The litany of diverse accusations unfolded over the hour, but what interested me the most was the discussion about airport retail.  The programme suggested that now Heathrow’s terminal five is up and running, there will be nearly as much retail space at Britain’s biggest airport, as there is at the Brent Cross shopping centre.  This seemed to be an extraordinary idea since the purpose of airports is to get people from one place to another – or is it?

The programme interviewed Lawrence Hunt, Chief Executive of Silverjet – the low-cost transatlantic business class carrier, who put an interesting slant on airport retail.  When he approached Stansted airport asking for a thirty minute check-in time as demanded by his customers, he was allegedly told that it had to be two hours “because we want all the customers to go through the main terminal to get the shopping revenues.”

The implication is of course that whilst we endlessly wait at airports because of “increased security measures”, why we’re actually there is so that we can spend our cash and generate massive revenues for the airports. 

This debate could go on, but it got me thinking about what passengers could actually do with at airports since delays are not uncommon. 

For those of us who will never know the wonders that await beyond the doors of the business lounges and executive suites, there are some practical revenue generating alternatives which airports could offer which would allow passengers to fit life’s essentials into our increasingly hectic schedules.

The following ideas represent a list of things which I think would be really useful at big, international airports:

Medical centres – passengers with a couple of hours to kill could go and have a proper health check-up.  Most of us are too busy to bother on a regular basis and this would be a positive use of our time.  Equally, those who wake up with an illness or infection on the day they fly and prescriptions could be provided rather than passengers suffering during a long flight.  Vaccinations or boosters could also be provided for those who had forgotten to get them (timeframes for effectiveness might be an issue here admittedly).  Equally you could pick up a prescription for anti-malarial pills for example which you could take to the handily placed pharmacist.

Dentists – again, many people neglect going to the dentist and this could provide a check-up service.  If you can get your shoes shined why not a spot of tooth whitening or scaling before a big meeting or a wedding?  Additionally, there will be those who break a tooth or lose a filling the night before they fly and then have to endure an uncomfortable trip or holiday.

Opticians – people who have poor eyesight are hugely dependent on glasses or contact lenses.  If you misplace or break them the night before a trip, effectively your holiday could be ruined since it is unlikely you would have time to organise this before your flight.

Gym – many of us belong to well known fitness centres.  With a couple of hours to kill or longer, I would be delighted if a branch of my gym were available with non-members paying a fee and signing a disclaimer against injury since there would be little time for an induction. 

Language school – with a spare hour or so why not go and brush up on your language skills or indeed learn a few words of a completely new language to impress local people or your contacts abroad.  A few banks of sound-proof booths with a wide selection of languages to choose from might be a popular option.

Beauty treatments – I believe Heathrow does have a hairdresser tucked away in Terminal 4 but I think more of these would be a useful feature at airports. It’s precisely the kind of thing you never get round to doing (especially if you’re a bloke) and with a few hours to kill, this would be an option. Spray-tans, sunbeds and waxing treatments would get you ahead of the game for the beach.

Cinemas – on a long-haul flight, airlines often show films which have not been released in the UK.  Would it be possible to get special dispensation for airports to show advanced releases too?  Even if that were not the case, then a long delay could be made more bearable by seeing a film you had been meaning to watch. For very long delays this could help airlines keep passengers in one place while they await updates.

Library – a quiet sanctuary to escape the chaos of the airport would be very pleasant: like some of the high street book shops with comfy chairs and free coffee.

Travel insurance shop – I have called travel insurance companies at the airport a number of times having forgotten to get it beforehand.  It would be nice to do it in person and not through a call centre or online.

Kids – a play area for children would be excellent so that they expend some energy before long flights and also perhaps a crèche so that parents travelling alone could get the chance for some peaceful shopping.

These are just a few thoughts, but I do think British airports could make some more concessions to the traveller to make the experience more enjoyable and also less stressful.  Happy passengers will not choose to travel by an alternate means, will keep coming back and carry on spending money – this after all, is what the airports want.

