a US visa, whether you leave the airport or not.

A C-1 applicant interviews at a US embassy or consulate in India and must show onward transport, such as “a common carrier ticket or other evidence of transportation arrangements”, enough money and permission to enter the next country. That makes a connection through Dallas or New York to Mexico, the Caribbean or Latin America a visa application in itself. Do not build an itinerary through a US airport unless the traveller already holds a US visa.

Checking in for American at Delhi

Online and app check-in open 24 hours before departure and close 90 minutes before an international flight. At the airport, check-in and bag check close 60 minutes before flights to or from outside the US, but Delhi is on American’s list of airports with earlier deadlines, at 75 minutes. On codeshare and partner-operated flights the operating airline sets the times.

American’s international travel page reminds passengers that “Some countries require proof of return or onward travel, a visiting address and sufficient funds for your stay.” For a trip that ends somewhere with that rule, carry the return or onward booking as well as the visa.

Connecting to IndiGo in Delhi

American says it has “partnered with India’s largest airline IndiGo for service to 14 destinations in India”. AAdvantage miles are earned only on IndiGo flights marketed by American, not on 6E-numbered flights bought from IndiGo. The codeshare dates from 28 September 2021, when American also announced New York JFK–Delhi from 31 October 2021 and Seattle–Bengaluru, which we could not confirm ever operated.

The Delhi connection has a catch. After arriving from the US you collect your bags after immigration, clear customs and drop them again at the IndiGo bag drop at the Terminal 3 arrival counter, collecting the IndiGo boarding pass first if you do not have it. Trips starting in India are checked through as normal. Allow time for that sequence when choosing a connection in your itinerary.

American Airlines questions, answered