22/09/2017
Some Tips for newbies and new to the Travel Industry :)
Base on my experience of being a travel agent for more than 5 years now and counting, most of the flights has a connecting flights or sometimes Lay over or Stop over flights.
Difference between connecting flights and Lay over or stop over flights:
Connecting Flight:
For Example:
MNL - KUL - DEL
Connecting flight is in KUL 2hours 30 minutes
That requires the passengers to change from one plane or airline to another at an intermediate point (called connecting point) on way to their destination.
That means, magpapalit ng eroplano si pax at ang kanyang bagahe ay kadalasang re checked in if magkaibang airlines.
Kapag naman iisang airlines lang, flight number lang ang mapapalitan, checked through na ang kanyang bagahe. Hindi na kailangan mag rechecked in.
Normally, ang time ng connecting flight is just 1-2hours, 4 hours tops.
Stop Over/ Lay over flights.
For example:
Manila - Hong Kong - Dubai
Lay Over in HongKong is 9hours 15 minutes.
Sa example na ito, stop over or lay over na ang tawag. Meaning, matagal ka maghihintay bago ang susunod mong flights. Kadalasan sa ganito, irerechecked in mo ang baggage mo kasi magpapalit ka na ng eroplano or same na eroplano pero matagal ka pa maghihintay.
Before leaving the airport, make sure to check the monitor labeled departures for your flights to make sure about your boarding gate for your next flight. Kasi un nasa boarding pass mo na gate number, it can changed. Especially kapag ang eroplanong sasakyan mo ay nag iba ng route.
Dito sa scenario na ito, pinapayagan ng airlines na magstay ang pasahero sa mga hotels inside airports or outside airports. Granted na maaga lang sila babalik para sa kanilang flights or else mamimiss nila un flights nila.
Pag lalabas sila ng airport at gusto mag roam around lang sa city, kailangan nila dumaan sa transit area and go through customs and immigration on the way out.
Although, transit visas are required for exiting the airport if the stop over or layover city has one. For this example, hindi na kailangan ng visa kasi wala namang visa sa HK.
Difference between Direct and Nonstop Flights.
Direct flights are flights that has a stop in a certain city but passengers remain seated inside the plane and just waiting for fuel recharge, or passengers exiting and entering the said plane. Normally, it will only take 10-15 minutes, 30 minutes tops and then it will fly you to your final destination.
As for Nonstop flights, these are the flights that has no stop overs, no connecting flights, no techical stop. As in diretso ka talaga sa pupuntahan mong destinasyon. Kadalasan mas mahal ito kasi diretso ka na sa destinasyon mo eh. :) Wala ng hinto sa kahit anong airport.
Name Details:
Domestic Flights - First Name and Last Name will be accepted since it is just domestic flights. As for Suffixes as JR, The Third and so on.. It can be add or not. Kasi domestic flights lang naman po yan. As long as tama ang first and last name ni pax, they can still board the plane.
On the System (Either it is web based or traditional GDS's) airlines CAN'T RECOGNIZED SPACES. Kaya pag tinignan ni pax or ni airlines agent un name sa booking or sa system, magdidikit talaga ang lastname and the suffix kasi nga hindi nakakarecognize ng space si airlines. Walang appropriate binary code for space or special character. Even the firstname and second name, mag didikit talaga yan. Pero IT IS OKAY AS LONG AS TAMA ANG SPELLING.
Valid ID's
- Any gov't issued photo id's will suffice.
- student ID as long as it is the recent one (if student)
- Company ID with signature of the employee.
International Flights - FIRST NAME, MIDDLE NAME (IF APPLICABLE), LAST NAME - SHOULD BE THE SAME AS IT APPEARS ON THE PASSPORT. As for Suffixes as JR, The Third and so on.. IT NEEDS TO BE ADDED. ESPECIALLY kapag may existing visa si passenger.
Valid ID's
- Should be PASSPORT
- Any gov't issued photo id's as a supporting documents.
On the System (Either it is web based or traditional GDS's) airlines CAN'T RECOGNIZED SPACES. Kaya pag tinignan ni pax or ni airlines agent un name sa booking or sa system, magdidikit talaga ang lastname and the suffix kasi nga hindi nakakarecognize ng space si airlines. Walang appropriate binary code for space or special character. Even the firstname and second name, mag didikit talaga yan. Pero IT IS OKAY AS LONG AS TAMA ANG SPELLING.
