Airline Selling Lingo

Sometimes when you speak with people in the air industry or even travel agents they use terms which you might not know. While these items are no secrets sometimes it is handy to be in the know or if you are looking to get into the industry then you need to be in the know. (FYI Carrier = Airline)

Non-stop

an uninterrupted service that takes a passenger from a boarding point to a deplaning point without making any intermediate stops en-route

Direct

a single aircraft service that takes a passenger from a boarding point to a deplaning point via one or more transit points

Transit Point

a direct flight could have a transit point for refueling or enplaning/ deplaning passengers

Connecting

a flight from a boarding point to a final deplaning point involving a change of aircraft at an intermediate point. It’s usually less than 4 hours for domestic journey and 24 hours for international trip.

Connecting Point

a point at which a change of aircraft occurs

There are also two types of connections:

1. Online Connection: is a change of aircraft but travel remains with the same company
2. Offline Connection: is a change of aircraft but travel remains with the different company

Non-scheduled Carriers

are also knows as charter airlines. They served mostly vacation travellers.

Scheduled Carriers

are airlines that fly on a regular basis.

Domestic

1. travel within the same country
2. travel from USA to Canada

Transborder travel

from Canada to the USA

International

travel between different countries

Ticketed Journey

a flight that you have a ticket for

One Way

Travel from origin to destination in one continuous outward direction

Round Trip

travel away from origin to the point of turnaround and travel back towards the point of origin/destination

The two types of this one are:

1. Return: a round trip made with the same routing in the both directions
   (ex. East from Ontario to the UK then West from the UK to Ontario)
2. Circle: a round trip made with a different routing in either direction
   (ex. East from Ontario to the UK then East from the UK to Ontario - you go around the world)

FYI - "Point of Turnaround" - the final destination you visit before you turn around and head to the destination you started at

Point

stop on a trip

ex. Vancouver to Frankfurt to Vienna, each city would be a point

Segment

a portion of a ticketed journey from origin to destination (OW) or from origin to point of turnaround and from point of turnaround to destination (RT)

ex. Vancouver to Frankfurt to Vienna is one segment, the flight home would be segment number two

Outbound Segment

direction of travel from origin to the point of turnaround

Inbound Segment

direction of travel from point of turnaround to destination

Leg

a portion of ticketed journey from a boarding point to a deplaning point. Each flight coupon on an airline ticket represents a leg

Itinerary

a description of a passenger’s trip or journey. It consists of one or more segments

Ticketed Point

a city shown in the ‘itinerary’ section of a passenger ticket

Origin

the first city of a ticketed journey

ex. Vancouver to Frankfurt to Vienna, Vancouver is the origin

Destination

the final city of a ticketed journey

ex. Vancouver to Frankfurt to Vienna, Vienna is the destination

Point of Turnaround

the furthest point from origin of a ticketed journey (outbound destination of a return journey)

ex. Vancouver to Frankfurt to Vienna, Vienna is the point of turnaround

Area of Turnaround

all points of the itinerary which are not part of the country of origin

Intermediate Point

any city on the itinerary between origin and destination (OW) or between origin and point of turnaround (RT). It can be stopover or a connecting point

ex. Vancouver to Frankfurt to Vienna, Frankfurt is the Intermediate Point

Stopover

a voluntary interruption in an intermediate point

Connection

an involuntary interruption between origin and destination of a ticketed journey

Transfer

also known as a connection

Transit

any break in the journey at an intermediate point and which does not fall in the definition of a stopover

Checked baggage

registered baggage that will be in the belly of the plane

Unchecked baggage

hand

carried by the passenger and stored in the cabin in the overhead compartments or under the seats Piece Concept

The free baggage allowance for adult-fare paying passengers and children paying

Excess Baggage

if a passenger carries more than the free baggage allowance, excess baggage charge are assessed for the overage

Dangerous Goods

items not allowed to be checked or carried in baggage

The following are trip type terms usually used for tours or by travel agents putting packages together:

Open Jaw

a round trip that has a segment travelled by a surface method (ie. car or boat)

Single At Origin

where the surface sector is at the point of origin

ex. you are driving from Vancouver to Edmonton for your flight

Single At Point Of Turnaround

where the surface sector is at the point of turnaround

ex. your flight took you to Edmonton, you drove to Vancouver but then you are driving back to Edmonton from Vancouver.

Double

when there is an open jaw at both the point of turnaround and origin