The modern world sets the active pace of life, therefore, as ever, air travel is very popular, allowing you to save a lot of time. However, the tickets for the plane are quite expensive, so many are looking for ways to reduce the cost of the flight to the desired point. So, for example, some acquaintances can advise you to buy a ticket for a charter flight of an airplane. But not for all this concept is familiar, so often the question arises about what a charter flight means. Let's try to explain which flight is called charter and whether it really saves our money.
What is a charter flight of an airplane?
A charter is a flight performed by an airline on the order of a consolidator (customer) for the carriage of passengers on a given route at a certain time. As a rule, these shipments are not included in the airline schedule and are not regular. The customer of a charter flight can be a travel company, a large company, a political party, an educational institution.
Relative cheapness of the ticket is explained by the fact that the consolidator risks by booking a charter, because not all tickets can be sold. Therefore, for the wholesale sale of tickets, the airline also reduces rental, which of course affects the cost of the flight.
What does a charter flight mean: some details
If you decide to take a risk and fly a charter flight, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with some of the characteristics of a charter flight:
- Booking a ticket or buying a ticket in advance for a charter flight is impossible, usually the exact time of departure is known for a day or two before departure (in rare cases and for several hours). Tickets for such flights are issued immediately after full payment.
- The ticket price can be reduced to a maximum of 70% compared to regular traffic.
- A flight to the designated place may be accompanied by some inconvenience. In the cabin there are no economy and business class divisions. Regarding such an important issue, whether fed on charter flights, it all depends on the order of the travel agency or another consolidator. As a rule, usually in the charters the food is worse compared to regular flights or completely absent.
- Departure can be appointed at an inconvenient time (early in the morning or late at night), flight delays are possible.
- In case of refusal of flight, the money for the ticket for a charter flight is not returned.
The following types of charter flights are distinguished:
- shuttle-charter, when the plane brings a group of tourists to the resort and immediately takes the group already rested;
- a charter with a sludge, in which the aircraft takes a group of passengers, waits for them for a while and takes them back;
- split-charter, when the passenger flies to the destination first by a regular flight, and then transplanted and flies by charter.
Risking or not taking a risk by taking a ticket for a charter flight is your business. But usually for many travelers, when comparing the cost of a ticket on regular or charter flights, the issue of comfort is not the first thing in the first place.