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author, and it appears with included copyright, resource box and live web site link. Email notice of intent to publish is appreciated but not required.When planning your travels or buying your airline tickets, you have probably come across definitions and terms that might have seemed strange to you. Granted, many of definitions and terms become more understandable as you become familiar with industry as a frequent flier. While there are many terms for hotel room types, car types, and travel amenities, area that we shall attempt to define would be tours.
Tour operators try to make their brochures and websites as attractive, informative and understandable as possible; however, in reading this information you will undoubtedly encounter some terminology that is new and unfamiliar. To assist you, here's a glossary covering some of terminology you will most most frequently find in brochures, fliers, and on websites.
Accommodations:
* Single Room: A room with one bed for one person. * Twin Room: A room with two beds for two people. * Double Room: A room for two persons with a double bed. * Triple Room: A room for three persons, usually consisting of twin beds (or double beds, plus a rollaway bed. * Ocean Front: A room directly facing ocean. Usually it is on first floor with a door that exists onto beach. * Ocean View: A room from which it is possible to view ocean, whether room is on first floor, 12th floor, or on a hillside. * Service Charges/Taxes: Service charges are a fixed percentage automatically added to room and meal charges. The city, state or federal government sets taxes.
Air Transportation:
* Add-on Fare: The cost of air travel from a domestic city to another domestic city from which tour/vacation package originates and vice versa. * Baggage Allowance: The weight or volume of baggage that may be carried by a passenger without additional charge. * Connecting Flight: A segment of an ongoing trip, which requires a change of aircraft, but necessarily a change of airline. * Direct Flight: A flight on which passengers do not have to change planes, but may involve one more stops enroute. * Non-stop Flight: Service between two points with no scheduled stop enroute.
Car Rental:
* Drop-off Charge: Fee charged by a car rental company to defray cost of returning vehicle to its original location. * Value Added Tax (VAT): Tax imposed by governmental authority.
Charter Travel:
Thanks to improved Federal regulations and a new generation of operators, air charters have become preferred way to reach many of world's most popular vacation destinations for reasons of value and convenience. Here's how they work: The tour operator rents an airplane and sells seats, often in combination with a hotel package and perhaps other ground components. The result is a substantial savings.
Conditions:
* Force Majeure: An event or effect that cannot be reasonably anticipated or controlled (such as storms or war).
Consular Information Sheets: Governments issue Consular Information Sheets for every country of world. They include such information as location of U.S. embassy or consulate in subject country, unusual immigration practices, health conditions, minor political disturbances, unusual currency and entry regulations, crime and security information, and drug penalties. If an unstable condition exists in a country that is not severe enough to warrant a Travel Warning, a description of condition(s) may be included under an optional section entitled Safety/Security.
