A charter flight is a special-order transportation carried out by aircraft. The flight is booked by a consolidator, who then resells the seats on the plane to one or more travel agencies that are interested in this tourist destination. These words are familiar to everyone, but the concept of a charter flight - what does it mean?

Such a flight cannot be found on the schedule; tickets for it cannot be purchased at the regular ticket office. Since this flight is booked by a travel agency, it sells plane tickets only to its clients who have purchased tickets to a specific destination.

The organizer takes full responsibility for the preparation - everything related to documentation, pre-flight preparation, booking. Most often, the need for charters arises when the flow of tourists during the holiday season far exceeds the capabilities of the airlines.

Regular flights and charters are similar in nature, but have many differences. So, what is a charter flight and how is it different from others?

• If you fly on vacation on a regular flight, you will receive a ticket immediately at the time of purchase, but you will receive a charter ticket either the day before departure or already at the airport. This does not cause any particular inconvenience, but it is necessary to take this factor into account.
• If you don’t make it on time to board the ship flying to your destination, then be prepared for the tour operator to cancel your return ticket. If you plan to get to the resort in some other way, but want to use a return ticket, be sure to notify the travel agency-seller.
• A charter can be moved from one airport to another, or a plane can be changed, whereas such adventures do not happen with regular ones.
• In most cases, it is impossible to reserve seats on a charter; only very rarely do consolidators open bookings, but not for more than a day.
• Well, the most important difference is that you do not organize your flight, you just provide all the information about yourself to the travel agency, and upon arrival at the airport you receive a boarding pass, after which you can board the plane.

A charter is organized by a travel agency in cases where there is great demand for a particular destination, but airlines do not provide the opportunity to fly direct.

A travel agency rents a plane from an airline, concluding an agreement for the carriage of passengers, and purchasing all the seats in the cabin.

Charter flights have their advantages and disadvantages, let's look at them in more detail.

Charter flights

Pros of a charter flight

1. A charter is often almost the only opportunity to fly to destinations where there are no direct flights. In addition, this will allow you to save time and money on transfers. Charters often fly to very rare destinations.
2. The second advantage follows from the first; charter is a fairly cheap way to fly.
3. Charter is sometimes the only way to get to some place where regular flights do not fly at all.
4. The charter ticket can be easily reissued to another person if you are unable to fly.
5. Complete absence of transfers. This, by the way, explains the priority of departure of regular flights over charters, since a regular flight can connect with another, which is why they are allowed forward along the air corridor. Charter passengers will not have to make transfers, which means that the airlines will not incur penalties.

Disadvantages of flying charter

Unfortunately, it is believed that a charter flight has many more disadvantages than a regular flight. Since a charter flight is operated by a tour operator for the purpose of earning money, be prepared for the fact that a cheap flight ticket will result in some inconveniences. The disadvantages of using charters include:

1. A charter flight may be rescheduled or delayed, since it is not a priority for the airline; regular flights are always skipped ahead. In case of technical problems, it will be necessary to wait until the aircraft is restored to readiness.
2. If you buy a ticket yourself, and not through a tour operator, then be prepared for the fact that you can buy it several days before departure, and if the plane is not full, the flight may not take place.
3. The duration of the tour is strictly regulated, since planes fly according to a strict schedule, bringing and picking up new and new groups of tourists, so it will not be possible to change the length of stay at the resort.
4. Charter flights do not earn bonus miles, unlike main airline flights.
5. You will not be able to get your money back for your ticket if you cancel your flight.
6. There will be no opportunity to change flight class in the cabin of a charter aircraft. In order to save money, all seats have economy class status; there are more such seats, which means more profit for the travel agency.

Comfort and coziness are what a charter flight will provide you with.

Common Misconceptions

Despite everything, a charter flight is a very convenient way to get to your desired destination, especially if your destination does not offer regular direct flights.

The most common mistakes include the following deficiencies attributed to charters:

1. Charter flights are carried out by old aircraft. This is not true; charter flights are carried out by the same vessels that carry out regular transportation.
2. The unreliability of flights is another big misconception. Charter passengers, like regular flight passengers, receive free meals in the event of a plane delay, and in the event of a long wait for departure, the opportunity to spend the night at an airport hotel.
3. There is no food on board a charter plane. This is a mistake, depending on the flight duration standards, you will be provided with the required food and drinks on board the plane.
4. The flight may be cancelled. And again, a lie, since no one can refuse you a flight if you have paid money for the ticket. The flight will be rescheduled, the plane will be replaced, and a little later, but the flight will take place.
5. It is often believed that a charter flight does not include luggage, but this is also a misconception. Each carrier has its own baggage allowance in economy class and it does not depend on the regularity of the flight.

