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Revenue Recognition
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2020
Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]  
Revenue Recognition Revenue Recognition
The Company categorizes the revenue received from contracts with its customers by revenue source as we believe it best depicts the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of our revenue and cash flow. The following table provides the revenue recognized by revenue source for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018 (in millions):
202020192018
Passenger revenue
Passenger travel$2,551 $7,395 $7,061 
Loyalty revenue - air transportation182 391 320 
Other revenue
Loyalty revenue168 201 168 
Other revenue56 107 109 
Total revenue$2,957 $8,094 $7,658 
TrueBlue® points earned from ticket purchases are presented as a reduction to Passenger travel within passenger revenue. Amounts presented in Loyalty revenue - air transportation represent the revenue recognized when TrueBlue® points have been redeemed and the travel has occurred.
Contract Liabilities
Our contract liabilities primarily consist of ticket sales for which transportation has not yet been provided, unused credits available to customers, and outstanding loyalty points available for redemption (in millions):
December 31, 2020December 31, 2019
Air traffic liability - passenger travel$964 $929 
Air traffic liability - loyalty program (air transportation)733 661 
Deferred revenue41 10 
Total $1,738 $1,600 
During the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, we recognized passenger revenue of $745 million and $878 million respectively, that was included in passenger travel liability at the beginning of the respective periods.
The Company elected the practical expedient that allows entities to not disclose the amount of the remaining transaction price and its expected timing of recognition for passenger tickets if the contract has an original expected duration of one year or less or if certain other conditions are met. We elected to apply this practical expedient to our contract liabilities relating to passenger travel and ancillary services as our tickets or any related passenger credits expire one year from the date of issuance.
In response to the impact of COVID-19 on air travel, we extended the expiration dates for travel credits issued from February 27, 2020 through June 30, 2020 to a 24-month period. Accordingly, any revenue associated with these travel credits, which are initially deferred in air traffic liability, will be recognized within 24 months. Based on our customers' behaviors and estimates of breakage, we expect $80 million of the outstanding travel credits at December 31, 2020 will be recognized into revenue beyond 12 months. We have, accordingly, reclassified this amount to air traffic liability - non-current on our consolidated balance sheets. Given the change in contract duration, our estimates of revenue from unused tickets may be subject to variability and differ from historical experience.
TrueBlue® points are combined in one homogeneous pool and are not separately identifiable. As such, the revenue is comprised of the points that were part of the air traffic liability balance at the beginning of the period as well as points that were issued during the period.
In April 2020, we executed a pre-purchase arrangement of TrueBlue® points with our co-brand credit card partner for $150 million. The funds are expected to be applied to future point purchases ratably over the course of one year. As the funds are not yet associated with a point, they are considered to be short-term and have been included within other accrued liabilities on our consolidated balance sheets. The value of funds received in excess of points acquired for this arrangement was approximately $38 million as of December 31, 2020.
The table below presents the activity of the current and non-current air traffic liability for our loyalty program, and includes points earned and sold to participating companies (in millions):
Balance at December 31, 2018$580 
TrueBlue® points redeemed
(391)
TrueBlue® points earned and sold
472 
Balance at December 31, 2019661 
TrueBlue® points redeemed
(182)
TrueBlue® points earned and sold
254 
Balance at December 31, 2020$733 
The timing of our TrueBlue® point redemptions can vary; however, the majority of our points are redeemed within approximately three years of the date of issuance.