Glossary of Terms
This section contains links to terminology commonly associated with the Travel Industry and modes of transport.
For a full downloadable version please access the following link:
A-Z list (Size: 278 KB)
Full A to Z Terminology
|
Airport Code |
Three-letter codes used to identify airports. |
|
Amenities |
Services and extras offered by a travel supplier. |
|
APEX Fare |
Advance Purchase Excursion: Generally the lowest and most heavily restricted airfare. |
|
ARC |
Airlines Reporting Corp: Airline-owned corporation which accredits travel agents and sets regulation governing airline-agency relations in the US. |
|
Back-to-BackTicketing |
Booking two overlapping round trips with opposite origin and destination points,where both bookings meet restrictions required to obtain a discount fare; thenusing one segment from each round trip for each direction of a single journey in order to get a lower overall fare. |
|
Baggage Check |
Official receipt issued by a carrier for luggage. |
|
Baggage Tag |
Personal identification that must be attached to luggage checked by an airline. |
|
Base Fare/Rate |
Price of a travel service before taxes and add-on charges. |
|
Blackout Periods |
Days or periods of high demand when special rates are not in effect. |
|
Blackouts |
Dates when lower rates do not apply |
|
Boarding Pass |
A card given to a traveller indicating the seat assignment. |
|
Bumping |
Practice of removing confirmed passengers from overbooked flights. |
|
CapacityControlled |
Limitation on number of airline seats, hotel rooms, or rental cars available under a particular rate or promotional offer. Also known as "yield management". |
|
Car Class |
Size and type of rental car. Classes differ from vendor to vendor, and are stated usually as economy, mid-size, full-size, luxury, and specialty. |
|
Car RentalAgreement |
Contract between car rental vendor and customer. |
|
Carrier |
Company that transports passengers or freight – normally refers to the airline industry. |
|
Carry-on |
Unchecked baggage. |
|
Category Supplier |
A supplier that specialises in offering a service specifically for one category/mode of travel. |
|
Charter |
Aircraft or other mode of transportation reserved entirely for use by a group. |
|
City Pair |
Origin and destination points of a flight segment. |
|
Code-sharing |
An airline marketing practice that allows two or more airlines to sell each other's flights using their own two-letter codes in travel-agent computer reservations systems. Passengers usually benefit from one-stop check-in and pooled frequent-flyer mileage. |
|
Collision-damageWaiver |
Coverage that provides relief from financial responsibility for the loss of or damage to the vehicle, but which is not needed by most consumers. |
|
Commission |
Percentage of sale price that vendors pay to travel agencies for selling their services. |
|
Commuter Carrier |
Regional airline operating from small locales to larger cities, often under an affiliate relationship with a major carrier. |
|
Comp Rooms |
Complimentary rooms which a lodging facility provides without charge based on total number of sleeping rooms occupied by a group. |
|
Companion Fare |
Promotional airfare whereby a second ticket may be purchased at a discount,provided two people are travelling together. |
|
Concierge |
Individual in a hotel responsible for attending to guests special needs and services. |
|
Connecting Flight |
Flight on which passenger must change aircraft at some point, referred to as the Connecting Point. |
| Consolidator |
Business that buys international tickets at deep discounts from airlines seating inventory that is expected to remain unsold. Consolidators resell tickets at a mark-up to travel agencies or travellers directly. |
|
Consortia Rate |
The rate given to a consortia of companies or more frequently used as acommon rate offered to all major travel service suppliers. |
|
Contract of Carriage |
An airline's written statement of passenger service, on file with the relevantauthorities and available at ticket offices, airport counters, and most airline web sites. A useful resource for passengers requesting accommodations due to delayed and cancelled flights. |
|
Corporate Rate |
Discount rate available to travelling business men and women 1 Special rates have been negotiated between the corporation and CategorySupplier 2 |
|
CRS |
Computer reservations system; travel-booking tool used by travel agents; also known as GDS (global distribution system). |
| Daily Rate/DailyRental |
A daily rental is for a 24-hour period. |
|
Delivery Charge |
A Rental Car Company charge for delivering to home or point of business. |
|
Departure Tax |
A tax levied when departing a country by land, sea or air. |
|
Deregulation |
The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 ended U.S. Government oversight of airline routes and fares. |
|
Discount Fares |
Short-term promotional fares or other discounted fares of varied duration. |
|
Double |
Hotel room with one double bed, or sometimes a room designed to accommodate two people. |
|
Drop-off Charge |
A fee added for returning the vehicle to a different location. |
|
e-ticketing |
Process that offers electronic reservations rather than issuing paper tickets. |
|
Extended Stay |
Generally, a hotel stay of seven or more nights. |
|
Fare Basis |
Conditions, including service class and ticketing provisions that determine a fare. Fare basis is designated by identifying letters and/or numbers on a ticket. |
|
Flat Rate |
Specific room rate negotiated by a group and a hotel. |
|
Flight, Connecting |
A flight with an intermediate stop and a change of aircraft, and possibly a change of airlines. |
|
Flight, Direct |
A flight with one or more intermediate stops, but no change of aircraft. |
|
Flight, Non-stop |
A flight with no intermediate stops. |
|
Folio |
Written or electronic record of hotel guest's account of financial transactions within the property. |
| GDS |
Global Distribution System used to access supplier inventory by the TMC orTSP. |
|
GNE |
Global New Entrant competing global reservations system to traditionalCRS/GDS. |
|