How to buy tickets for charter flights correctly

Before chartering an aircraft, the tour operator analyzes the situation, assesses the demand for the flight and only based on this, orders the aircraft from the airline if it expects that the deal will pay off. The best purchase option is to buy a ticket that is already included in the package tour, purchased from a trusted operator. Most often, travel agencies do this; all places are distributed among tours, which are then sold. However, if you do not want to buy a tour or there are other reasons why you want to fly on your own, then you can buy a charter ticket separately from the tour.

If you decide to find a charter ticket on your own, then be prepared for the fact that it is not so easy. Tickets appear only a few days before departure; you can find them in several specialized search engines.

In the era of Internet development, there are several sites that sell charters specifically, however, large search engines also support the charter search function.

You can also simply contact a travel agency, which will definitely sell out unclaimed flight tickets.

Such tickets are otherwise called last-minute tickets, because the tour operator wants to recoup its investment, even if it usually does not sell tickets separately from the tour.

Tickets for charter flights are sold several times cheaper

Types of charters

• Shuttle charter is a type of flight in which the aircraft constantly delivers and picks up new passengers. Tickets for it are usually more expensive, since the plane makes its first and last flight empty.
• A split charter is a combined flight when a regular flight takes over part of the journey. This happens if the flight is carried out to particularly remote corners of the planet.
• A poly charter is a combined flight where passengers have to change planes two or more times.
• A layover charter is a flight that brings passengers to their destination, waits for them in a specially designated area, and then returns with them. Parking an airplane is cheaper than flying empty. The disadvantage of such a flight is that you are unlikely to be able to spend more than a week on vacation.
• A corporate charter is a flight ordered by a specific organization for the purpose of transporting its employees to any events.
• VIP charter is a very expensive route, which involves full use of the aircraft by the customer.

Group charter flights

So now you have an idea of ​​what a charter flight means. Here are all the pros and cons, differences and general information, now you can decide whether a charter is the right option for you or whether you would prefer another method of flying. Proceed from considerations of personal comfort.

Some air tickets are sent to your email immediately after purchase, while others need to be received before departure (a day or even a few hours in advance). And this is not the only difference between regular and charter flights. The Village learned about the features of both and compared prices on popular destinations.

Regular flights

These are regular airline flights that operate according to a pre-approved schedule. Carriers themselves decide how to fill planes and sell tickets themselves or through their agents. That is why tickets, which contain all the information about the flight (date, time, direction), about the airline and about you, can be obtained immediately after payment.

Pros

They fly according to a schedule, so even if the airline has sold a minimum number of tickets for your flight, you will be taken to your destination.

The departure time is fixed - you can plan transfers to other flights and your vacation.

Flexible fare system depending on the amount of baggage, class, possibility of ticket return and other factors.

There are no restrictions on purchasing one-way tickets.

Cons

Limited number of flights per destination.

Small coverage of destinations: regular flights do not fly to all cities and countries.

Charter flights

These are special charter flights. The customers are mainly travel agencies that enter into aircraft charter agreements (or air charter agreements) with airlines. They buy the entire plane or part of it to operate one or several flights, and then sell tickets themselves and create passenger lists. Therefore, when purchasing a ticket for such a plane, it is worth remembering that you are only guaranteed the departure date and flight direction, but the departure time may change.

Pros

Direct flights only.

Rare destinations with no regular flights.

Changing the name on a ticket is free or with a minimal penalty, since final passenger lists are generated before departure.

Cons

The absence of a fixed and guaranteed departure time and, therefore, the inability to plan a transfer.

Only non-refundable tickets: taxes and fees cannot be refunded, as in the case of regular flights.

Final information about the air carrier often becomes known only when tickets are received.

Charters generally do not participate in airline rewards programs.

When problems are possible

Some countries have a rule that requires you to arrive and leave the country on the same type of flight. That is, if you arrived on a charter flight, then you should fly away on it. The same applies to regular flights. In the Kingdom of Thailand, such a requirement arises from national aviation regulations and requirements, which are monitored at passport control. In India, customs authorities may sometimes deny entry to a departure flight if it is different from the arrival flight. This is especially acute at Goa airports.

Problems with departure are also possible in the event of financial difficulties for tour operators, when they are forced to cancel flights due to the inability to pay for them.

How different are the prices?

Prices may be lower for charters since the airline sells the entire seat capacity to the customer at a wholesale price. And then, if the customer is underloaded on the flight, he can put the tickets on free sale at a lower price. But it all depends on the demand for a particular destination, that is, the cheapness of charters is not a systemic thing.

