Can I book the same flight as someone else?

Yes. Any seat still for sale on that flight can be bought by anyone. You need the airline, flight number and departure date, then book the same flight in a separate reservation. Your fare may differ from theirs because prices change over time.

How do I know which flight someone is on?

Ask for a screenshot of their confirmation. The airline code and flight number (for example DL 264 or UA 918), the departure date and the two airport codes are all you need. Ignore their name and booking reference — you cannot and should not use those.

Can we sit together if we booked separately?

Usually yes, but it is not automatic. Call the airline and ask them to link or cross-reference the two reservations, then pick adjacent seats on the seat map. If seats are not assignable in advance, ask at check-in or at the gate.

Can I book a flight for someone else?

Yes. Airlines let you buy a ticket in another person's name — you just enter their full name exactly as it appears on their passport or ID, plus their date of birth. The payment card does not need to match the passenger.

How to find a flight from a confirmation screenshot

A confirmation screenshot contains everything you need in four fields: the airline code and flight number, the departure date, and the two airport codes. Read those off the image, search that route and date, filter to that airline, and match the departure time. Everything else on the screenshot — passenger name, booking reference, ticket number, fare class code, frequent-flyer number — is personal to them and useless to you.

How to read the screenshot

Flight number. Two letters and one to four digits, often printed largest: DL 264, UA 918, WN 1523. Sometimes the airline writes it without a space (DL264) or with a zero-padded number (BA 0117) — the leading zero is not significant.
Airport codes. Three letters each, shown either side of an arrow or the word "to". Big cities have several airports, so LGW is not LHR and EWR is not JFK. Match exactly.
Date. Watch out for ambiguous numeric formats. "05/09" is 5 September in Europe and 9 May in the US. If the screenshot also shows a weekday, use it to resolve which reading is correct.
Times. Departure times on confirmations are always local to the departure airport. A red-eye that departs at 22:58 arrives the next calendar day — the arrival date may legitimately differ from the departure date.
"Operated by". If the confirmation says one airline and "operated by" another, search the operating airline. That is the flight that actually exists in the schedule.

Multi-leg confirmations

Return trips and connections show several flight numbers stacked on one page. Each row is a separate flight that must be matched separately. If you only want the outbound, take only the first row. If they are connecting, note the connection airport — you will need to book both legs, and you should keep the same connection so you are not separated in the middle.

What to ignore, and why

Do not use their booking reference to look anything up. Airline "manage my booking" pages let anyone with a surname and reference view or even change a reservation, which is why you should ask people to crop that part out before sharing. You never need it to book your own seat.

Then search

Search the route and departure date on your preferred booking site.
Filter by the airline from the screenshot.
Find the result whose departure time matches, and expand it to confirm the number.
Book, then handle seating — see sitting together on separate bookings.

The faster way

SameFly does the matching for you: drop in a screenshot of their confirmation and it reads the airline, flight number, route and date, then sends you straight to that exact flight. It is free, no account is needed, and the image is never stored.

Drop a screenshot of your flight confirmation

Drag & drop, click to browse, or paste with ⌘/Ctrl + V

PNG, JPG or PDF

Common questions

Can I book the same flight as someone else?: Yes. Any seat still for sale on that flight can be bought by anyone. You need the airline, flight number and departure date, then book the same flight in a separate reservation. Your fare may differ from theirs because prices change over time.
How do I know which flight someone is on?: Ask for a screenshot of their confirmation. The airline code and flight number (for example DL 264 or UA 918), the departure date and the two airport codes are all you need. Ignore their name and booking reference — you cannot and should not use those.
Can we sit together if we booked separately?: Usually yes, but it is not automatic. Call the airline and ask them to link or cross-reference the two reservations, then pick adjacent seats on the seat map. If seats are not assignable in advance, ask at check-in or at the gate.
Can I book a flight for someone else?: Yes. Airlines let you buy a ticket in another person's name — you just enter their full name exactly as it appears on their passport or ID, plus their date of birth. The payment card does not need to match the passenger.