Abacus: One of the main computer reservation systems.

Act of God: Force majeure; A meteorological or seismic event over which a travel provider has no control and, hence, no legal responsibility. Actual flying time: Total time spent in the air, as opposed to scheduled flight time or time spent waiting on the ground. Air Traffic Control: FAA employees whose responsible for a flight after it becomes airborne. Amadeus: One of two main European computer reservation systems Apollo: US computer reservation system ARUNK or ARNK: GDS term used to indicate a surface segment. Boarding Pass: Document that usually issued by airline that indicates a passengers assigned seat for a flight. Booking Classes: The first or only letters of the fare basis code that indicates first class, business class, or coach class seating as well as the airfare being purchased; also known as primary code Bulkheads: Dividing walls or partitions between passenger cabin on an aircraft or ship. Bumping: The airline practice of removing paid passengers from a flight when too many seats have been sold Cabin: 1) Room on a ship; 2) A section, such as first class, business class, or coach class on a flight Cancellation policy: A statement by a supplier such as an airline or hotel that details the terms under which a booking or reservation may be rescinded, any penalties incurred by so doing, and so forth. Child: In the travel industry, a designation used to determine fares and other rates. The precise definition varies from carrier to carrier and hotel to hotel. Generally, a "child" is at least two years old, as opposed to an "infant" who is younger. The upper limit can be anywhere from 11 to 18 years of age. City Code: Three letter code unique to every city. Code Sharing: An airline practice of contracting another airline to the other airline's code designation Common rated: Describing two identical fares to geographically close destinations Compact. A rental car size category that is slightly larger than economy size but slightly smaller than intermediate size. Comping: Offering a complimentary service without charge. Configuration: The interior design of an aircraft or floor plan that indicates seating areas, exit doors, wing area, lavatories, closet galley, and flight deck. Confirmation Number: An alphanumeric code used to identify and document a booking. Confirmed Reservation: A reservation made by a guest that is confirmed by the hotel for the dates they plan on staying Connecting flight: A flight that requires a passenger to change from one plane to another Connecting Rooms: Accommodation that are side by side and have a communicating door between them CRS (Computerized Reservation System): Also known as GDS Cruise Document. A pocket sent to the travel agency by the cruise line that contains the passenger cruise ticket baggage tags, itinerary, information on ports of call, cruise tips, and possibly airline ticket. DBC (Denied Boarding Compensation): A voucher given by the airline when a flight is overbooked to passenger who volunteer to take a later flight and bumped revenue passengers. Direct flight: Any flight between two places that carries a single flight number. Unlike a nonstop, a direct flight will make one or more stops between the two places. The passenger may have to change planes or even change airlines. This is a change in meaning. In the past, direct flights made stops but required no change of plane. Double connection: Flight patterns that require two plane changes. Drop Off: Term used by Car Hire/Rental companies for the return of the hired car to a rental office of the company. Duplicate Booking (DUP Booking): Unethical practice of making more than one reservation for a travelers trip Elapsed Flying Time: The actual number of minimum hours a flight takes. Electronic ticketing: A computerized system used by airlines in which no physical ticket or boarding pass is generated.