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As such, you should read the terms of your insurance policy carefully since you may well find that luggage and personal items inside are not covered.  For example, I’ve just bought a yearly travel policy with, coincidentally, Insureandgo who offered very reasonable rates. But the wording of the policy (which I read just prior to starting this piece thereby ignoring my own advice) is a bit vague: I think my luggage is covered, but I wouldn’t swear to it. 

What I am certain of however, is that the total compensation pay-out which insurance companies offer for a lost piece of luggage tends to be comparatively low, so a decent set of clothes (not mine obviously) could well exceed the limit.  Additionally, individual items within luggage are usually limited to a few hundred pounds – in my policy £200 – so do not pack cameras, laptops and other valuables into checked-in bags.  Indeed, on closer inspection of my policy, they say they will not cover “Loss, theft or damage to valuables not carried in [my] hand luggage while [I am] travelling.”  This presumably means I can only put complete rubbish in my suitcase – which is fine, because my clothes are. 

At this point, you might be thinking you can claim compensation from the airline instead.  Under the terms of the Warsaw Convention you can, but not if the airline can show they took all reasonable measures to secure the arrival of your bag – though how they would do this is unclear.  The compensation is around £15 per kilo of luggage so in a lightly packed bag, you might not even get the cost of the case back. 

Policies differ amongst airlines: I can think of one couple I know who have funded a couple of holidays with the hundreds of pounds British Airways have given to them after losing their bags for days on end.  On the other hand, getting compensation out of one particular budget airline is, in my experience, well-nigh impossible – an expression springs to mind involving blood and stones.

So how can you avoid the lost luggage scenario?  You can’t. The answer is, don’t check your luggage in.  This really is the only solution though with heavy restrictions on the size and weight of your take-on bags, you will end up travelling pretty light.  Clearly this is not an option for a two week holiday, so checking your bags in, unfortunately is a “case” of entering the luggage lottery and hoping you don’t lose.

According to IATA calculations, lost bags cost the airline industry around US$3.8 billion per year.  Even with today’s exchange rates, this is an extremely sizeable sum and airlines are keen to cut this cost.  Unsurprisingly, a techie solution seems to be the answer and companies like Siemens has been trialling Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) technology.  This has been around for years, but until recently has not been a commercially viable solution on the scale that is needed for baggage handling. 

Essentially Siemens describe them as “an integrated radio chip with antenna, microprocessor and a memory to record all the relevant information”.  Each bag would be tagged with one of these just as barcode strips are added now.  The difference is that line of sight or optical contact is not needed to identify the luggage for routing purposes, so an awkwardly placed tag would not result in a failure of identification.  Tests have shown this system to be 99.9 per cent effective and for example RFID technology has been used in Hong Kong International Airport for several years now with great success.  Until this system is adopted globally though, the fiasco witnessed at T5 over recent weeks will continue – with lost luggage figures spiking during the summer holidays. 

I do have one final idea though: a number of small auction houses round the UK sell luggage after the airports have given up trying to find the correct owners.  This morally dubious practice means that potentially you could find your own lost luggage and then suffer the ignominy of having to buy back what was yours in the first place.  The chances of finding your bag are slim in the extreme of course and if you were unfortunate enough to lose your things in the first place, it’s optimistic to think your luck is going to change.

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With direct flights selling out fast and standard indirect options over £1000 plus, fans will have to be creative if they want to enjoy the historic night at the Luzhniki Stadium on May 21st.

With Skyscanner’s multihop search option, their dreams of an affordable trip could be a reality. Offering the ability to combine flights from different low cost airlines with a single click, Skyscanner can identify a number of unusual options for reaching your destination – if you are willing to take a slightly longer route.

Our current league of champion prices is as follows.

For the truly adventurous, why not incorporate other modes of transport? Overnight first class sleeper train tickets from Tallinn to Moscow are advertised at £121 or there are bus services from £10 for the 5 hour journey. An overnight stay is required in the in the Estonian capital but with a 3 star hotel costing £32, this makes this an affordable option. It also allows a day on the outbound leg and a half day on the return leg to explore the Medieval city centre (and the fruit ciders which I can recommend) while you wait for your connections.

As Douglas Adams said “I might not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be.” With Skyscanner’s help, you just might!