Name Change/ Name Correction:
Name Correction:
- removing upto 3 letters on the FULL NAME
- adding upto 3 letters on the FULL NAME
- inverted NAME (nagkabaligtad un first and last name)
- changing 1 letter (ex: correct spelling is BIEN - but nasa ticket is BEEN)
*For those mentioned above, it is considered as Name correction only and it can be done on the airlines site for free and then irere- issue lang ang ticket. (This step is only applicable if walang pasok ang support natin sa GI) Yung tipong urgent na po pero medyo matagal sumagot si BK support.
However, AIRLINES will know through our IATA code that this tickets are booked through a travel agency which is US (Agents) and system is in GI (Biyahe KO) kaya naman ipupush back nila tayo sa agency which is BK or GI Corp and there is a possibility na may fee na siya. kasi nga po, third party tayo. :)
Name Change:
- Different First Name from the Name on the Ticket (For example ang nasa ticket is Britney pero ang totoo pa lang first name is Elizabeth)
- Different Last Name from the Name on the ticket
- Cancelling the ticket of the 1st pax and change it to a new name (I will explain it in detail later)
*For this naman po, it is totally cancel and rebook. There will be a fare difference, plus name change fee plus rebooking fee. Fare difference varies. Kasi wala namang magiging fare difference kung yung same fare basis is still available. Pero pag hindi na, may fare difference na siya for sure. This can be done through our Support as well. :)
Cancelling the ticket of the 1st pax and change it to a new name:
- To be honest, may ibang pax pa rin na gustong gawin ang ganito. Which is napakaimposible. Kasi ganito po yan, example below:
1Smith/James MR
2Smith/Jane MS
Ipapacancel si Jane at papalitan ni Brenda.
Hindi siya pwede na same TICKET or PNR kasi hindi naman nag au-automatic update si Airlines. Ang mangyayari po is icacancel un buong ticket ni Jane. Split PNR ang magiging kalabasan. Tapos ibobook si brenda ng WHOLE NEW TICKET. Walang rebooking or change fee, walang fare difference kasi this one is considered as NEW BOOKING.
Scheduled Changes.
We have two types of Scheduled Changes:
Minor:
- not more than 90 minutes time change
- change of flight numbers
- change of connecting flights
*For this changes, pax needs to accept it whether they like it or not. If they want to change it to a better flight times and flight numbers, that will be considered as a voluntary change na po. Fees will apply.
Major:
- time change beyond 90 minutes
- change of aircraft
- change of date of arrival/ return
- misconnecting flights
*For these changes, pwede po magpapalit si pax ng kanyang flights lalo na po kung misconnect ito sa connecting flights niya. This should be free of charge. No fee po dapat kasi re- accommodation ito. However, some airlines (especially low cost airlines like Cebpac, air asia and jet star) kapag domestic flights lang, kadalasan may tax na babayaran. Kapag full serviced airlines, normally it is free unless na lang na mataas na fare type na lang ang available. For example, ang ticket is economy then ang available na lang is business class, kahit na MAJOR sched change pa yan, fare difference needs to be collected.
For this instance, may option din ng FULL REFUND si pax. However, 1-2 billing cycles (2months tops) ang refund. Kasi manggagaling un kay airlines. And for refund, it will be refunded sa kung anong payment method ginamit pang book ng flights. Kung cash, from Travel agency, hihintayin pa natin iyon isurrender kay GI bago natin makuha un pera para marefund kay pax so matagal.
Cancellation:
- For this, if the pax wanted to cancel due to personal/ valid reason, some airlines allow cancellation with refund. however, airlines will ask the pax to submit documents for evidence. once the airlines received it, it is still subject for airlines approval. if approved, most of the airlines, refund the amount of the ticket less the cancellation fee and no show fee.
Travel Fund/ Airline Credit
- For this po, may ibang airlines na pumapayag sa cancellation pero walang refund. Airline credit ang ibibigay o travel fund. Kadalasan dito, magagamit ang ticket one year from the date of issue. Pero merong fare difference and change fee.
Seats:
- Some airlines will allow pax to request their preferred seats upon booking their flights, granted that their ticket is not so restricted. Some airlines will give the pax their preferred seats for free, some charged the pax.
Frequent Flyer Number/ Miles:
- pax can add it when they check in online or it can be manually added upon booking the flights or it can be added over the phone by the travel agent or airline representative.
Hope makatulong po ito sa inyo lalo na po sa mga newbies ng Group.
Happy week end!
