Top Travel Terms Every Agent Needs To Know
If you’re a travel agent, you know that there are certain terms that are consistently used across the process. If you’re still no accustomed to using them, life will become harder for you. But worry not, we’re here with the most common terms that you’ll see on the daily, and we’ll break it down for you. Once you’re done with this post, you don’t have to look back anymore to find references.
Terms Every Travel Agent Must Know
The goal of today’s post is to educate you on the top travel terms used globally. Let’s not waste any more words and get straight into it.
Airline Reporting Corporation (ARC)
This organization is responsible for aligning the ticket distribution, settlement and control among the airlines, corporate travel departments and travel agencies. A travel agency must apply for an ARC accreditation before it can issue tickets to the customers. It’s a US-based organization and handles all travel agencies and airlines in the USA.
Base Fare
The base fare indicates a ticket price that only includes transportation. It’s excluded from all taxes and other charges like service charge, ancillary services and so on. There is another term that comes associated, and that is ‘Booked Fare’. It means that the ticket has been booked but not yet ticketed.
Central Reservation System (CRS)
A Central Reservation System or CRS is a computerized software that allows the agents to book, reserve, and communicate with the airline regarding the services. It’s a great tool for the agents but has grown old with time due to limited functionality.
City Code
City code is a 3-letter code imposed by IATA to identify a city or the nearest airport. This is a universal code, and all airlines that are IATA members must follow this protocol.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
CRM is a communication model designed to keep customers happy and satisfied. Managing a healthy relationship with a customer is important, both before and after the sale. It builds credibility and helps you get the customers to repurchase your services in the future.
Direct Flight
Direct flight means that the customers don’t change the aircraft while flying from one place to another. The plane still takes one or more breaks. But don’t get confused with nonstop flights. Nonstop and direct flights are two separate phenomenons.
Domestic
Domestic flights are flights that have destinations in the same country as the origin flight. Domestic flights are often nonstop flights and usually short. We can take a flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco as an example.
Electronic Miscellaneous Documents (EMD)
It allows the travel agents to issue vouchers that are not related to flights in any way but add value to the flight. Ancillary services are a prime example of such vouchers.
Equivalent Fare
It’s a translation of the base fare but in the payable currency. Airline ticketing is a global process, but the currency differs from country to country. The base fare or the inventory is excluded from all other charges, and this is known as equivalent fare.
Fare Breakdown
The detailed breakdown of the final price that a customer pays is known as the “fare breakdown”. The final price includes the base fare, taxes, ancillary services, passenger type, different codes, and everything in between.
Flight Itinerary
The flight itinerary included every possible detail that comes associated with the flight. The itinerary includes details like departure date, departure time, arrival date, arrival time, connecting flights, flight numbers, ancillary services and so on.
Global Distribution System (GDS)
A GDS is a computerized system, much like the CRS where all the travel related details are updated and handled. A GDS is an EDIFACT protocol that allows travel agents, travel management companies and airlines to stay on the same page. It handles flights, car rentals, hotel bookings and any other travel-related aspects.
IATA (International Air Transport Association)
It’s an organization based in Geneva and it’s very highly regarded in the airlines industry. This organization is responsible for implementing standard protocols regarding international travel services. It also accredits travel agents around the world.
Inbound Flight
Round flights are often called as inbound flight. It’s the flight that returns from the destination to the host airport.
Interline
Interlining is an agreement between the airlines across the world put in place by IATA. It indicates that one airline carrier can sell services offered by other carriers under the interlining agreement. It allows travellers to seamlessly move from point A to point B without worrying about what is happening with the management. Baggage checks, connecting flights, etc. are handled by interlining.
Inventory
The term might sound like a lot, but ‘inventory’ in travelling terms means the number of available seats on an airplane that are for sale.
Length of Stay
It actually means how long the trip of a customer is going to be. It’s calculated in days and its part of the airline itinerary. As there are many ancillary services associated with the flight ticket, knowing the length of the stay becomes essential some times.
Marketing Airline
This term indicates an airline company that has a codeshare agreement with other airlines and sells the flights based on that fact.
Nonstop Flight
Nonstop flights are often confused with direct flights. But nonstop flights are the ones that don’t stop in between the origin and the destination. On the other hand, a direct flight makes stops for, either for refuelling or any other purpose. But the same plane is used to carry the customers. Hence, it’s called a direct flight.
No Show
A “no show” refers to a customer who didn’t cancel the ticket within the given period and failed to show up during the boarding as well. It basically means a missing customer who stands a very slick chance of getting a refund.
Operating Airline
It’s an airline company operating the flight on the itinerary. Whether the flight falls under interlining or codeshare agreements, the operating airline is the one that sells you the itinerary.
Outbound Flight
It’s the opposite of inbound flights. Outbound flights are the first half of a roundtrip flight. It flies from the origin toward the destination.
Online Travel Agencies (OTA)
These organizations (OTAs) operate over the internet and offer top of the line services to the customers on behalf of the partner airline companies. These organizations make a booking, purchasing tickets and other ancillary services a walk in the park for the customer. Expedia, booking.com, Priceline, etc. are some of the prime examples of OTAs.
Passenger Name Record (PNR)
Millions of people travel every day using thousands of flights worldwide. To keep track of everything that is happening, a unique identifier for each customer is required. This identifier is known as a PNR in the airlines industry.
It contains all information regarding the specific itinerary sold to the customer. It’s mandatory for travel agents to provide information on all fields of the PNR in order to complete a booking.
Point of Sale
A point of sale in the airline ticketing business is often a country. The country where the sale of the itinerary took place is a crucial part. Also, the method used to complete the transaction and whether the sale was legit or not, etc. are confirmed with the point of sale.
Published Fare
Published fare means a price that has been publicly shared by the airline company to the customers. Published fares can come from both direct and indirect outlets. Keep in mind that published fare is not often the final fare as ancillary services, unpublished fare, etc. are excluded.
Special Service Request (SSR)
This kind of requests deals with the special needs of any given customers. There are codes that represent an array of requirements and it’s sent directly to the airlines. It’s a communication method between the agents and the airline company to ensure maximum convenience for the customers. For example, WCHR can be a code for a wheelchair.
Stop Quantity
The number of breaks an airplane takes during the flight. It counted between the origin airport and the destination airport.
Total Flight Time
A representation of how long the flight took to reach from origin to destination. This includes all the stops as well. It’s also labelled as elapsed time.
Take Away
In this post, we’ve looked at the most commonly used terms in the travelling industry. If you’re a travel agent and you want to stay on top of your game, there is no alternative to knowing what the customers and the airline companies mean when they say something. That is where today’s post comes into play. It’s a handy tool for you to become a great travel agent.