Prices updated and correct as at 12th May 2008

The European Commission, in their infinite wisdom, has recently approved plans to let passengers shout away on their mobiles in-flight after Ofcom agreed to the proposals.  Airlines will have a choice about whether or not they adopt the new technology provided by OnAir, but so far bmi, Ryanair (obviously) and Portuguese carrier TAP have welcomed the idea whilst Emirates and Air France have already trialed the new technology.

The way it’s going to work is that the plane itself will become a base station for mobile telephony and rather than mobiles seeking out ground-based networks, they will instead route directly to satellites.  Service providers will charge an as yet unspecified roaming fee as the sky effectively becomes a new “country” and the airlines, naturally, will get a cut of the profits. 

Right, that’s that bit out the way. 

Astute readers will have noticed I am not a fan of this idea.  I would be less appalled if airlines offered lectures on beating airport security, removed all the plane doors to save weight or provided cocaine and guns to people on flights out of Texas. 

The Telecoms Law of Morons states that when it comes to mobile phone usage, the volume of speech is in inverse proportion to the intelligence of the speaker.  These loud-mouths are also unable to work out how to put their phone on vibrate and are notified of an incoming call by playing an entire Kanye West album.  Twice.  Many of us will have suffered on trains from the passengers who insist on conducting endless, noisy monologues about the pitiful details of their woeful lives; though then at least, you can move seats perhaps (or throw their mobile out of the window).  On planes, these options are not readily available and as such, I predict that incidents of air-rage are going to sky-rocket.

“Airlines that offer OnAir communication services increase the value of their relationship with their passengers” says their website (www.onair.aero) though I think it needs re-wording.  “Airlines that offer OnAir communication services increase the value of things which will be smashed over people’s heads in huge punch-ups during their flights” is, I think, a more accurate assessment of the idea.

A spokesperson for Ryanair suggested that passenger annoyance was not going to be an issue since their flights were generally under ninety minutes, but for many business travellers, that ninety minutes is where they catch up on sleep after a brutally early start.  The last thing they, or indeed any of us want, is awful ring-tones and noisy conversations just as dozing off becomes an option.

I have looked at a fair few online blogs about this issue and having read perhaps a few hundred responses to the plan, I have so far only found one person who thinks in-flight mobile use is a good idea.  This cheery soul wanted to be able to call his family when terrorists take over his plane, but other than that, there seems to be universal dislike and, in some cases, outrage at the proposal.

As far as wireless communication goes on flights, text message only services (on silent mode) and internet access would be very useful for many (Skype and any other VOIP applications banned of course) and I can see the appeal, but I can’t believe there are people who travel on commercial planes who absolutely have to speak to those on the ground – though I am willing to concede that pilots might be the exception which proves the rule.  If your vocal input is so truly valuable in a global sense whilst in the air, then the chances are, you will have your own plane anyway and can do what you like. 

I think that passengers using mobiles on planes will not be a success and people will choose carriers where this facility is not available.  Lufthansa for example, has said it will not be adopting the system after research showed that a large majority of passengers were against the idea.  Airlines like Lufthansa should start promoting this relative peace in advertising campaigns and I think they could well see an increase in passenger numbers.  It seems that really the only people who want the service are the airlines themselves as a way of making more money at the expense of their passengers – we can only hope that, by ironically not listening to customers on the issue of mobile phones, their financial ambitions are put on hold.

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Aside from George Bush, most people agree that greenhouse emissions pose a very real threat to the environment and once you look into some of the statistics out there, it makes for rather unsettling reading.

GreenSkies is a “worldwide information network of environmental organisations concerned with aviation's environmental effects” and their website has some interesting facts and figures. For example, commercial jets produce over 700 million tons of CO2 every year and every time a person flies from Europe to the US, they generate between 1.5 and 2 tons of CO2. That figure sounds bad enough on its own, but when you bear in mind this is more or less the same amount that a European generates at home for heating and electricity in one year, then it feels rather uncomfortable.

The table below shows the amount of CO2 which is generated through various transport means per person, according to the website www.co2balance.com:

Key
*for a car with 2 litre engine or more
** for a car with 1.4 litre engine or less

Short-haul flights do not come out well in these comparisons since a vast amount of fuel is used for take-off regardless of whether you are flying from London to Australia or just across the Channel. Anyone with a “green” conscience should really think about getting the train where possible – and as far as getting to France is concerned – if you live in London, then this makes a lot of sense in terms of saving time.

