A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - L - M - O - P - Q - R - S - T - W

Add-on
When no published fare exists to a destination, the fare will be calculated to the nearest existing fare point and a specified amount will be added to that fare to complete the price for the trip

Advance purchase
The minimum period before departure by which reservations, payment and ticketing must be completed.

Air Traffic Control
Regulates the flow of air traffic.
Air Traffic Control (ATC) is divided into sectors which are either local (airport and immediate surroundings), regional (larger area within a country and up to a certain altitude) and international (high altitude air lanes).
Along with the lack of available civilian airspace, the multitude of European ATC areas and the incompatibility of ATC-systems are some of the major causes of air traffic congestion and delays.

Airline Alliance
Commercial alliance between multiple independent airlines offering joint fares, operating joint flights, frequent flyer programs, etc. On many occasions, tickets are endorsable to airlines of the same alliance.

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Allowance
Usually, the amount of baggage which may be carried without payment of a charge in addition to the fare

APEX Fare
Restrictive tickets with refund penalties, to be issued within 24 hrs of reservation and minimum 7 or 14 or 21 days before departure (depending on the ticketing rules)

ATB2-ticket
Replaces the traditional, hand-written tickets.

Back-to-Back
Smart Ticketing technique whereby a travel agent combines two tickets to decrease the final price. See also Crossed Tickets

Baggage Check
The portion of the ticket which provides for the carriage of the passenger's checked baggage and which is issued by the carrier as a receipt for the baggage

Blackout
A specified period of time when travel at a certain fare is not permitted.

Booking Reference or Passenger Name Record
Reservation file in the CRS or in the airline computer, always consisting of 6 alfanumeric characters

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BTC
Business Travel Center - large American Express travel office where different units handle the travel business of the clients assigned to them.

Business Class
J, C, Z-class or D-class

Cancellation Fee
Refund penalty for certain restrictive tickets

Carrier
Airline

Change of Equipment
A scheduled change of aircraft between the departure point and arrival point. Also known as Change of Gauge

Cancellation Charge
The service charge made by reason of failure of a passenger to use reserved accomodation without having cancelled this accomodation prior to the latest appropriate time for cancellation, as specified by the carrier

Charter
1. Hire of an aircraft
2. A non-scheduled flight, such as seasonal flights to holiday destinations.

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Code Share
Flight commercially operated by different airlines. Mostly used in the 'hub-and-spoke' model.

Commission Cap
Decrease of the standard 9 % agency commission, limiting it to a certain amount.

Commission Cut
Decrease of the standard 9 % agency commission.

Conjunction Ticket
A conventional ticket only has room for 4 flights. Whenever more flights are necessary in the routing of the passenger, several tickets can be issued "in conjunction". The conjunction tickets are viewed as a single ticket and a single contract of carriage.

Connecting Carrier
A carrier to whose services a passenger is transferred for onward connecting transportation

Connection Point
Transfer airport between the departure city and the final destination, when the lay-over does not take more than 24 hrs

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Crossed Tickets
Smart Ticketing technique whereby a travel agent combines two tickets to decrease the final price. See also Back-to-Back

CRS
Computer Reservation System : the booking engine for all agencies and online booking tools. See also GDS

Deadline:
1. Reservation: the minimum/maximum time limit by which a reservation needs to be confirmed
2. Ticketing: the minimum/Maximum time limit before the day of departure or after reservation when the ticket needs to be issued

Domestic fare
A fare applicable between points in the same country

Economy
Y-class. Traditionally, Y-class is reserved for passenger paying the full economy fare for a certain trip. For special or discounted fares, airlines usually divide Y-class in various subclasses which could have any alphabetical reference (B, M, V,...)

E-Itinerary
Itinerary that can be viewed on the internet via Checkmytrip. See also the eTicket Factsheet [here]

Electronic Check-in
Electronic check-in on the site of certain airlines. See also the eTicket Factsheet [here]

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Endorsable (ticket)
The ticket can be transferred to another airline

E-ticket
Electronic Ticket, replacing the traditional ticket. See also the eTicket Factsheet [here]

Eurobudget
Semi-flexible ticket that can be upgraded to a full fare when necessary (open return permitted, 20% penalty for refund)

Eurocontrol
The European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation formed by 30 Member States

Excess Baggage
When a passenger has more than the allowed amount of baggage.
As a rule of thumb, the compensation for the excess baggage is usually calculated by the "1"-rule, which goes as follows: per kilo of excess baggage, a passenger will be charged 1% of a one way fare in first class.