Embassy: The office of one country's ambassador within a host country En Route: Between station of origin and station of destination ETA: Estimated Time of Arrival. ETD: Estimated Time of Departure. Eurailpass: A type of rail ticket that is valid in several European countries for a number of days with unlimited stopover opportunities. Europass: A type of rail ticket that provide unlimited rail travel in five of the most popular European countries within a two-month period. Frequency: The number of flights by a given airline or other carrier on a given route during a given period of time. Frequent flyer: A person who flies frequently. Frequent Flyer Program: Airline program in which members accumulate miles from airlines and other travel vendors. The accumulated miles can be exchanged for airfare discounts, flight upgrades, free air travel, and other travel related products. Galley: Kitchen of an aircraft or ship. Gateway: The first point of entry into a country. GDS (Global Distribution System): Also known as CRS before. Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre, and Worldspan. A computer reservation system typically owned jointly by airline that includes reservation database of suppliers in many countries. GSA: General Sales Agent Guaranteed reservation: A reservation that will be held all night, whether or not the party arrives on time, generally, and the buyer pays for the privilege by guaranteeing payment whether or not the reservation is used Hub and Spoke: Airline practice of using an airport as a home base (hub) and feeding flights from surrounding airports (spokes) into the hub IATA (International Air Transport Association): A conference whose members are international airlines. The appointing body for travel agency to sell air travel. Infant: A child under the age of two years old. Inside Cabins: Passenger rooms onboard ship that do not have a window or porthole. Interline Agreement: Agreements between two airlines that share ticketing, transference of passengers, baggage and cargo. Intermediate. A rental car size category that is slightly larger than compact but slightly smaller than standard. Also known as midsize. Lavatory: A toilet/rest room Locator: A reference number given on a travel booking which enables the booking information to be recalled quickly if it needs to be referred to at a later date. Long-haul Travel: Air travel of 8 or more hours duration Manifest: A document listing the contents of a shipment or the passengers on a ship. Medium-haul Travel: Air travel of between 4 and 8 hours duration Minimum Connecting Time: The least amount of time that must be allowed for a change of planes. No show: A passenger who doesn't arrive for a flight or a guest who reserves but never arrives. Nonstop: Transportation comprising a single segment, without intermediate stops. Offline Connection: A type of flight pattern in which the traveler must change planes form one airline's flight to a different airline's flight. Online Connection: A change of planes that does not involve a change of airlines. Open Jaw: Type of trip that involves the origin and two other cities and travel between one city pair by means other than commercial air. Open segment, Open ticket: An airline ticket with no date specified. Option date: Date by which payment must be made to secure a reservation. Origin: The starting point of travel.

Overbooking: A policy in which more seats on a flight or rooms at an accommodation are booked than is actually available. Five to fifteen percent more seats or rooms. Passenger name record (PNR): A file on a global distribution system containing all the information relating to a specific booking. Also called "personal name record." Includes reservation for air, rental cars, hotel, cruise tour, and other travel services. Pick Up: Term used by Car Hire/Rental companies for the return of the hired car to a rental office of the company. It is also used when a taxi or limousine driver meets a person and takes them on to their meeting or accommodation. Pitch: The distance between the rows of seats on an aircraft Point to point: 1. referring to fares between two cities. 2. referring to service between two cities only, without any additional segments or continuation. Port: A harbor and docking area for ships. Port Charges: Fees levied by each port of call applicable to all cruise passenger, paid as part of the cruise fare. Port of Call: Cities or islands where cruise ships and passengers may go on a shore. Private Charter: The leasing of any mode of transportation by a group of individual traveling together. Public Charter: A packaged trip utilizing non-scheduled transportation that can be purchased by the public. Record locator, Record locator number: An alphanumeric string which serves as a unique identifier of a booking or a PNR in a GDS. Regional Airlines: Small airlines, sometimes called commute airlines that operates short-haul routes. Restricted Inventory: A limited number of seats on a flight that can be sold at a specified fare. Seamen's Fares: Reduced air fares to which seamen are commonly entitled when travelling to join or leave a ship. Seat Assignment: Automated identification of passenger assigned row number and seat on a flight. Short-haul Travel: Air travel of less than 4 hours duration Single Connection: A type of flight pattern that involves single change of planes. Standard: The largest size category of rental cars. Tender: A small vessel actually accommodating 100 people that takes cruise passenger to shore while ship is at anchor. Terminal: Central part of the airport. Time Table: A publication of departure and arrival times for various forms of transportation. Wait list, Waitlist: 1. n. A roster of names of those wishing passage on a full flight or other trip usually honored in order in case of cancellations. 2. n. A group of people waiting for cancellations. 3. v. To place someone on such a list. Wide Body Aircraft: Aircraft that has two aisles.