Anyway, back to the planes: what’s being done about it in the airline industry?

Well, for example, European aircraft manufacturers are committed to producing new generations of engine and aircraft design and are aiming, by 2020, to make planes 50% more efficient than those from 2000.

There are also opportunities to further reduce CO2 output by integrating European air traffic control systems. The International Air Transport Association has suggested that a reduction of 12% of global aircraft emissions could be made if air traffic control processes were improved.

Of course the passenger can also do their bit by offsetting their own carbon footprint when they fly by paying money towards any number of schemes which then invest in companies or businesses which reduce carbon elsewhere. Plenty of European operators offer the opportunity to purchase a carbon offset when you buy your ticket (though it’s not always immediately apparent how) whilst Virgin Atlantic even give the passenger the chance to buy them in-flight. How passengers will feel about this potential “guilt-trip” remains to be seen – but at least they have a visible option to make themselves feel better.

Some of these schemes have come in for criticism however and in July last year, the Commons Environmental Audit Commission described one airline's carbon offset scheme as “risible” as it sold only enough offsets to account for 0.01 per cent of its emissions.

There are various schemes available to do this: companies can purchase Certified Emission Reduction (CER) credits compliant with the Kyoto Protocol, become part of the European Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) or utilise a Voluntary Emissions Reduction scheme (VERs) as part of a corporate responsibility initiative which can then generate CERs to be purchased by governments or organisations to meet their targets.

The problem until recently though is that this area has not been regulated and so there are a lot of companies out there making claims about how much of a CO2 reduction they are making which are remaining largely unverified. Additionally, it can become rather murky as to what percentage of your payment is absorbed into the offsetter’s finances as well as the price being charged per tonne of CO2.

On the 19th February 2008, the British Secretary of State announced the framework for the Code of Best Practice for Carbon Offsetting. At the moment, the code is voluntary but gives offset providers the choice as to whether or not they wish to seek industry accreditation for their offsetting projects. At the moment, the code only covers CERs though plans to include VERs could be included in the future.

To calculate your own carbon emissions for you flights there are various “calculators” out there and the list below is just an example:

The recent government proposal for regulation should help make this market less grey, but the key thing to investigate is which offsetting scheme the airline is using. Airlines tend to make this information public, so if you don’t like the look of the airline’s offsetting partner then, don’t make a payment to the airline and choose another company instead.

Much as I realise this is a minor complaint, I do think that it underpins a serious point. Clearly, part of the reason the budget carriers keep their prices down is that they often fly into secondary or tertiary city airports – which primarily are cheaper but also have more available landing slots. The problem is that often they are miles away from where you want to be. I picked a popular low-cost airline and had a look at some of their routes.

I accept that sometimes it will be the case that passengers will actually want to get to somewhere near Weeze or Torp (wherever they might be) and that is jolly lucky for them; but those people going for a weekend away however, are likely to want to venture to the bigger, tourist cities. It’s like a couple from Spain deciding to spend a romantic weekend in Luton rather than London. Somehow, I think it unlikely.

When I see Stockholm with Skavsta in brackets, I assume I am going to be landing somewhere near Stockholm, not over one hundred kilometres away. That is the same distance as travelling from Portsmouth to London. No tourist in their right mind would fly to Portsmouth and then trek on up to hit Big Ben and Harrods. And as far as I am aware, Vienna is not even in the same country as Bratislava which confuses me enormously.

I think carriers have a duty to make it clear to passengers that they could well be flying into an airport that is actually quite a distance from where they potentially want to be. Cheap flights are all very well but only useful if you know where you are going.

Just think - no more lengthy check-in queues, no trawling heavy suitcases from the car-park, no pacing up and down luggage carousels and no more pondering why your suitcase has visited more countries than you have.

I looked at a number of companies offering this service and there seemed to be some common issues. Firstly, they didn’t pick up at weekends and so either you’d have to miss work (because let’s face it, you will definitely need a decent job to afford this lot) or lug all your stuff to your workplace – which sort of defeats the purpose of the exercise.