Excursion Fare
Semi-flexible ticket with Sunday-rule or min.6days or 7 days (no min.stay between BRU and USA)

Explant
A full service Travel Unit set up within our BTC to service one customer only.

EUSTP
European STP

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FAA
Federal Aviation Authority : the US Aviation State Department. It is the standard for the rest of the world for any security measures

First Class
R (Concorde), P or F-class or A-class

Flexibility
The freedom a certain fare give the passenger to get a refund, have the ticket re-issued, change his itinerary or routing, etc.

Flight Coupon
Each portion of a ticket that allows the passenger to board a certain flight.

FOP
Form of Payment : cash, cheque, credit card or agt/nonref (special fare - non refundable)

Frequent Flyer
Reward program for valuable travellers. Most of the airlines, car rental and hotel chains provide these.

Full Fare
Fully flexible ticket : endorsable, refundable, changes of reservations and routings allowed

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Gateway
First point of arrival or last point of departure in a country or an area. Applied specifically towards the US.
ex: Brussels - Washington - Seattle. In this case, Washington is the Gateway.

Ground Transportation
Bus, limousine, taxi, shuttle or train service between the air terminal and the airport

GDS
Global Distribution Systems : the booking engine for all agencies and online booking tools. See also CRS

Hub
Main Airport for an airline : e.g. Newark and Houston for Continental, Brussels for SNBA

Hub-and-Spoke
System whereby an airline uses its hub to provide services between two airports where it does not operate a non-stop flight. Mainly used in US.
Ex.: Continental Airlines has a whole range of international flights to Newark (the hub), where passengers transfer to domestic flights within the US (spokes)

IATA
International Air Transport Association is the official aviation organisation of airlines which operate scheduled, international services

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Implant
A full service American Express travel office set up on the premises of the client company for reasons of practicality and service..

Inbound
On a Return Flight, the Inbound flight is from the destination to the departure city. Ex: Brussels - Paris - Brussels. The Paris-Brussels flight is the Inbound flight.

Interactive Booking Tools
Browser based applications, allowing to make bookings online, can be profile driven, policy driven, etc. See section Online Services

Interline Transportation
Transportation on the services of more than one carrier
Ex.: Brussels-Amsterdam on SNBA, followed by Amsterdam-Tokyo on KLM

Intraline Transportation
Transportation solely via the services of one carrier.
Ex: Brussels-Amsterdam-Tokyo on KLM

Load Factor
Percentage of seats sold on a flight. Very high influence on the P&L of an airline

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Management Fee
Pricing model whereby the client receives all commissions related to his business, deducted by the cost (labour, operational, central)

Maximum Stay
Maximum number of days or months a passenger can stay at his destination before the restrictions of his ticket force him to return.

Mini-itinerary
Last coupon of an ATB2-ticket

Minimum Stay
The minimum number of days a passenger needs to stay at his destination before he is allowed - by the conditions of his ticket - to return.

OAG
Official Airline Guide : travel agent manual for flight schedules, routings, connecting times…

One World
Airline Alliance around Aer Lingus, Finnair, American Airlines, Iberia, British Airways, LAN Chile, Cathay Pacific and Qantas.

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Open Jaw
Any trip where the outbound point of arrival and the inbound point of departure are not the same
Ex.: A passenger flies from Brussels to New York and then from Boston to Brussels.

Open Return
The return date is left blank. The passenger can make a booking for the return flight when returning, within the restrictions of the ticket

Outbound
From the departure city to the destination city. Ex.: In Brussels - Paris - Brussels, Brussels-Paris is the outbound flight

Overbooking
Airlines can only be profitable if they sell a (high) percentage of seats on every flight. Because a lot of travellers make reservations for flights they don't take (e.g. double bookings, same flights on different airlines or different dates...) the airline can be stuck with a number of empty seats on their flights. To reduce that risk, virtually every airline 'overbooks' its flights, meaning they allow more reservations to be made than there are seats available. Most of the time, the overbookings compensate the no-shows (passengers who don't show up for the flight).

