Boarding Group 5 – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Boarding Group 5 Eligibility
SSR CLID Requirements
Frequent Traveler
Other Miscellaneous Flight Booking Policies
Terms & Conditions
American Airlines boarding process provides an opportunity to assign all corporate travelers to Boarding
Group 5 unless they are eligible for a higher boarding group priority based on their AAdvantage® elite
status, or fare purchased. To help in your understanding of the Boarding Group 5 requirements and
eligibility we have created the below Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document for your review.
Boarding Group 5 Eligibility
1- How do I know if the corporate traveler qualifies for Boarding Group 5 benefits?
Customers only qualify when traveling on company business for an employer with an active American
Airlines Corporate Travel Agreement at the time of ticketing and travel. The reservation must be
booked and ticketed by the corporation’s authorized Agency of Record (AOR) to be eligible for this
travel benefit. Additionally, we require the corporate traveler’s reservation to indicate the corporate
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identifier (i.e. CART number) and the customer’s AAdvantage frequent flyer number to be eligible for
Boarding Group 5.
2- Who is responsible for entering the CART number in the corporate traveler’s reservation?
In order to identify which corporate travelers qualify based on their CART number, we now require the
AOR’s to enter the CART number in the SSR CLID field located in the customer’s PNR.
3- Do corporate travelers enrolled in the Business Extra or On Business program qualify for
Boarding Group 5 benefits?
Customers traveling on company business and ticketed on published non-discounted corporate fares
are ineligible for Boarding Group 5 priority. This includes customers purchasing tickets and enrolled in
the Business Extra program.
4- If the corporate traveler elects to purchase a Basic Economy fare will they qualify for Boarding
Group 5 benefits?
Corporate priority boarding benefits are unavailable when travelers purchase Basic Economy fares .
Please note elite status corporate travelers ticketed on Basic Economy fares are eligible for priority
boarding based on the boarding group assigned to the elite membership level.
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SSR CLID Requirements
5- What is an SSR?
SSR stands for Special Service Request (SSR) and is used by airport personnel to identify customers
who require special needs.
6- What does the CLID mean?
The CLID is a 4-letter reason code which follows the SSR entry to help identify a specific need. We
require entering the Corporate CART number in the SSR CLID field in the PNR so our check-in
systems identify which corporate travelers qualify for Boarding Group 5.
7- Is it possible to enter an SSR CLID when the flight segment status is “desired” (DS),
“waitlisted” (LL/HL), or “no segment” (NO)?
For Sabre users, flight segments require “sold sold” (SS) or “confirmed” (HK) status before entering
the 4CLID or 3CLID entry; therefore, the SSR CLID entry will fail if input prior to booking the itinerary.
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8- What are the GDS formats for an SSR CLID input?
AA Prime and AA Marketed (AA*/OA)
in the itinerary
AA Prime flights + BA/IB Prime
in the itinerary
GDS
C= CART number
A= AN number
Sabre, Abacus,
Infini, & AA’s
direct connect
Amadeus
0= 6 digit #
0= 6 alphanumeric
4CLID/C000000A000000
Flight segment must be “sold sold” (SS) or
“confirmed” (HK) prior to moving (NM) the
Level 1 star (customer profile) information.
SR CLID HK/C000000A000000
C= CART number 0= 6 digit #
A= AN number 0= 6 alphanumeric
4CLID/C000000A000000
3CLID/C000000A000000
Both formats are required
for mixed itineraries
SR CLID HK/C000000A000000
¤:3SSRCLIDAAHK1/C000000A000000
¤:3SSRCLIDBAHK1/C000000A000000
Apollo
¤:3SSRCLIDAAHK1/C000000A000000
or
¤:3SSRCLIDAAHK1/C000000A000000
¤:3SSRCLIDIBHK1/C000000A000000
SI.SSRCLIDAAHK1/C000000A000000
SI.SSRCLIDBAHK1/C000000A000000
Galileo
SI.SSRCLIDAAHK1/C000000A000000
or
SI.SSRCLIDAAHK1/C000000A000000
SI.SSRCLIDIBHK1/C000000A000000
3SSR CLID AA HK/C000000A000000
3SSR CLID BA HK/C000000A000000
Worldspan
3SSR CLID AA HK/C000000A000000
or
3SSR CLID AA HK/C000000A000000
3SSR CLID IB HK/C000000A000000
Apollo, Galileo & Worldspan require an SSR
CLID input per operating carrier in the record
locator (see above combinations)
9- Is it possible to enter ‘3CLID’ for all customer flight bookings?
Unfortunately, Sabre requires entering the ‘4CLID’ format when the flight segments are identified as
AA prime and AA marketed flights.
10- What does the sample format “C000000A000000” represent?
The six digits following the “C” represents the Corporate CART Number (six numerical digits – e.g.