Secondly, they tend to pick up your things several days before you go and deliver it back to your home again in a similar timeframe. Now, as an average bloke, I dislike shopping for clothes and consequently I possess a modest collection which caters for my needs very nicely. If I were to use this service for my two week holiday, I would effectively have to have a three week supply of things (since laundry on holiday is a no-no). This, I calculated, is 21 pairs of boxer shorts. Such a collection of pants is beyond the dreams of avarice as far as I am concerned and it’s not just a wondrous collection of smalls I would need either. Most of my wardrobe would go into my suitcase and I would be left either side of my holiday parading around in the remainder – another day out in my dinner jacket then.

It was also unclear what your luggage does before you turn up. I am no hotelier, but I would be unhappy having to deal with ownerless luggage for a couple of days. As the owner, I would be equally unhappy not knowing who was looking after my stuff especially since some of the sites also specify the bags must remain unlocked for security reasons when you hand them over. With my priceless collection of pants inside – are they mad?

My main issue was with the prices though. Even the more “reasonable” ones are still quite expensive and unless you are pretty well off or incredibly lazy then I think most people would prefer to lumber around with their bags. Where these services would be useful is for elderly and/or disabled people though I would be surprised if many could afford the prices.

People with children might want to use this service as well, so I invented a fictional family of four who were off skiing for a week (I know I use skiing a lot, but it’s a useful and popular hobby to illustrate the point). They all have skis and boots and two large suitcases for the adults and two smaller ones for the kids. The prices to get to France and back in April 2008 are as follows:

As you can see, at best, the cost is like taking an extra person with you. At worst, it’s the cost of a family holiday somewhere warm for a week. It might be worth noting however, that depending on your chosen airline (see article Luggage costs - weighing you down?), the same fictional family could well incur an extra £140 worth of extra baggage costs - even if they carried their own things.

Even so, despite it being a convenient concept, the practicalities of baggage couriering mean that I’d prefer to save the cash and take my own luggage with me on an extra holiday that year.

As far as I can tell, the term relates to journeys that are not really needed at all – the non-vital ones.  That’s all well and good, but how exactly does one decide which ones are needed and which ones aren’t? 

The main crux of the argument (from the lobby who are able to judge which journeys are important and which are not) is often levelled against the low cost carriers.  These airlines, they say, encourage people to fly when they don’t really need to: these airlines offer cheap tickets; these airlines fly when they are not full.  All terrible sins indeed, but not vastly different to those committed by the scheduled carriers who seem to get away without such a telling off. 

It might be worth, at this juncture, pointing out that the low-cost aircraft tend to be newer and more energy efficient than the fleets of more “established” carriers and thus the CO2 emissions per customer per kilometre are usually lower.  Those against low-cost carriers would not let a minor piece of scientific fact get in the way of a good rant however. 

Back to the problem though: which is more important?  A family of four flying from London to Orlando with British Airways to see dear old granny or a stag-do of ten flying from London to Edinburgh with Easyjet for the weekend?  I’m not sure of the metrics on which to base a judgement but it seems that there are people out there who are.  I would think the anti-flight brigade would not have a problem with the US trip in the slightest.  I suspect however, that the stag party would, in the words of granny, get their dander up.

The thing is though, if you calculate the amount of CO2 emissions from the two trips, they are not vastly different – the stag trip is a touch higher but then there are many more people going.  However, the stag trip is likely to spend a significant amount more when they are there – generating income for hoteliers and those in the hospitality industries who in turn will pay more taxes – which surely is a positive thing.

One website www.ecotravelling.co.uk acknowledges the difficulty in identifying what is unnecessary travel but suggests “moving as many of the “necessary” miles into the least damaging appropriate mode and minimising the “unnecessary” use of more polluting methods of travel.”  This makes perfect sense when considering taking the children to school or going to the supermarket, but you cannot really take the bus or train part of the way to New Zealand – well you can, but only if you want to add an extra month to your journey time.

