Dummy Ticket vs Flight Reservation

These are mostly the same thing under different names, and the confusion costs people money because they buy the wrong product.

The terms

• Flight reservation — a seat held with the airline, unpaid, with a PNR, expiring. The formal term.
• Dummy ticket — the informal name for the same document. What people type into Google.
• Flight itinerary — usually the same again; occasionally just a printout with no booking behind it.
• Confirmed ticket — a purchased, paid ticket. A different thing entirely.

Which one embassies ask for

Consulate checklists almost always say flight reservation or itinerary, rarely dummy ticket. If a checklist says reservation, a held booking is what is wanted. If it says confirmed or paid ticket, it means exactly that, and no reservation will do.

What to ask a seller

Not "is it a dummy ticket" but "does it carry an airline PNR I can verify, and how long is it live". Those two answers tell you whether you are buying a reservation or a picture of one.

Why the informal name persists

Because it describes the use rather than the mechanism — a placeholder for a journey not yet committed to. There is nothing wrong with the word. There is something wrong with sellers who use it to mean an edited PDF.