Upvote:3
There are two parts to an airline reservation: a ticket and the reservation itself. The ticket is a (now electronic, formerly paper) document that tells the airline you paid a specific fare to fly a specific route, and is represented by a 13-digit e-ticket number, beginning with the carrier's 3-digit ticket stock code (in Delta's case, 006).
The reservation is what holds space on a specific flight for you, and is how the airline knows John Doe would like to fly from JFK to LAX on December 1. This is represented by a six character code known as your Passenger Name Record, or PNR, sometimes also called your confirmation number, confirmation code or record locator.
Usually, when booking a flight, reservation and ticketing happen at the same time, but sometimes a reservation can be created but not ticketed; this is what sounds like happened in this case. Basically, your travel agent collected payment, created a reservation (and thus was able to give you a PNR) but for some reason, did not ticket the reservation. Oftentimes, carriers have rules about how long space can be held without ticketing; likely, Delta automatically cancelled the reservation when they saw you didn't have a ticket.
Your best bet right now would be to get in touch with the travel agent who originally booked the flight and have them do it over again. Know, however, that since some time has passed, your original flight may not be available at the original fare you paid. Since this is their error, I would demand that they cover any fare difference. If they refuse, demand a refund, or initiate a charge back with your credit card company.
If they are able to get you rebooked, get both the 6-character PNR and your 13-digit e-ticket numbers. And I would recommend only booking directly with airlines whenever possible; if, for some reason, it's not possible, make sure the travel agency you're using is a reputable one.
Upvote:18
Delta should be able to find your flight using your name and the flight numbers and date. If they don't, than chances are you don't have an actual reservation. You need to contact the company that took your money.