Where this argument about identifying necessary journeys really stands up, is when the matter of business travel is considered.  Having worked in the city for some time, I feel I am vaguely qualified to comment on this matter.  After lengthy minutes of consideration, I have concluded the problem is this: people who like meetings.  Meetings mean that employees can spend a long time at work getting paid for not actually doing anything whilst pretending that they are.  People who like meetings also think that attending them (or better, calling one) makes them important – especially if they have lots of meetings all in one day.  If someone is in meetings all day, then they must be really important. 

Now consider the possibility of adding flying to meetings and you have an irresistible, time-wasting combination for many.  Flying adds at least a few more paid hours (possibly days - if you plan your meetings carefully in the Auckland office) and how important must you be if you have to fly to your pointless get-togethers?  Answer: not very. You’re just an airmiles-collecting idler.

With communications technology easily outstripping that of aviation development, it is surely possible to video conference on occasion rather than flying to the destination for a face-to-face chat.  Having reluctantly sat through many hours of boring meetings (enjoying the fact I was getting paid for doing nothing), I can honestly say, I have never been at a single one which could not have been conducted remotely.  Agreed, I was not very important, but I feel certain it is just about scalability.  Perhaps the CEOs can have a bigger phone than I had. 

Apart from the unlikely prospect of banning meetings, what “unnecessary” travel boils down to is a basic issue of personal responsibility.  Passengers’ travel should not be stigmatised by the anti-flying lobby just because their trip is not deemed “necessary” by others; rather the individual should consider whether or not a flight is actually required.  If you are going on holiday, then obviously it is really rather difficult to do this over the phone but in many instances, cheap, pollution-free communications really should be the answer.

At this point we need to make a distinction between the so-called “budget” or “no-frills” airlines (like Ryanair and EasyJet and so on) and the “scheduled” airlines (like Qantas and Air France for example). For the former, this single ticketing will not work because in a sense, you purchase two single tickets from them anyway; but with some of the major airlines, savings do appear to be possible.

I looked at a number of the big carriers and found three in particular where two single tickets were, in some cases, very much cheaper than the return package. Where this would probably not work is when flights are taken over a weekend period since this tends to make the returns more economical.

As such, I picked a random week in May 2008, flying out on the Monday and back on the Friday – as many business people do. The table shows a brief selection of the results:

This was just a cursory search with no scientific method to it and these were just several of the prices which came up. I assumed there would be restrictions on ticket purchases, so I called a nice man on the sales desk at one airline who told me that I was wrong and it was not possible that two singles were cheaper than a return. I explained that I was fairly sure I was right and asked if there were any reasons why I couldn’t book my flights as singles. He said that there were not, but that I was still wrong. We parted company - agreeing to disagree and I then hypothetically pocketed the saving.

I then spoke to our friendly travel agent from a leading British travel firm who confirmed that he regularly puts together “construction tickets” where he buys two single tickets for his customers. SITI and SOTO is how they are termed – Situated In, Ticketed In (where you buy the ticket from the country you are leaving) and Situated Out, Ticketed Out (where the ticket is bought from your destination country). He also suggested that using a different carrier for each single leg of your journey might save you money too.

A word of caution: an airline may not allow you to purchase tickets in this way since there may be restrictions on buying single tickets from a country where your credit card isn't registered. However, you should be able to check this prior to booking.

This trick is not going to always work but regardless of whether you are flying short or long-haul, it might be worth looking at the difference – to bastardise the old saying a little, two tickets could be better than one.

There's a fair amount of jargon in the airline industry and often it can leave us all a bit confused. Skyscanner has put together a list of travel-related words, phrases and acronyms to help you plan your journey.

A

ABTA – the Association of British Travel Agents.

APEX – Advance Purchase Excursion (fare).  These are usually the cheapest tickets the passenger can get though they are restricted in number.

Airport code – the three digit code which is unique to a specific airport. eg. LHR for Heathrow or LGW for Gatwick.

B

BAA – British Airports Authority.

Back-to-back ticketing – when the passenger combines two return trips with opposite start and destination points but uses only a single segment from each to achieve a lower overall fare.

Baggage allowance – the weight of the luggage the airline allows the traveller to check-in. Economy ticket holders are usually allowed 20kg whilst business and first class passengers able to take between 30-40kg depending on the airline.  Hand luggage is fairly standard between the airlines: one piece per passenger and up to 8kg in weight though the dimensions of baggage that is allowed can vary between carriers.

