Revenue

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2021

Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]

REVENUE

REVENUE

Revenue by Geography. The table below presents the Company's operating revenue by principal geographic region (as defined by the U.S. Department of Transportation) (in millions):

	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended  September 30,
	2021		2020		2021		2020
Domestic (U.S. and Canada)	$	5,412	$	1,672	$	11,290	$	7,675
Atlantic	1,116		365		2,111		1,799
Pacific	373		282		1,073		1,346
Latin America	849		170		1,968		1,123
Total	$	7,750	$	2,489	$	16,442	$	11,943

Advance Ticket Sales. All tickets sold at any given point in time have travel dates through the next 12 months. The Company defers amounts related to future travel in its Advance ticket sales liability account. The Company's Advance ticket sales liability also includes credits issued to customers on electronic travel certificates ("ETCs") and future flight credits ("FFCs"), primarily for ticket cancellations, which can be applied towards a purchase of a new ticket. ETCs are valid up to two years from the date

of issuance; however, all ETCs due to expire prior to December 31, 2022 have been extended until December 31, 2022. FFCs are valid for 12 months from the original ticket date; however, all FFCs issued on or before December 31, 2021 have been extended to be valid until December 31, 2022. As of September 30, 2021, the Company's Advance ticket sales liability included $3.0 billion related to these ETCs and FFCs. The Company is unable to estimate the amount of the ETCs and FFCs that will be used within the next 12 months and has classified the entire amount of the Advance ticket sales liability in current liabilities even though some of the ETCs and FFCs could be used after the next 12 months.

The Company estimates the value of tickets that will expire unused ("breakage") and recognizes revenue at the scheduled flight date. To determine breakage, the Company uses its historical experience with expired tickets and other facts, such as recent aging trends, program changes and modifications that could affect the ultimate expiration patterns of tickets. Given the uncertainty of travel demand caused by COVID-19, a significant portion of the ETCs and FFCs may expire unused in future periods and get recognized as breakage. The Company will update its breakage estimates as future information is received.

In the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, the Company recognized approximately $2.8 billion and $1.6 billion, respectively, of passenger revenue for tickets that were included in Advance ticket sales at the beginning of those periods. In the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, the Company recognized approximately $0.5 billion and $2.9 billion, respectively, of passenger revenue for tickets that were included in Advance ticket sales at the beginning of those periods.

Ancillary Fees. The Company charges fees, separately from ticket sales, for certain ancillary services that are directly related to passengers' travel, such as baggage fees, premium seats, inflight amenities and other ticket-related fees. These ancillary fees are part of the travel performance obligation and, as such, are recognized as passenger revenue when the travel occurs. The Company recorded $707 million and $1.5 billion of ancillary fees within passenger revenue in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, respectively. The Company recorded $205 million and $981 million of ancillary fees within passenger revenue in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively.

Frequent Flyer Accounting. The table below presents a roll forward of Frequent flyer deferred revenue (in millions):

	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended  September 30,
	2021		2020		2021		2020
Total Frequent flyer deferred revenue - beginning balance	$	6,185	$	5,670	$	5,975	$	5,276
Total miles awarded	439		268		1,071		1,056
Travel miles redeemed (Passenger revenue)	(391)		(87)		(781)		(444)
Non-travel miles redeemed (Other operating revenue)	(16)		(16)		(48)		(53)
Total Frequent flyer deferred revenue - ending balance	$	6,217	$	5,835	$	6,217	$	5,835

In the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, the Company recognized, in Other operating revenue, $484 million and $1.3 billion, respectively, related to the marketing, advertising, non-travel miles redeemed (net of related costs) and other travel-related benefits of the mileage revenue associated with our various partner agreements including, but not limited to, our JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. co-brand agreement. The Company recognized $378 million and $1.2 billion, respectively, in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, related to those agreements. The portion related to the MileagePlus miles awarded of the total amounts received from our various partner agreements is deferred and presented in the table above as an increase to the frequent flyer liability. We determine the current portion of our frequent flyer liability based on expected redemptions in the next 12 months (with the majority of these miles historically being redeemed within two years).