Passenger Coupon
The portion of the ticket that serves as the passenger's written evidence of the contract of carriage

PAT
Passenger Air Tariff : travel agent manual for air fare ticketing.

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Penalties
Amount to be paid in case of change of reservation or in case of cancellation or refund

PEX fare
Restrictive tickets with refund penalties, to be issued within 24 hrs or 72 hrs of reservation

Piece Concept
The passenger is allowed to travel with a limited number of baggage pieces (mostly transatlantic) 2 pieces in Economy, 3 pieces in Business class

Place of Issue
City where the ticket was issued

PNR
Passenger Name Record : Reservation file in the CRS or in the airline computer, always consisting of 6 alfanumeric characters

PTA
Prepaid ticket advice The notification that a person in one city has requested issuance of a ticket to a person in another city.

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Refund (of a ticket)
Ticket portion that can be refunded after issuance (sometimes with a penalty)

Rerouting
Change of routing or other changes which require ticket reissuance.

Routing
Itinerary of a ticket

Savings
Saving achieved by your travel agency, using smart ticketing techniques and/or negotiated airline deals

Savings Incentive Scheme
Links the achieved savings to a pricing model, Management or Transaction Fee

Schengen
Group of 15 countries of the Europen Union with free traffic of persons and goods : Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.

Skyteam
Airline Alliance around AeroMexico, Czech Airlines, Air France, Delta Air Lines, Alitalia and Korean Airlines

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Special Fare
Any fare other than the official published fares

Star Alliance
Airline Alliance around Air Canada, Mexicana, Air New Zealand, SAS, All Nippon, Singapore Airlines, Asiana Airlines, Spanair, Thai Airways, Austrian Airlines, BMI British Midland, United Airlines, Lufthansa and Varig.

Stopover
When a passenger stops in a city for more than 24hrs before continuing his journey to his final destination. On most Special Fares (with exception of fares to the US), stopovers are not permitted or severely restricted.

STP
Satellite Ticket Printer - a ticket printer which is placed inside the ofiices of the client, so he can immediately collect the tickets which were printed by our staff at the client's BTC or Explant.

Sunday Rule
Applied on Special and Discounted fares (apex, pex, superpex...). Sunday Rule means that the passengers can not return before the first Sunday after arrival at their destination.

Superapex Fare
Restrictive tickets with refund penalties, specific to one airline , to be issued within 24 hrs of reservation and minimum 7 or 14 or 21 days before departure (depending on the ticketing rules)

Superpex
Restrictive tickets with refund penalties, usually specific to one airline, to be issued within 24 hrs of reservation

Supersavers
Restrictive tickets with refund penalties, specific to one airline, to be issued within 24 hrs of reservation and minimum 7 or 14 days before departure (depending on the ticketing rules. These are promotional fares, only to be purchased during a certain limited period.

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TDO
Ticket Delivery Office - the name of American Express' ticket office at Brussels Airport. When tickets need to be delivered urgently, they are often printed at our airport TDO where the client can pick them up.

Ticketing Point
A point in the routing, used by the travel agent to calculate the ticket price

TOD
Ticket on Departure - With TOD, a travel agent will request a specified airline to issue at ticket which will be picked up by a client in another location/city. Airlines charge a special fee for this extra service.
Ex.: you buy a ticket for a visiting client who will leave from Zürich. We will then request the airline to issue the ticket at Zürich Airport.

TradeFairs
Program developed by American Express providing packages and/or special prices to important trade fairs in Europe. Check out our dedicated TradeFairs website at [www.tradefairs.be]

Transaction Fee
Pricing model whereby the client pays a fee per transaction, receiving nevertheless the commission from the agency

Transfer
1. Ground transportation to or from airport
2. Change from the service of one carrier to another service of the same carrier (Intraline Transfer)
3. Change from the service of one carrier to another service on a different carrier (Interline Transfer)

Warsaw Convention
Convention regulating liability of carriers in the transportation of passengers. Details and conditions of contract can be found here.

Weight Concept
The passenger is allowed to travel with luggage, limited to a number of kilos (applicable to most destinations, except transatlantic) : 20 K in Economy, 30 K in Business, 40 K in First

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