Base fare/rate – the basic price of ticket before taxes and other surcharges are added (these are usually a substantial amount particularly on longer flights).

Blackout periods – specific days or periods of time when special rates are not available due to high demand for flights.

Boarding pass – a card given to the passenger after check-in which allocates a seat number or indicates a boarding pattern.  The stub of the card should be retained after going through the boarding gate to show to the flight crew once reaching the aircraft.

Budget / Low-cost airlines – these are short-haul flights at bargain prices but with occasional drawbacks.  Usually the flights are from secondary airports which could be miles from your ultimate destination. Food and drink is often not included in the price.  Fares are usually non-flexible and can incur a hefty charge for changing travel plans.  On the plus side, low-cost carriers continue to add to their already impressive list of destinations which can offer real savings for travellers.

Bumped – this means that the number of seats on the flight has been oversold.  Sometimes you might be lucky and get “bumped” up to business or first class but more often that not, you will simply be put on the next available flight.  Try to check-in early to avoid this situation

C

Cancellation charges – penalties that you will incur if you cancel your flights.  Most fares have this clause in them so travel insurance is advisable if your plans are likely to change.

Capacity-controlled fares –  a certain number of seats on a flight to which a cheaper price has been allocated. This percentage changes depending on how quickly the seats are sold.

Carrier – the organisation responsible for transporting passengers or goods – in terms of flights, this will be the airline.

Carry-on – hand-baggage or luggage that has not been checked-in.  See restrictions under Baggage allowance.

Charter – an aircraft which is used by a specific group be it customers of a particular holiday company or an individual party.

Check-in – the time before departure when your luggage goes onto the airline and boarding cards are issued.  For long-haul this is 2 hours whilst short-haul is approximately 1 hour.  Be aware that in these times of occasional heightened airport security, the check-in time can vary.  To get up-to-date information it is best to confirm timings with the airline.

City pair – the chosen cities for departure and arrival.

Commission – the percentage of a ticket price which airlines pay their agents.

Companion fare – usually part of a promotion where another ticket may be purchased at a lower rate than the original fare.  Normally this is dependent on the two passengers travelling together.

Contract of carriage – this is the legal contract that the passenger enters into with the airline with the terms outlined when the traveller receives the ticket.

Confirmation – oral or written communication which informs the carrier that you will definitely be on a flight or flights.

Construction tickets – term given to two single tickets bought to make up a return flight. See SITI, SOTO and Split ticketing. 

Connecting flights – a journey where the passenger must change planes to reach their final destination. 

Connecting point – the airport where the traveller changes planes.

Consolidators – airlines often sell blocks of seats to a third party who then sell these to passengers at discounted prices.  The airlines are reluctant to publicly discount tickets and so mask this process through consolidators.  The tickets usually have a number of restrictions on them so check the conditions of your travel arrangements carefully before booking them.

Corporate rate – this is the discounted rate that organisations and companies can negotiate with the airlines.  Often the company’s country of origin will determine which airline it is – usually one of the national carriers.

Coupon – this is part of the ticket that the passenger hands over at check-in and also contains the contract of carriage.

D

Direct flights – a flight where the passenger does not need to change planes but the aircraft may stop en-route.

Discounted tickets – by shopping around you will often be able to find agents selling cheaper tickets than advertised by the airlines but usually you will subject to various restrictions.  Airlines also have promotions or special offers so it pays to keep an eye on who is offering what.

E

ETA – Estimated Time of Arrival

EST – Eastern Standard Time (GMT -5 hrs)

Excess baggage – checked-in luggage which exceeds the weight of the Baggage allowance.  If you are only just over then you might be lucky but be warned that payments on excess weight can be very expensive.

F

Hidden city faring – this is when a passenger organises their flights to achieve a final destination that is different from their official itinerary in order to get a lower fare.  For example if there were discounted tickets between London and Hong Kong with a stop in Dubai (which is actually where you wanted to go) then you would be guilty of the practising hidden city faring if you failed to return to the plane in Dubai to complete the final segment of the journey.  Airlines consider this practice illegal.

