Airline Jargon......what does it mean?

Have you wondered what a split ticket is?  Are you confused as to what is the difference between a direct and non stop flight?  Your travel professional can help you navigate through this maze of jargon and ensure that your flights are booked properly and not have you arrive in Sydney Nova Scotia instead of Sydney Australia.  But for those that still insist on booking their own flights hopefully some of the explanations below will help you........


Airline alliance: An agreement between a group of airlines involving the sharing of flight codes, reservation systems, airline clubs, or frequent flyer benefits (see code share below). The two largest are Star Alliance and Skyteam.

Airport code:   the three digit code which is unique to a specific airport. eg. YYZ for Toronto or LHR for London Heathrow

Code share: An agreement between two airlines in which each shares its flight codes, which means travelers purchasing one airline's ticket might actually be flying on the other carrier's plane. Many connecting flights involve code-share partners. Might also include other types of agreements, such as reciprocal frequent flyer benefits.

Connecting flights:  a journey where the passenger must change planes to reach their final destination. The passenger will disembark one plane and go through a second boarding process before boarding the plane that will take them to 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.

Direct flight versus non-stop: A flight which involves one or more stops (however, you stay on the same plane). Depending on time some airports allow passengers to disembark during the stopover and board again just before takeoff.

"Non-stop" means there are no stops before you get to your destination. Most customers prefer non-stop flights and will pay a premium for greater speed and less hassle.

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

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. General rule is 45 minutes on domestic flights and 1 hour on international connections.

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 Toronto to London but return to Toronto from Paris.

Open ticket:  Full fare tickets that have no restrictions and allow you to change the date of return for a fee. They are more expensive, but not always a lot more. Usually have a 1 year time limit on the return flight.

Split ticketing:  the purchase of two separate roundtrip flights to a destination.  As example you find a roundtrip fare from Toronto to Vienna that costs $ 1,200.  However while you were searching you found a roundtrip ticket from Toronto to Amsterdam for $ 600 and then an roundtrip ticket from Amsterdam to Vienna for $ 400.  By booking these two tickets separately you would have saved $ 200.  However, you must ensure proper connection times and of course flights are from the same airport.  Example is London Heathrow and London Gatwick.  (See minimum connecting time above)

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. Most airlines do not charge extra for a stopover.