The cheaper it is to fly to the sea now

Destination and date

charter flight, rubles

regular flight, rubles

Moscow - Simferopol

13,570 RUBLES

("VIM-Avia")

13,030 RUBLES

("Ural Airlines")

Moscow - Sochi

When going on a trip, tourists are faced with a dilemma - to choose a regular flight or. The difference between them lies not only in price, but also in the frequency of flights, quality of service, etc. To the question “What is the best way to fly?” there is no clear answer. Each of these types of flights has its own disadvantages and advantages.

When choosing a flight, you need to carefully read the features of both types in order to be well prepared for the trip. This will help you spend your vacation in more comfortable conditions. If you don’t know how to find out whether a charter flight is scheduled or not, this will be discussed in detail in this article.

A scheduled flight is a flight operated year-round by large airlines. He
even carried out subject to a minimum number of passengers. If you sit alone in the cabin, the plane will still take you to your destination. It has many advantages over a charter:

• a large number of different tariffs with different sets of conditions;
• there is a discount program for children;
• bonuses, special offers and promotions carried out by them;
• points accumulation systems for frequent flyers;
• availability of connecting flights;
• wide flight geography;
• strict compliance with the schedule.

On the Lufthansa website you can aviasales.ru/?marker=145366″ rel=”nofollow” class=”TPAutoLinks” target=”_blank”>buy the same cheap tickets at the new rate as for charter.

Tickets for such a flight may be as cheap as for a charter. Lufthansa recently launched a new “Lite” tariff, which is not at all expensive. It is called that because you can only take it with you with a total weight of no more than 8 kg.

Another difference between a charter flight and a regular flight is higher quality of service. If you fly Economy Class, then if you choose a good airline, your flight will be in the best conditions. With Swiss Airlines, even in Economy you feel like you are in Business.

Charter flight

Charter - this is an aircraft or a number of seats chartered in advance by a travel agent or travel agency in it for subsequent sale to tourists. With the development of mass tourism, this type of flight has become widespread throughout the world.

This is explained cheap tickets and huge benefits for both parties - travel agencies and airlines. Selling tickets to large groups of people brings in much larger sums of money than individual, one-time sales.

What is the difference between a charter and a regular flight? The main difference is that charters are seasonal flights. Planes to Thailand or Turkey are sent during the tourist season, when a huge flow of travelers wants to enjoy the bright sun and warm sea of ​​the southern countries.

Azur Air is a Russian company providing charter flights.

Travel agencies may have an agreement for the transportation of tourists with not one, but several charter companies. Russia has Azur Air, one of these airlines. Other airlines operate both scheduled and charter flights. Among them we can single out Russia.

There are plenty of disadvantages to such a flight:

• charters fly in windows between scheduled flights;
• frequent flight delays are possible;
• low level of passenger service;
• charters fly every 7 or 14 days (the average duration of a tourist holiday in the world);
• the type of aircraft you will fly on can be determined just 1-2 days before departure;
• the charter ticket cannot be exchanged or returned for money;
• the age of the aircraft used is higher than that of regular ones;
• It is very difficult to buy a charter ticket yourself (how to do this is described in this article on our website).

The cost of the charter ticket is included in the so-called tourist package, which includes a voucher, insurance and everything you need for a comfortable holiday.

The difference between a charter flight and a regular flight is that charters fly to destinations where regular flights can only be reached with transfers or not reach at all. The island of Djerba in Tunisia, which is gaining great popularity among tourists, can only be reached by using a charter.

The main direction of charters is resorts.

It is also important to remember that countries practice division of airports or terminals into those that accept only charter or scheduled flights. If we take the same Tunisia, then there are the airports of Enfidha and Monastir to accept charters, and the airport of Carthage accepts regular flights. They are specially built near major tourist regions.

The cabin layout of charters usually consists of only one class - Economy.

Connections between scheduled and charter flights are not possible.

There is a special type of charter - the so-called “sucky” flights. They have such a dissonant name because they arrive at the airport and wait there for tourists during their vacation. This practice is carried out during the holidays.

How to find out which flight is regular or charter?

If you buy a tour from travel agencies or travel agents, then the staff must warn you about the type of flight. If they don't, be sure to ask what flight they're booking you on. This is important because the difference between the two types is huge.

On the website aviasales.ru, charters are marked in red.

When purchasing tickets yourself - on sites like aviasales.ru, if the flight is a charter flight, then this is indicated opposite it. If there is no signature, then look on the Internet what kind of company operates the flight. It will indicate what types of transportation it deals with and in what directions.

When purchasing tickets through ticket offices or ticket agencies Be sure to check what kind of flight it is. The employee must warn, but may forget or be absent-minded and not do so.

Another way to do this is to look at the flight number. If the number is three-digit, it is a regular number. If it's four-digit, then it's a charter.

