It’s been a while since you purchased an airline ticket. Whether you book on your own or contact me, here is some basic lingo!
Types of Flights
For most people traveling by air, the only thing that matters is that your flight is safe, on time, and as fast and simple as possible. The simplicity of a flight depends on the stops. A stop occurs whenever a plane lands, and there are different types. A connection is a stop that occurs when the passenger gets off a plane with the sole purpose of boarding another plane. A stopover is a planned break in a journey. Stops count as stopovers whenever the traveler stays at a domestic location for more than four hours—or, for international flights, 24 hours—unless no flight to the destination is available on that airline. If such a flight is available, you must take the next available flight to avoid paying for a stopover. Often, extended stopovers cost more money.
Types of Journeys
No matter the type of flight, you always will take four basic types of journeys:
• A one-way trip is a journey from an originating city to a destination city, with no return to the origin. The journey may be made on one or more flights and may or may not require you to change planes.
• A round-trip is a journey that returns to the city where it began, without additional stopovers. Thus, the ultimate destination is the originating city, with the same route used going and coming.
• A circle trip is like a round-trip except that the route on the return trip differs from the route on the outgoing trip. The journey involves two or more stopovers and returns to the originating city.
• An open-jaw trip is like a round-trip except that you either: (1) returns to a city different from the point of origin, or (2) departs for the return trip from a city other than the original destination.
As you can see, air can be complex. Let alone involving more than one carrier. Some work together and others do not!
THE TRAVEL INSTITUTE
AlwaysHarriet 