GNR |
Guest name record; an electronic file for each hotel guest. |
|
Group Rate |
Room rate charged by a hotel for a group of 10 or more guests. |
|
Hourly Charges |
Vehicles are rented on a daily, 24-hour basis. Hourly charges will apply when a consumer returns the vehicle after their expected time of return. |
|
Hub |
Airport at which an airline has major operations and connecting flights to smaller destinations. |
|
Hub-and-Spoke |
An airline system that involves carrying passengers from origin cities to majorairport hubs, for connecting flights to their destination cities. |
| HIATA |
International Air Transport Association International governing body for airlineOperators. |
|
Interline |
To travel on more than one airline with a single ticket; an agreement for airlinesto transfer baggage. |
|
Intermodal |
A trip with multiple forms of transportation, such as air, cruise and rail. |
|
ILast-RoomAvailability |
Electronic reservation system that provides users with current information abouta hotel's available inventory. |
|
Last-SeatAvailability |
Electronic reservation system that provides users with current information aboutairline seat availability. |
|
Liability Coverage |
Insurance protection against injury and damage claims by third parties, available as option for car rentals. |
|
Load Factor |
A flight's percentage of occupied seats, a determining factor when booking orrebooking |
|
Local CompanyRate |
Rate negotiated at a local/regional level with individual hotels. The rate isusually better than the Corporate Rate |
|
Loss DamageWaiver (LDW) |
Variation of Collision Damage Waiver employed by some car rental vendors.Renters are advised to buy LDW to avoid liability for collision, theft, vandalism, loss of car, and other non-collision damages. |
|
Lowest FareGuarantee |
Travel agency's promise to provide clients the lowest fare available when reservation is confirmed. |
|
Lowest LogicalAirfare |
Lowest airfare found within the parameters of a corporation's travel policy. |
| ManagementReport |
Data summary (from travel agencies, travel suppliers, and/or credit-card vendors) documenting usage patterns for air travel, hotel stays, or car rental. |
|
MCO |
Miscellaneous charges order; issued by airlines or other travel companies forexpenses other than the booking itself |
|
Meeting Fare |
Negotiated airline discounts, typically for 10 or more persons travelling to thesame event. |
|
MileageAllowance/ Mileage Cap |
Number of miles a rented car is driven beyond the mileage allowance. |
|
Mileage Charge |
Charge assessed for each mile a rental car is driven beyond an established threshold. |
|
Mini bar |
Hotel room cabinet containing snacks and refrigerated beverages. Items consumed are charged to hotel bill. |
|
MinimumConnecting Time |
The minimum time allotted to arrive at and depart from the same airport onconnecting flights, as legally required for a reservation agent or travel agent booking these flights. These times can vary. |
| Net Fare/Net Rate |
Price or fare for a travel service, less an agent's commission and without tax. |
|
No Show |
Passenger or hotel guest who fails to cancel a reservation not used. |
|
Non Revenue |
Non-paying passengers or guests, often travel company employees, who are normally accommodated after paying customers. |
|
No-show |
A guest who fails to notify the hotel when cancelling a stay, thereby incurring a fee in many cases. |
|
Occupancy Rate |
A property's percentage of occupied rooms; a measurement of the likely available space. |
|
Open Ticket |
Ticket that is valid for transportation between certain points but indicates no specific reservation. |
|
Open-jaw Ticket |
A round-trip itinerary in which you arrive in one city and depart from another, so that the middle leg is traversed by rail, ship, or car. |
|
Overbooking |
Practice of confirming more seats or rooms than are available, in order toprotect against no-shows. |
|
Override |
A bonus commission paid to a travel agency by a travel supplier for increasedor volume bookings. |
| Plan, American |
Rate that includes three meals daily (modified American plan includes twomeals daily). |
|
Plan, European or continental |
Rate that includes continental breakfast daily. |
|
PNR |
Passenger name record; an electronic file for each traveler. |
|
Rack Rate |
A standard or published rate1 Official posted rate for a hotel room, published airfares, or non-contracted carrental rates 2 |
|
Refuelling Charge |
Amount charged if the consumer does not fill the car’s gas tank. This can be a significant charge if the car is left vat airports. |
|
Revenue Sharing |
Travel agency rebate of commission revenue received on a corporation's bookings. |
|
Rooms, Adjoining |
Rooms that share a wall but are not connected. |
|
Rooms, Connecting |
Rooms that share a wall and are connected by a private door. |
|
Run of the House |
The discounted room rate applies to any room in the hotel within certain parameters. |
| Segment |
Leg or identifiable portion of a route travelled, usually stated in terms of originating and terminating cities. |
|
Single Supplement |
A surcharge added to the per-person cost when travelling alone. |
|
Split Ticketing |
Issuing two one-way tickets instead of a round-trip ticket, usually for purpose ofobtaining a lower fare. |
|
Standby |
Class of air passengers who hold tickets that do not allow for advanced reservations (standby fares), or are waiting for available seats. |
|
Suite |
Accommodations that include a sitting room. |
|
Surcharge |
Assessment by vendor or governmental entity in addition to published price or contracted rate. |
| TMC |
Travel Management Company |
|
TSP |
Travel Service Supplier |
| Waitlist |
List of travellers waiting for people to cancel reservations for a supplier that is sold out e.g. air, hotel etc. |
|
Window ofConvenience |
Normally found in a Travel Policy as an agreed number of hours on either side of ideal departure or arrival time. |
|
Yield Management |
A complex pricing system that allows travel suppliers to maximise profits by charging varying rates within an aircraft or hotel based on forecasted capacity. |