Getting Acquainted with Travel Talk

We are in the midst of the traveling season, so I thought it best to share with you some terminologies that will help most first-time travelers understand the basics of airline reservations and ticketing. It is always advisable to keep in mind a few travel terminologies that will help you understand the lingo in the travel industry.

1.OPTION to ticket - this is the date set by the airlines and advised through the computer, stating the deadline when tickets have to be issued or the reservations will automatically be cancelled.

2.DALPO - means "do all possible".

3.HL - when this appears on your ticket, this means that the status of your booking is still waitlisted. Always check the status of your ticket and make sure that you see an HK before you leave.

4.HK - means your reservation is confirmed.

5.E-TICKET - Electronic Ticket is the new trend in ticketing. The ticket is printed in an ordinary paper, but it contains all the details that an airline ticket should contain. It shows your name, ticket restrictions, flight itinerary, the date of travel, the status of your booking (HK or HL), the validity of the ticket, the airfare and the taxes and your baggage allowance, among others.

6.20K - as shown on your ticket, is your allowable baggage allowance for each leg, when traveling to Europe or Asia and the Far East. Travel to and from the United States and Canada will show 2PC, or 2 pcs of luggage at maximum 35 kilos each piece. The number of kilos vary according to the airlines, with some offering slightly higher weight allowance.

7.30 JOURS - as shown on your French visa means 30 days. The word after the number will vary depending on the language of the issuing embassy. It is advisable to examine your visa and make sure that you clearly understand the meaning of what it contains.

8.REBOOKING FEE AND CANCELLATION CHARGE - it is good to know that the airline will charge a rebooking fee each time you change your date of travel and a cancellation charge if you cancel after your ticket has been issued.

9.RECORD LOCATOR - all reservations are assigned a record locator which every traveler must be familiar with. It is found on your airline ticket and in your flight itinerary. When following up on your reservations with the airline, the best and easiest way is to give them your record locator. Giving them your name is not very reliable, since there may be other persons carrying the same name as you. So, avoid giving your name as reference for purposes of accuracy.

10.ASAP - a very commonly used term for "as soon as possible".

TIPS TO TRAVELERS WHO HAVE PARTIALLY UNUSED TICKETS. Most tickets have restrictions. If yours shows "Non-rebookable-Non Endorsable-Non Refundable", this does not necessarily mean that the ticket has no refund value, if partially unused. If the unused portion is a "long haul" (meaning the distance between two destinations is far), the ticket may still have some residual value; hence, it is still refundable. However, any unused portion of VUSA tickets are always non-refundable unless the VUSA ticket is completely unused.

For your comments, you may contact me at Delmar Travel & Tours, Inc. Tel. Nos. 32-2536561 & 2536571 or by email at: [email protected].