They have a number of advantages over charter ones, primarily thatare carried out by major airlines strictly on schedule.The aircraft cabin is usually divided into three classes: first - the most comfortable and most expensive, business and economy class. Flying in business class is, of course, much more expensive, although it is much more comfortable than flying in economy class. Here there are leather chairs, large distances between the rows, and lunch is served not on plastic trays with cheap disposable tableware, but with restaurant chic. All your requests and wishes will be fulfilled instantly. But even in economy class you will be offered the latest newspapers, Duty Free goods and lunch with wine.

Regular flights have an advantage on the takeoff field: if it is overloaded, they will be sent first, and charter passengers will have to sit and wait for their turn.

The price of a regular flight usually includes all possible risks, hence the hefty price of tickets. True, you can be sure that the plane will fly, even if it is not fully loaded with passengers. True, from time to time airlines organize sales of tickets at low prices, with good discounts - and then it becomes possible to fly, say, to Europe for ridiculous money. In addition, if you purchase tickets for regular flights yourself, you choose your own convenient departure time, favorable tariff, use various discounts (for example, for young people, for students, for pensioners). And also, if the airline has a bonus program, you count miles for yourself, which in the future can turn into a free ticket for you.

Charter flights

They are operated by the same airlines as regular ones, but their owner (consolidator), customer and lessee is most often a large tour operator, which “lifts” the plane to a certain destination. Therefore, tickets to the “charts” are most often included in the standard “tour package”.

Then the tour operator can manage the sale of seats on the plane at its own discretion: it can keep everything for itself, or it can sell some of it under contracts to other travel agencies, companies or individuals. Sometimes tour operators unite, distribute a quota of seats and charter a plane jointly. By the way, the word “charter” comes from the English charter – freight, rent. Sometimes a tour operator that buys a charter then sells seats to other tour operators, and if after that there are still empty seats, then the ticket can be bought on free sale.

“Charters” appeared in our country with the development of external tourism - when it turned out that there were many more people who wanted to fly to distant countries than regular flights could provide. In addition, regular flights simply do not fly to a number of popular beach resorts or their number is minimal.

The frequency of flights depends on the seasonal needs of travel agencies and the workload of this line. For example, “charters” to, say, Spain and Italy are seasonal - they begin at the end of April and end with the end of the beach season, in October.

The type of aircraft also depends on the number of passengers: it can be a Tu-154 or a Boeing, depending on how many tickets will be sold and to what destination. Charters fly in “windows” between regular flights and operate in the form of a “chain”: they deliver new tourists and immediately take away the previous ones.

The main advantage of “charters” is - But be prepared for the fact that if you bought a ticket on your own, and not as part of a tour package, then, if something happens, you are unlikely to be able to return its cost. However, the same “non-refundable fare” is also available on regular airlines – if you buy a ticket at a low cost.

Tourists who purchase a full tour package, which includes a charter flight, have the opportunity to cancel the purchase without such financial losses. For this, operators provide penalties that are specified in the contract with the agency, but they are not directly related to the cost of air tickets, but depend on the number of days remaining before the start of the trip. Each company sets its own penalties, so when booking a tour, be sure to inquire about these conditions. The exception is “high” seasons - New Year, national holidays, school holidays: if on these dates you cancel your trip in less than 30 days, the fine will be 80-100%.

The disadvantages of charter flights that cause inconvenience to passengers also include the following:

Inconvenient departure and arrival times. Although the time is most often known when booking a tour, it can change even on the very last day. And not always in your favor. If the flight is changed from morning to evening, you lose a day of rest. And if you take a morning flight back, then two. If you depart (or arrive) very early, you will have to wait several hours before checking into your room. If it’s late, either pay extra to extend your room, or leave your luggage in a special room at the hotel and languish while waiting for departure.

Flight delay. In this case, we are talking about a delay due to technical reasons, and not due to bad weather. Of course, departures are delayed on regular flights, but this happens more often with charter flights. If there is a disruption in the schedule or the airfield is overloaded (as we wrote about above), regular flights will be sent first. In the event of an aircraft malfunction, passengers will most likely have to wait for the problems to be fixed - there is no need to expect backup aircraft, as on regular lines.

Things to remember

Very often, tourists address their dissatisfaction with a charter flight to tour operators and travel agencies where they purchased the tour. But an air ticket issued in your name, according to Ch. XV, art. 103, 105 of the Air Code of the Russian Federation is already an air transportation agreement between you and the airline. Therefore, for all the inconvenience caused to you The air carrier is responsible.

According to the current General Rules for the Carriage of Passengers and Baggage by Air, regardless of whether you are a passenger on a scheduled or charter flight, in the event of a delay or cancellation the carrier is obliged to provide you with a number of services. What services are these and what you need to do if you haven’t received them, read the material “”.