“C123456”), and the six characters following the “A” represents the Authorization Number or AN (six
alphanumerical characters – e.g. “A12X3YZ”). Any CART or AN number identified in this document
are for example purposes only.
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11- Can you provide an example of CLID numbers entered and appearing correctly in Sabre?
4CLID – AA Operated and Marketed
3CLID – AA Prime to BA Prime
12- Does entering the SSR CLID (‘C000000A000000’) change the Tour Code requirements?
There are no changes to the Tour Code entries required by your contract terms. The SSR CLID entry
is independent of the Tour Code requirements.
13- What other joint alliance partners are included in this SSR CLID input?
British Airways (BA) and Iberia (IB) are the only joint alliance partners requiring SSR CLID entries as
shown in the above GDS format instructions (listed in the far right column of the GDS formats table).
14- Does Boarding Group 5 also apply to flights operated by joint airline partners?
Boarding Group 5 only applies to the boarding process for flights operated by American Airlines.
15- Why is an error message received when trying to move in (NM) the CLID formats when using
Level 1 Stars?
If the flight segment status is identified as something other than “sold sold” (SS) or “confirmed” (HK),
the Level 1 Stars are unable to move-in the required CLID formats.
16- Does entering the SSR CLID formats impact the boarding priority for elite status members?
Elite status corporate travelers receive a higher boarding priority when compared to non-elite status
corporate travelers, as boarding groups are based on their elite membership level. Please refer to
Boarding Process for more details.
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Frequent Traveler
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17- What if the corporate traveler has no AAdvantage frequent traveler number? Can they enter
their oneworld frequent traveler number instead?
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Corporate travelers are required to add their AAdvantage frequent traveler number to their
reservation to qualify for Boarding Group 5 during flight check-in. Click here to enroll your traveler in
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the AAdvantage program.
18- Will elite status corporate travelers ticketed on Basic Economy fares that have an SSR CLID
entered receive the higher boarding group or will they receive the Group 9 for Basic Economy
fares?
Elite members are eligible to board with their respective boarding groups. For more detail, please
refer to Boarding Process.
19- Will corporate travelers who are members of the AirPass program receive Boarding Group 5
when traveling on AirPass fares?
AirPass customers are eligible to board with their respective boarding group. For more detail, please
refer to Boarding Process.
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20- Will corporate travelers who are also Citi / AAdvantage Executive card members, receive
Boarding Group 5 benefits?
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Citi / AAdvantage Executive cardmembers are eligible to board with their respective boarding
group. For more detail, please refer to Boarding Process.
Other Miscellaneous Flight Booking Policies
21- Is there a requirement to reenter the SSR CLID when the corporate traveler reservation is
altered due to Irregular Operations (IROPS), schedule changes, Same-Day Confirmed Flight
Change or Same-day Standby?
If the flights rebooked remain in the original PNR there’s no need to reenter the SSR CLID to ensure
the travelers is assigned Boarding Group 5.
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22- Can we just enter the SSR CLID field for any one of our travelers who are regular members of
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the AAdvantage frequent traveler program so they will receive complimentary Boarding
Group 5?
The SSR CLID input should only be added for eligible corporate travelers with a valid Corporate
CART number.
23- Most of our corporate travelers will be assigned to Boarding Groups 1 - 5, so do we still need
to add the SSR CLID field?
Yes, we are requesting to please enter the SSR CLID field as this information is used to identify
corporate travelers and may be used for other purposes in the future.
24- What happens to corporate traveler reservations created prior to the implementation of
Boarding Group 5 and travel hasn’t started?
Unless the SSR CLID input is present in the eligible corporate traveler’s PNR at the time of check-in,
the traveler will not receive Boarding Group 5.
25- Should the travel agency re-add the CART/AN to the SSR CLID field for all of the AA bookings
traveling on/after March 1, 2017 to obtain Boarding Group 5 for non-elite customers?
To ensure all non-elite eligible corporate travelers receive Boarding Group 5 for travel on/after March
1, 2017, the SSR CLID input should be added to all PNRs for eligible corporate travelers.
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Terms & Conditions
26- What are the legal terms and conditions affiliated with eligible corporate travelers?
 Eligible corporate traveler applies to a customer traveling on company business for an employer
with an active American Airlines Corporate Travel Agreement at the time of ticketing and travel
 Only tickets that are booked and purchased via an authorized Agency of Record for the company,
and reflect the company’s unique identifier known as a CART number, are eligible
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 Customer must include an active AAdvantage number in their reservation prior to check-in to
receive Boarding Group 5 benefits.
 Corporate travelers ticketed on Basic Economy (B) fares are ineligible for Boarding Group 5
benefits.
 Corporate travelers will receive the higher boarding priority based on fare ticketed or based on their
elite status membership.
Updated: April 13, 2017
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