# How we reconcile PNRs in the last 72 hours before arrival

A practical 72-hour runbook for reconciling PNRs and arrivals before a conclave or partner meet, with states, exceptions and the questions to ask.

SSociana team·19 Oct 2026·5 min read

**Reconciling PNRs means matching each delegate’s submitted flight or train booking against the arrival record the travel desk works from, then fixing every mismatch before the delegate lands.** The 72-hour window below is the operating runbook we use to structure that work: it starts three days before the first arrivals, uses the hospitality workspace’s pending, provided and verified states, and ends with a single exception list the desk can act on. It is a process description, not a measured result.

If you only take one idea from this post, take this one: the goal is not a clean spreadsheet. The goal is a delegate who reads the right pickup on the right screen, and a desk that already knows about the three who will not.

## Why does PNR reconciliation go wrong?

A PNR is a booking reference, and it is easy to get wrong in boring ways. A delegate types a reference with a transposed letter. A flight is rebooked after the form was filled. A train and a flight are combined into one journey. A travel agent holds the real booking and the delegate does not know it. A companion is travelling on a separate reference. None of this is dramatic, and all of it lands at the airport if nobody catches it.

Sociana’s hospitality model is a two-way loop. Organisers create requests (text, choices, dates, documents such as ID proofs, PNRs and flight details) and participants answer in the app. The operations team reconciles, handles exceptions and publishes each person’s arrangement back as personal cards. The 72-hour runbook is simply the last stretch of that loop, when the cost of a mistake rises sharply.

## The three states that make the runbook work

Every item in the workspace sits in one of three states, and the runbook depends on keeping them apart:

| State    | Meaning                              | Who moves it     |
| -------- | ------------------------------------ | ---------------- |
| Pending  | Asked for, not yet answered          | Delegate or desk |
| Provided | Answered, not yet checked            | Delegate         |
| Verified | Checked by the desk against a source | Desk             |

The mistake is to treat provided as verified. A delegate who typed a PNR has provided it. Verification means someone compared it with the airline or the travel agent’s record. Our measure, [hospitality completeness](https://sociana.in/glossary/hospitality-completeness/), counts only people whose applicable critical fields are verified, divided by those who need arrangements.

## The runbook: T-72 to arrival

Time zero is the first expected arrival, in IST.

**T-72 hours: freeze the ask.** Stop collecting new forms from the general list and switch to chasing. Export the pending and provided lists from the [workspace](https://sociana.in/features/hospitality-requests-and-my-stay/), grouped by delegate category or hotel. Anyone still pending gets a direct nudge: a scheduled notification to the group, and a personal call for the most senior or most distant delegates.

**T-60: first matching pass.** Compare each provided PNR with the booking source. If the organisation books travel centrally, use the agent’s manifest. If delegates book their own, use the airline or railway record. Move matches to verified. Mark mismatches as exceptions with a reason: no such booking, name mismatch, changed time, wrong date, wrong airport.

**T-48: resolve the easy exceptions.** Most mismatches are typing errors or old versions of a booking. Contact the delegate, correct the record and re-verify. Publish the arrangement for everyone who is verified, so people start seeing My Journey and pickups.

**T-36: handle the hard exceptions.** These are delegates with no booking yet, with a pending visa or ID, or with a booking that does not reach the venue in time. Decide per case: arrange a different pickup, adjust the hotel check-in, or confirm that the person will not attend and release the room.

**T-24: second snapshot.** Recompute completeness by group. Any group below your threshold needs a named owner and a reason. This is also when you brief drivers and liaison officers using the same list the delegates see, so the desk and the delegate are reading one version.

**T-12 to arrival: watch changes.** Flights get delayed and rebooked. Keep the workspace open, update arrivals as information comes in, and make sure a change reaches only the delegate affected. Only the delegates affected by a changed hotel should see the change.

**Arrival day: the exception log.** The desk works from a live list. Each exception has an owner and a status, and the help desk tile is one tap from the delegate’s home screen. After the last arrival, close the loop: record what went wrong and why.

## What data fields should the PNR form collect?

Keep the form short and structured. A long form produces blank answers.

- Name as on the ticket, because mismatches start here.
- Mode of travel and the booking reference.
- Origin, destination, date and scheduled arrival time.
- Return details, if the organisation handles departures.
- Document status where required, with uploads handled by the document field.
- A mobile number for the pickup, and who else is travelling.

Collect sensitive documents only where you must, tell people who will see them, and agree retention before the occasion. Verify the wording and retention with your own counsel.

## Where does the 72-hour figure come from?

It is a working window, chosen because it is long enough to chase and rebook and short enough that delegates still read their messages. We schedule completeness snapshots at T-7, T-3 and T-1 in our measurement plan for exactly this reason.

## What does good look like?

The sensible targets are about process, not numbers we cannot yet defend:

1. Every delegate who needs arrangements has a state in the workspace by T-72.
2. Every provided item is verified or in the exception list by T-24.
3. Every exception has an owner, a next action and a time.
4. The desk and the driver see the same list as the delegate.
5. After the occasion, the exception log is exported and reviewed.

Our [GCOO Conclave 2026 case study](https://sociana.in/case-studies/gcoo-conclave-2026/) describes the operations behind a hospitality-heavy event in Jaipur, including PNR reconciliation and room arrangements across two hotels. Results for that event are not published yet and will be stated with denominators when they are.

## Frequently asked questions

**Is 72 hours enough?** For many conclaves, with a small team and a clean list, it is a workable final stretch. It is not a substitute for starting collection weeks earlier. Start earlier and use 72 hours to finish.

**Does Sociana book travel or hold hotel inventory?** No. We collect and reconcile information and publish arrangements. Booking stays with your travel agent or the delegates themselves.

**What about companions and plus-ones?** Companion hospitality is listed as a legacy route in some current apps, so confirm how it is configured for your occasion before you promise it to guests.

**Can I see this in a demo?** Ask for the hospitality workspace walk-through when you [contact the team](https://sociana.in/contact/).

[Hospitality requests & My StayThe feature this post is about.See how it works](https://sociana.in/features/hospitality-requests-and-my-stay/)

## Keep reading

[Hospitality requests & My Stay](https://sociana.in/features/hospitality-requests-and-my-stay/)[Live operations workspace & exception handling](https://sociana.in/features/operations-workspace/)[Help desk, SOS, emergency contacts & phrasebook](https://sociana.in/features/help-desk-sos-and-phrasebook/)[Reports & exports](https://sociana.in/features/reports-and-exports/)[Conferences & summits](https://sociana.in/event-types/conferences/)[Supplier, dealer & partner meets](https://sociana.in/event-types/dealer-and-partner-meets/)[How to reconcile PNRs with arrival lists](https://sociana.in/guides/pnr-arrival-reconciliation/)[How to collect PNRs, flights and ID documents](https://sociana.in/guides/collect-travel-and-id-documents-from-delegates/)

[Back to Blog](https://sociana.in/blog/)

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