Booking Flight while awaiting passport renewal ?

I believe that most airlines will allow you to skip the passport number and enter it after purchase. Or you could go into the record and change it later. But do that step at least a few days before the flight, so you can be matched against TSA no-fly lists, not just during online check-in the night before.

We now have three trips booked while our passports are out for renewal. We entered the old data when we made the bookings, and we will correct the data when the renewals come in. I would guess - someone who has done this can tell otherwise - that your passport number should stay the same, and you only need to correct the issue and expiration dates, but if the number changes, that can also be corrected. I can't believe this cannot be corrected online under "my trips' or whatever your airline calls it.

I believe a new passport means a new number. My numbers have always changed with each new passport, but I agree that it should not be an issue at all. Many, many people book flights before they have their passports (or their new passports) in hand.

Any advice since I have sent in my passport and don’t have my passport number or expiration date now?

As was mentioned, you should still be able to book without a passport. I know that I have for other people a number of times, certainly on Delta. When the screen for passport info comes up, see if there is a checkbox to uncheck, or to check to indicate "not at this time". As a last resort, just call the airline and ask or make the booking over the phone.

You can also check on the progress of your renewal at https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/after/status.html
Once it shows there, you can set up for email status, they will also give you n application locator number.

New US passports definitely come with a new passport number.

Since they need accurate data for you to fly, but not at the time of booking, just put in your old data now, and update it as soon as your new passport arrives. As said above, if you can't do this online for some reason, call them to ask what to do - quickly, so you don't miss getting your airfare at a good price!

Larry, when we renewed last year the number changed. You might have trouble changing the number on a reservation.

We once had trouble because we changed the name on a reservation. My sister's secretary was buying the tickets, and she didn't know that Jane is my middle name, and not the name on my passport. We were held up at every singe airport we encountered on that European tour. Every single one.

We booked flight last Feb to Paris and hubby did not have passport until after we booked.

I just booked a flight to Vienna and, although I have a current passport, wasn’t asked for passport information at the time of booking.

I've never had a problem booking an international flight without my passport in hand except for once when I was trying to book an overseas flight with American Air.

What you could do is call the airline in question, explain the situation which is a common one and book the ticket over the phone?

Thank you all for your feedback and responses. There was no way via the website to move past the screen requiring passport number, but when I call the airline directly they were able to do the booking over the phone. I will just have to update that information once I have the passport in hand again. Thank you again, crisis averted!

European airlines do this a different way. There are three separate transactions you have to do.
1) Buy tickets. Here you only have to enter than names.
2) "Advance passenger information (API)". This is where you enter passport details,
3) Do online check-in and get your boarding cards. Depending on airline this can be done between 48 hours and 1 month in advance.
You can do these all at the same time, or on different days, but you must do them in the order 1,2,3. You can do the API immediately after booking the tickets, or leave it until just before you do the check-in. This is a much more sensible system.