G

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) – the international time standard (also known as UTC – Coordinated Universal Time).

H
Hub – a major airport where an airline has many flights leaving to smaller destinations.

I

IATA – International Air Transport Association

Illegal connection – flights that are booked where the time between landing and taking off on the next flight does not adhere to the legal minimum requirements.  

Indirect flights – this means the passenger will have to leave the plane at some stage during the journey – either so that it can refuel or possibly so that the traveller can change planes in order to complete the trip.

Interline / Interlining – using multiple airlines to reach the final destination.  There may be a formal relationship between the carriers to facilitate baggage transfer and ticketing or it could simply be two or more unconnected companies where the traveller is responsible for luggage and connection timings (see Multi-hop).

J

Joint fare – an arrangement between carriers to charge special rates when a passenger uses their respective airlines.  The fares are negotiated by the airlines involved and the price is nearer to what the traveller would pay were they using just one company.

L

Long haul flight – a flight of considerable distance and time – often with the passengers suffering some significant jet-lag along the way.

Lowest Fare Routing (LFR) – the cheapest legal flight to the travellers chosen destination.

M

Minimum connecting time – the smallest amount of time that is allowed to change planes at an airport.  If these conditions are breached it is known as an Illegal connection.

Multi-hop or Multi-leg – a journey where the passenger does not just fly between two airports to reach their final destination but where they stop en-route any number of times and perhaps spend time in each of the destinations (see Stopover).  The flights do not need to be with the same airline but it is advisable to plan the journey carefully so as to avoid issues with ticket restrictions and onward connections.

N

Net fare or Net rate – the price of a ticket minus any third party commission or tax.

Non-endorsable – a ticket which cannot be used to fly with another airline.

Non-stop flight – a flight that goes directly from A to B without landing en-route.

Non-transferable – a ticket which is specifically for just one passenger and cannot be used by anyone else.

No-shows – the term relating to passengers or either arrive late or do not arrive at all to travel on their booked flight.

O

Offline connection – a journey where the passenger travels on multiple planes using multiple airlines.

Open-jaw – a ticket that allows the traveller to depart from a different airport to the one in which they landed.  For example you could fly from London to Sydney but return to London from Perth.  See Surface Sectors.

P

Package – flights, hotels and services which are bundled together and sold at a specific price.

Passenger coupon – the final portion of a ticket which acts as a receipt for the passenger’s own records.

PDT – Pacific Daylight Time (GMT -8hrs)

Penalty fare – the amount the passenger has to pay in order to make a change to the travel arrangements or cancel the ticket once it has been issued

R

Restricted to airport check-in – seating allocation and boarding passes which can only be assigned to the passenger at the airport.

S

Segment – an identifiable leg or part of a journey.  Usually defined by departure and arrival destinations.

Short-haul flight – one that is brief in terms of distance travelled and time in the air.  eg. UK to European destinations.  This is the chosen market of most of the low-cost carriers – at least for the moment.

Situated In, Ticketed In (SITI) – where you buy the ticket from the country you are leaving. 

Situated Out, Ticketed Out (SOTO) – where the ticket is bought from your destination country.

Split ticketing – when you travel using two single tickets instead of a return in order to obtain a lower fare

Standby – this is if a passenger holds a ticket that does not automatically guarantee a reserved seat means instead that they are waiting for availability.

Stopover – an overnight stay (or possibly longer) at a location en-route to your final destination.  This is usually done to break up a very long journey eg. London to Sydney with a stopover in Hong Kong.

Surface sector – the distance between departure airports using an open-jaw ticket.  The customer is responsible for organising the travel between the two points of departure.

T

Ticket issuance – purchasing tickets that have previously been reserved.

W

Window of convenience – the traveller’s ideal departure or arrival time – plus or minus two hours.

Whilst you might think that a few extra quid here or there, really doesn’t make too much difference to the cost of your holiday, if you have certain hobbies and like to take your sports kit with you - skiing or golf for instance - the difference between the price of flights offered by various carriers is actually very significant.

We had a look at the various baggage charges levied by some of the more popular airlines operating from the UK: