Updated: 07/12/2019 18:52:21

Expert: Zalman Rivlin

A long-awaited vacation is an excellent opportunity to properly relax in a warm, comfortable resort. Long search for a suitable direction, choice good hotel etc. All that remains is to choose the optimal departure date. And then your eyes come across the concept of “charter” and immediately in your head thoughts about what it is and how it differs from a regular regular flight. Our experts will talk about this in detail further.

About charter flights

There is a difference between the two types of flights, and it is quite significant. To understand it clearly, it is necessary to consider in detail the concept of charter and a clear picture will immediately emerge.

What is it, pros and cons

To understand what it is chartered flight, it is enough to draw a simple analogy with by land transport. If regular flights are comparable to a minibus, for example, then a charter flight is a taxi. In essence, a charter flight allows airline customers to travel to their destination at a better price, more conveniently and faster.

Since booking a charter is not a cheap pleasure, private individuals almost never do this: large tourism operators take care of it, buying, as a rule, if not the entire aircraft, then a significant part of it. For them, a charter flight is actually the raw material on the basis of which they create a full-fledged tourism product, adding accommodation, transfer to a hotel, excursion services, etc. to the air flight. You get ready-made tours, the sale of which is mediated by travel agencies.

As a rule, airlines do not “throw out” tickets for charter flights into the public domain; accordingly, it is unrealistic to find them on airline ticket search sites - they are tourist tours. Can they be purchased separately? Yes, it is possible, but the likelihood of success is low. Tour operators sometimes offer charter tickets for sale separately (this happens when they still have free charter seats, which, by the way, is very rare). But keep in mind: the cost of such a ticket will be significantly higher than when purchasing a ready-made tour (in fact, this is what is good about ready-made tours).

ON A NOTE. It is important to understand one clear rule: charter tickets are created mainly for package tours, so purchasing them separately for your needs is not an easy task. In addition, if you do end up being one of the lucky ones, you will not be able to cancel your reservation later: this means that the ticket is non-refundable and your money will not be returned.

The charter has both nice features, and obvious shortcomings. Let's start with the positive aspects:

    No transfers - if you do not take into account split charters, about which we'll talk below, charters imply the absence of transfers so beloved by tourists and all the hassle associated with it;

    The opportunity to fly to a rare destination - often charters go to places where regular flights do not show their “nose”. In fact, a charter is one of the few ways to quickly and conveniently get to the most exotic places;

    Low price - cost charter ticket significantly differs from the regular one to a lesser extent - often this difference is significant (at least 2 times).

And now about the unpleasant stuff:

    Rescheduling of departure time - in case of problems with the departure/arrival of an aircraft, the first ones to be serviced will be regular flights, because passengers often fly on them not only for tourism, but also for business trips, and many of them have transfers (sometimes - some). You should be prepared for the fact that the time of the charter flight may be rescheduled up to a day before departure, and you should not blame the travel operator or agency for this.

    Economy class - the absence of business class on charter is due, first of all, to the understandable desire of the tour operator to reduce the cost of tickets. Modest food, economy class cabin with seats arranged according to the principle “the more the merrier.” Some tourists, after returning from a trip, complain about the carrier, not taking into account that their wallet remains intact.

    Inconvenient schedule - charters in the vast majority of cases are released after regular flights. Accordingly, the standard departure time is early in the morning or in the evening. This is not very convenient for vacationers, since check-in to the room occurs after 14:00, and the flight lands in the morning and you will have to “cook” for several hours (although this time can, of course, be whiled away in a bar or pool, leaving things in the hotel storage room ). The evening option is not the best, since after check-out at 12:00 you will have to hang around the airport for several hours.

    No bonus miles – on charters bonus miles, unfortunately, are not awarded.

    It is impossible to reschedule the departure date, as well as the departure time. Hence the unpleasant conclusion: if you want or need to shift the time of your stay on vacation, it will not be possible in any way.

There are several types of charters. Let's consider those that tourists most often encounter:

    Charter with layover - the flight operation scheme is very simple: after arriving at the destination, the plane remains parked (in the layover) awaiting the return flight. In this case, the tour operator pays only for parking without the need to pay for an empty flight. After finishing their vacation, tourists board the same plane and fly back on it. Such flights are relevant when flying to long-distance, often exotic destinations.

    Shuttle - after the cabin is filled, the plane immediately sends the entire group to its destination and operates according to this scheme throughout the entire rental period. Convenient option for destinations with high demand throughout the tourist season. The disadvantage of the shuttle is that the first and last flight will be empty, and the costs for them will fall on the shoulders of vacationers.

    Split charter - the least convenient, but in rare cases necessary measure. This is a kind of “mixture” of a charter and a regular flight. For example, first everyone flies by charter to the transfer point, and then to the final destination by regular (or vice versa). This is true for exotic destinations.

How to order a ticket?

Although air tickets for charter flights, as a rule, are sold exclusively as part of tours, since (as mentioned earlier), such flights are booked by tour operators specifically for their product. Still, if there is a need to purchase a separate air ticket, you should contact travel agencies working with major tour operators, or directly at the latter’s representative offices. It is impossible to find the required charter on the official website of the airline or websites selling air tickets.

It should be taken into account that the charter price will be quite high. In addition, the closer to the departure date you plan to purchase a ticket, the lower the likelihood of buying it at all. With regular flights everything is usually much simpler.

Differences between charter and scheduled flights

So, to summarize: what is the difference between charter and regular flights? The key difference is in a number of points:

    Transplants– on regular flights this is a common thing, but charters and transfers are two incompatible concepts. Charter flights are always operated non-stop, which is a significant advantage over regular flights.

    Price– the cost of regular flights is usually significantly higher than the cost of charters.

    Quality of service on board– charter flights include “modest” meals on board (or no meals at all), as well as exclusively economy class in order to reduce the cost of the flight.

    Departure time– changes in departure times are normal for both regular and charter flights. The difference is that in any emergency situation, the regular one will be sent first, which is not least due to the availability of transfers (no airline will want to take responsibility for missed connections).

Using aircraft to quickly move anywhere globe It has become a common practice for many people. The prerequisites for this are the transience of events in the modern technogenic world, the eternal shortage of time and the desire to use it as usefully as possible. Private or business flights, as a rule, are carried out by regular airline flights. People get to their vacation destination, especially if the tour was purchased from a specialized agency, by charter flights. How a charter flight differs from a regular flight, and what types of flights exist, is revealed in the article.

Types of aircraft flights

Making periodic flights to a place of rest or habitual permanent flights related to the performance of duties assigned by work or position, few passengers are interested in questions about what types of air transportation exist and how they are divided into types. Although the ticket price, the ability to manipulate it, and the level of service during a direct flight depend on these parameters.

Today, flights are classified according to the following characteristics:

  1. The frequency of a particular route and the service offered, including:
  • performed according to a strictly observed schedule (regular);
  • organized in addition to regular flights (to ensure the movement of peak flows of travelers seasonally or for other reasons);
  • carried out in connection with special circumstances and certain conditions – special;
  • charter.
  1. The following features of the flight:
  • non-stop flight – from the point of departure to the point of destination;
  • connecting – in this case it is necessary to make a transfer along the route to defined by the route airports to other aircraft;
  • through, the peculiarity of which is landing at intermediate airports for additional landing of passengers or refueling without changing the aircraft.
  1. Types of flight:
  • one way (One Way) – non-stop movement to the desired airport;
  • carried out from point “a” to point “b” and back by an airliner of the same carrier and along the same route (Round Trip);
  • composite Open Jaw, in which the movement is similar to the previous option, but the return to the point of departure is carried out along a different route or using an aircraft of another carrier, and departure or arrival can occur from a city different from the point of arrival (departure).

It is important to know! Regardless of the flight classification, carriers provide service within a strictly defined framework of international standards, divided into first, business and economy class. Each involves a separate list of usual services and opportunities for the traveler, ranging from pre-flight conditions, comfort seat(seats) and ending with meals on board. The price of the flight corresponds to the level of service provided to the passenger.

Differences between charter and scheduled flights

Regular flights are flights of airline aircraft carried out to transport passengers according to an agreed schedule for a long time. Cancellation or rescheduling of a flight can only occur in the event of force majeure circumstances.

Even if one ticket has been sold for the plane, and weather conditions do not prevent departure, the flight must be carried out. In this case, the carrier incurs certain losses, but he has no right to change the terms of a previously concluded contract for the carriage of passengers. To fill an aircraft with the maximum number of passengers, carriers sometimes use various marketing techniques in the form of discounts on pre-purchased tickets for various age and social categories of citizens.

Charter flights are planned and will be carried out by aircraft on the basis of an aircraft charter (lease) agreement between its owner and, as a rule, a tourism operator. It should be understood that the risks of lost profits are minimized for the carrier - the responsibility falls on the customer. Regular departures and landings are carried out according to a set schedule, and the air corridor of a charter flight occurs in the “windows” between regular flights. The price of tickets in some cases includes meals on board, but is quite affordable.

You should understand! If there is a delay in several flights, including the charter used for the flight, the departure of the latter will be carried out only after the departure of the main (regular) flights. Thus, the wait can last for many hours.

At the same time, special attention should be paid to the so-called “regular charters”. They differ in that tour operators buy passenger seats packages from regular carriers for their scheduled flights. The occurrence of non-standard situations does not lead to long delays.

Advantages and disadvantages of a charter flight

The peculiarities of flying on a charter flight are accompanied by both certain advantages and some inconveniences. The list of advantages includes the following:

  1. The ticket price is lower than the cost of a regular flight;
  2. A plane for a charter flight can be chartered not only tour operator, but also any other financially independent organization (football club, public association, private structure or individual);

  1. Using a charter allows passengers to avoid additional transfers during the route. For example, there are no regular direct flights to your destination, but when using a charter, the issue is resolved without much difficulty. It is especially convenient to fly charter to remote resort areas.

The inconvenience of using a charter flight when transporting travelers to their vacation destination is associated with the organization of the flight and the specifics of purchasing tickets, including:

  1. Class division is not provided on all flights; the distance between boarding seats is reduced. Quality of service and comfortable flight conditions are not the main task of an air carrier. Lounge pillows and blankets are not provided on all flights. However, this practice is no exception for regular flights. Charter carriers do not aim to attract the traveler as a regular passenger. They work in different directions, based only on commercially beneficial agreements;
  2. There is food during the flight, but it is limited to the minimum allowed by flight rules;
  3. Systems for accumulating bonuses and miles for travel when using a charter are not applied;
  4. It is almost impossible to return or replace a purchased charter ticket, despite the fact that its acquisition is associated with many difficulties;
  5. It is not always possible to check in for a flight using online services; often the traveler can find out the type of aircraft only a couple of days before departure;
  6. Considering the fact that charter flights operate within regular flight windows, flight delays are not uncommon.

Any potential traveler can choose a charter flight for himself or use a regular one for his flight. You just have to take into account the fact that selecting a ticket for a charter will take a little more time - tour operators and agencies are trying to carry out package sales of services at a competitive price. The task is simplified if there are few empty seats left on the plane after the main sale of tours. Sometimes you can find the opposite when ticket offices offer flight tickets at a reduced price, forgetting to warn that the flight is not regular. In such cases, it would be useful to know that regular flights have a three-digit code, and charter flights have a four-digit code.

Video

When buying a tour package, many travelers for the first time wonder what a charter flight is and how it differs from others. Let's figure it out.

To make it easier to trace the entire chain, let’s draw an analogy with school excursions. In case anyone has forgotten, this is when the teacher tells the joyful children that tomorrow, instead of lessons, they will go, say, to pick mushrooms. How to organize such a trip? After all, at the bus station there is no regular flight “School - For mushrooms”. This means that the school director (tour operator) negotiates with the bus fleet (air carrier) to provide a bus on a certain date for a trip along a specific route.

The situation with charters is not much different. The task of a travel agency is to deliver a group of tourists from point “A” to point “B” with minimal costs. If there is a regular flight in the desired direction, great, but what if not? For example, from Odessa to Antalya it’s just a stone’s throw, but there is no direct flight; you need to make a transfer in Istanbul. In such cases, the tour operator negotiates with the airline to provide him with an aircraft. Roughly speaking, rents a plane with crew.

The role of such a “tenant” can be not only a travel company, but also, say, a football club, Political Party, public organization... At the same time, the degree of wear and tear of the aircraft, the level of comfort and quality of service directly depend on how much the customer is willing to pay.

The difference between a charter flight and a regular flight

The first thing that distinguishes a charter flight from a regular one is that it is not as easy to organize as it might seem. After all, in addition to the airline and the airport, there is a third party - a tour operator. This means that everyone’s interests must be taken into account when drawing up the schedule, cost of services and other nuances. It is precisely because of failures in the interaction of these three links that problems most often occur, which give grounds to say that charters are worse than regular ones.

In fact, in both cases the same aircraft and crews are used. The only visible difference by which you can unmistakably recognize a charter is the absence of division into first class, business and economy. Here, all the seats are the same, often even moved closer for greater interior space.

  • Do not miss:

It is clear that the travel agency is trying to save as much as possible in order to reduce the final price of the tour package. You can say that he is trying for us. That is why services and food on board are reduced to the necessary minimum. So, when buying a “last minute tour” for $300, you shouldn’t make hasty conclusions, like “I was poorly fed on the plane, which means all charters are bad”...

Charter flights are also different in that they can easily be rescheduled or delayed. This is really true. If an emergency occurs at the airport, regular routes are always released first. Which is logical, because many passengers flying on them will have to transfer, and neither the airline nor the airport wants to take responsibility for the connection failure.

What are charter flights? That's right, direct flights, no transfers. Moreover, you are flying on vacation, and people are late on business. So relax, there is no malicious intent here. Regular airlines are distinguished by the fact that they arrive on time even if there are only a few passengers on board. This does not mean that rescheduling charter flights is normal practice, you just need to be prepared for it.

  • Read also:

Perhaps the main difference between charter flights is that you cannot book tickets for them or even buy them in advance. Exact time Departure dates may change a few days or even hours before your upcoming trip.

Benefits of charters

  • The main thing, of course, is the price. They are significantly cheaper than regular flights.
  • No transfers, only direct flights. This means that you are not worried about the upcoming running around unfamiliar terminals. Don't be afraid of losing your luggage at the transfer airport.
  • The opportunity to get to resorts where there are simply no direct flights, except perhaps on transfer flights.

Disadvantages of charter flights

  • The schedule is not always convenient. Since charters are released when there is a free “window” between regular routes, this often means a too early or late departure. This means that you will have to wait a long time to check into a hotel upon arrival, or sacrifice a whole day of rest. In addition, the regularity of such flights differs from ordinary ones, and directly depends on the sold package tours. If these are, for example, vouchers for 7, 10 or 14 days, then return flights will be made exactly with this frequency.
  • Those who fly often will not like the fact that bonus miles are not awarded for such flights.
  • You can only check in for a charter flight in the “traditional” way, online registration is extremely rare.
  • Well, the main drawback is the inability to return or exchange a ticket if departure is impossible.

How to buy a ticket for a charter flight without a voucher

Typically, travel agencies sell such seats on planes exclusively as part of package tours, since it is more profitable for them. However, you need to understand that they reserve planes at the very beginning of the tourist season, relying mainly on statistics from last year. This means that they don’t always guess right. And the closer the departure date, the cheaper the company is ready to sell the remaining tickets, even separately from the tour. Sometimes you can find very tasty options, cheaper than any low-cost airline.

Recently, the situation has been changing, and some travel agencies, seeing that more and more tourists prefer to travel on their own, are selling places on charters almost all year round. The problem is how to find them. Despite the existence specialized sites for the sale of air tickets such as allcharter.ru, for example, the information on them is often very different from reality.

To buy charter flight tickets yourself, start by searching the websites of several major tour operators or aggregators (such as). It is there that you can most often find the most “up-to-date” data on the availability of free places. At the same time, you should not get hung up on buying a ticket for a charter flight without a tour. Often, a trip to some seedy “troika” with a flight costs less than a similar “regular” air ticket.

To buy a charter ticket without a voucher, you will need patience and nerves of steel. By waiting until travel agencies have lost all hope of selling a flight “in a package,” you can really get good price, and even bargain.

A charter is a flight for which tickets cannot be purchased at the ticket office in advance, and it is not mentioned in the airport schedule. Everyone who has been to a foreign country tourist trip, know about this type of flights.

How are charter flights organized?

The name charter comes from the English word to chart, which means hiring a ship. In its modern meaning, a charter flight is a flight that is organized specifically, for a specific time and in a specific direction. Similar nautical term can be considered a bareboat when a seagoing vessel is hired.

Charter plane on course

Charter flights are not regular and are carried out in accordance with a special schedule passenger transportation. The organization of charter flights is almost always carried out by a travel company, sports club, enterprise or other wealthy organization.

To carry out the transportation of a group of people (teams of athletes, tourists, company employees or pilgrims) using an aircraft by affordable price and to a place where there is no regular flight, the organizer rents the entire plane along with its crew. The condition of the aircraft, the comfort of the flight and the level of service are directly dependent on the amount paid for the flight, which means it is necessary to pay attention to this.

Everything, from the package of permits to preparation before the flight, is carried out by the flight organizer. A travel operator is in charge of allocating seats on board an aircraft to travel agents who want to transport their clients to their desired destination.

Travel companies become the owners of tickets for a charter flight, and, in accordance with their tariffs, sell them to the end customers - tourists of package tours.

Experts note that the demand for charter flights and new air travel destinations increases sharply during summer holidays. During this period, the demand for airline services (for example, the Turkish company Onur Air) significantly exceeds their resources. The maximum number of summer charters are carried out from Moscow, the Northern capital, Yekaterinburg and Krasnodar. During this period, planes fly to Turkey (especially a lot to Antalya), Egypt, Bulgaria, the city of Tivat in Montenegro and other resort countries.

The sports team has arrived

What is the difference between a regular flight and a charter flight?

Although regular and non-scheduled flights sometimes use the same aircraft, they differ in several respects. There are several differences that will help you understand what a charter is:

  • The passenger receives a ticket for a regular flight in his hands after paying for it at the ticket office. A travel company issues a ticket for a charter flight no earlier than one day after departure. Sometimes a document or a whole batch of them is issued to tour buyers only upon arrival at the airport.
  • The flight organizer can change the departure time at any time - from several days to several hours before departure. The earliest reservations can be made for 24 hours only.
  • If a passenger is late for the plane at the scheduled departure time, then his return ticket is simply cancelled.
  • When carrying charter passengers, the airports at which flights will arrive or depart may often change. In addition, they can change the plane itself. Such replacements are very rare on regular flights, unlike on non-scheduled ones.
  • The entire organization of flights is shared between the tour operator company, the air carrier company and the airport. This allows all participants in the process to take into account their interests in setting ticket prices and flight schedules. And if the normal interaction of these three parties disappears, then the air bridge may not work properly. And this is one of the negative aspects of irregular transportation in comparison with regular ones.
  • The cabins of charter flights are usually more densely packed with passenger seats so that the price per seat is lower. In defense of this, it can be said that some modern scheduled low-cost carriers install seats even more tightly into the cabins of flying ships.
  • Travel companies try to reduce the cost of travel as much as possible, and therefore the passenger’s in-flight comfort can be significantly reduced due to various savings: from canceling meals during the flight to reducing the weight of luggage. In simple words, those who want to save money cannot demand the service.
  • Non-scheduled flights may be rescheduled or delayed in favor of regular ones if a traffic jam occurs. Passengers on regular flights must make connections, which charter flights simply do not have.

These few differences will help anyone imagine what a charter flight is.

Important! A tourist who plans to get to his final destination himself, and only fly back by plane, must definitely tell the staff of his travel company about this.

Benefits of charter flights

Non-scheduled air travel has its advantages. This is evidenced by the stable and growing demand for charter flights of specialized companies.

Let's list them:

  • The main advantage is that a tourist can fly to places where regular air travel has never flown. And a charter can be organized to any place on the globe.
  • Due to the fact that non-scheduled flights are always direct, the passenger will not have to face the problems of transfers and connections at unfamiliar airports if there is not enough time between flights.
  • The passenger of a direct charter flight receives an economic benefit because the tickets are significantly lower than usual because the tour operator receives a significant discount for renting the entire aircraft. At the beginning and end of the season, the difference in ticket prices can reach 200-300%.
  • If unforeseen circumstances occur, the travel company can always issue an unclaimed ticket to someone else.

Charter flight completed

Disadvantages of irregular flights

If there are several advantages, it would be logical to assume that there must also be disadvantages. It does not happen that a very low price will provide only advantages. That’s right, there are several inconvenient features of charters:

  • Scheduled flights are always the first to arrive on the runway because they are the airlines' priority.
  • Such flights are carried out strictly according to the schedule, which contains the aircraft rental agreement. Therefore, vacationers will not be able to reschedule their return flight at low cost and enjoy their vacation longer.
  • If you cancel the flight, the money paid cannot be returned. Although this is done on regular flights, but not on all flights, it depends on the fare.
  • Paying for a charter flight excludes receiving any bonuses in the form of miles, etc.
  • Due to the fact that the charter schedule is always prepared for the time when regular flights do not take off, it is usually inconvenient. Departures happen either sooner or later. For tourists, this entails inconvenience associated with a long wait for check-in at a hotel or earlier check-out, which is affected by the departure time.
  • Unlike regular flights, passengers cannot check in for the plane online. But recently, large carrier companies have begun to organize online check-in for charter flights.

Private jet interior

Misconceptions About Charters

Tourists with little travel experience do not yet know what a charter is. And so there are some myths that we will look at below:

  • Most non-scheduled flights are carried out on older aircraft. It is not true. For this purpose, the same aircraft are used as for regular flights. The age and reliability of the aircraft depends entirely on which one the consolidator charters.
  • Charters are not reliable. Here, too, everything depends on the specific organizing company.
  • You shouldn't count on food during the flight. On the contrary, everything happens in full accordance with nutritional standards, depending on the duration of the flight.
  • An irregular flight can be canceled very easily. This is not possible since the passenger's rights are protected. The flight can be postponed for up to several days, but it cannot be cancelled.
  • You cannot carry luggage for free. Baggage allowances are the same for any air travel and depend on the flight class.

Note! If passengers on charter flights are delayed, they have the same rights as everyone else. According to the rules of air passenger and baggage transportation, all passengers have the right to visit the mother and child room, make phone calls and send emails, be provided with hot food and drinks, check into a hotel and store luggage. It all depends only on the time for which the flight was delayed. It is important to ensure that the delay is noted on the ticket at the airport.

Boarding

Buying a cheap charter flight ticket

Having figured out what a charter means, many decide to fly on it. A tourist who is looking for charter flights will immediately understand that it is cheaper. You can usually buy them if you book a tour with a travel company. Inexpensive tickets come as a package along with payment for a three-star hotel and included expenses for food and entertainment. Such tickets will cost less than similar ones for a standard flight.

How do you know if you can buy a ticket for a charter flight separately from the tour? To do this you need to show patience and endurance. For example, a last minute ticket on the Moscow - Antalya route may appear on a special website for the sale of such tickets. Also, such an offer may appear shortly before departure on the website of a large travel company-transportation operator.

Every person who needs to fly on a charter flight can get enough information about non-scheduled air transportation and the nuances of charter flights in this material. Anyone who wanted to know that this is a charter will be able to find out. The only thing left to do is to compare the level of your financial capabilities with those offers from travel companies, which are in his region.

Many travelers are intimidated by charter flights. They seem unreliable and unstable. Every now and then you hear how airlines are prohibited from charter flights. Experienced travelers remember the beginning of the 2000s, when charters flew only from tiny airports, and airlines skimped on everything: buses for passengers, food on board, and the seats were no more comfortable than in trains. However, everything has changed since then! Let's dispel all fears and doubts about this truly convenient way to travel anywhere in the world!

What it is?

Charter flights differ from regular flights in that they are organized not by the airline, but by a third-party customer. Many people believe that charter flights are only planes carrying passengers to a resort, but this is not entirely true. For example, helicopters that deliver workers to the Sakhalin oil shelf also operate charter flights.

How is it different from regular?

Today, charter flights are carried out by the same airlines, aircraft and airports as in the case of scheduled flights. If you don't tell the passenger that he's on a charter flight, he won't notice the difference. The only important difference is that the air ticket price is significantly lower!

Low prices are due to various reasons.

  1. First— charters fly only to destinations where aircraft occupancy is 100%. These are usually popular resort destinations. On regular flights, airlines compensate for low occupancy rates with high fares.
  2. Second cause low prices is that the airline providing aircraft for charter flights is freed from a lot of work. All that is required from the airline is to provide the aircraft and crew for a safe and comfortable flight, and the charter customer is responsible for selling tickets, occupancy of the aircraft, informing passengers and many other complex organizational matters.

Customers, as a rule, are large tour operators, for example:

  • Tez Tour;
  • Biblio Globus;
  • Natalie Tours.

Tour operators also benefit from charter cooperation with airlines; they receive a commission for each passenger transported. Thus, a transportation scheme that is convenient and beneficial for everyone, and most importantly, for passengers, is created.

How to find out whether a regular flight or a charter flight

The main distinguishing feature of a charter is the flight number, or rather, the number of digits in it. 3 digits are a regular flight, and 4 are a charter flight. For example:

  • UT 533 - regular;
  • UT 5335 - charter.

Ticket prices

The cost of tickets for a charter flight depends on many factors: airline tariffs, organizer markups, distance and destination.

Sometimes organizers specially sell charter tickets at prices that do not even cover the cost of renting an aircraft. This makes sense for tour operators when partnership agreements with hotels more than cover these losses.

The cost of tickets for a charter flight is, on average, 30% lower than for a regular flight, however, there is only one way to get such tickets - buy a ticket through a tour operator. Separate tickets for charter flights are sold very rarely, usually at the end of the season, when occupancy is no longer 100%.

If you do find a ticket for a charter flight on sale, you can save no more than 10%. Here are some price examples:

  • Direction Moscow - Sochi (June, prices in rubles):
    • The package includes 7,000;
    • On sale (Nord Star) - 11,500;
    • Regular flight (Aeroflot) - 13,400;
    • Low-cost airline (Pobeda) - 10,700.
  • Direction Moscow - Simferopol (June, prices in rubles):
    • The package includes 9,100;
    • Available for free sale ( Azur Air) — 13 750;
    • Regular flight ( Ural Airlines) — 13 030.

How to buy a ticket without a voucher?

There are 3 ways to buy a charter ticket without a voucher:

  • Through special ticket search services. A few examples of such sites:
    • charter24.ru;
    • allcharter.ru;
    • chabooka.ru.
  • Through regular ticket search services, for example, aviasales.ru. Let us remind you that the charter flight number consists of four digits.
  • On the websites of travel companies that provide this opportunity:
    • https://www.tez-tour.com/;
    • https://www.bgoperator.ru/price.shtml?action=biletnew;
    • https://www.natalie-tours.ru/avia/.

How to find?

There are different ways to find a charter flight. The three most convenient methods are described above, with the help of them you can find and immediately buy tickets for a charter flight, but sometimes situations arise when you need to find tickets for a specific flight, but they are not on sale.

In such a situation, you can do the following:

  • Open the airport's online departure board;
  • Find in the online scoreboard the right direction(use Ctrl+F for easy page search);
  • Make sure that the flight is a charter flight (the number must have 4 digits);
  • Contact the airline that carries this flight and find out the charter organizer;
  • Contact the organizer and purchase a ticket.

Registration

The rules for registering for a charter flight depend on the specific airline, but the procedure itself is practically no different from registering for a regular scheduled flight.

The only important difference is the registration time frame. The fact is that check-in for a charter flight does not begin according to a fixed schedule, but only after the organizer submits the final lists of passengers for the flight.

To check-in for a charter flight, you must arrive at the airport at least 2 hours before flight departure. Then you should find the counter of the airline that is the carrier (it is indicated on the ticket or voucher) and hand over your documents to the airline employee. If you have any questions, you can contact both the airline and the tour operator.

Online

Unfortunately, due to the specific nature of charter flights, online check-in is not always possible. Sometimes travel companies submit lists several hours before departure, and there is simply no time left for online check-in. Fortunately, this happens quite rarely, and Online check-in begins 10-12 hours before departure.

To register online, you must complete the following steps:

  • Find information about the carrier on the ticket or travel package;
  • Go to the official website of the carrier;
  • Select an online registration service;
  • Enter your ticket details;
  • Select seats (if possible);
  • Print your boarding pass.

Compensation for delay

Many people think that charter flights are somehow special, but in reality they are not. It makes no difference whether a passenger is flying on a regular or charter flight; his rights are fully protected by the Consumer Protection Law and specific regulations related to air transportation.

Evidence of a flight delay can only be written confirmation of this fact from the airline or airport. Video recording online scoreboard, contrary to many recommendations, cannot be used as evidence during trial.

So if a passenger's flight is delayed, he is entitled to free services:

  1. two calls;
  2. nutrition;
  3. hotel accommodation.

And it doesn't matter why the delay occurred. Even if the flight is delayed due to difficult weather conditions, the airline is obliged to fulfill the three points above.

Much more complex is the issue of monetary compensation for flight delays. According to the law, a passenger has the right, after a “serious delay,” to receive compensation in the amount of 25% of the minimum wage for each hour of flight delay (but not more than 50% of the ticket price). Unfortunately, airlines do not often agree to such compensation voluntarily. And the “seriousness” of the delay is also different for everyone. Typically, a serious delay is considered to be more than 12 hours.

In 2018, for a 12-hour delay you can claim up to 30,000 rubles (but not more than 50% of the ticket price).

When it comes to litigation, the court will usually side with the passenger, but only in cases where the airline could have done at least something to prevent the delay. For example, if the delay is caused by an aircraft breakdown, the court will side with the plaintiff, and if the reason is, for example, snowfall and the closure of the air harbor, it will side with the airline.

Paradoxically, it is much easier to demand compensation for a delay from a foreign company than from a domestic one. The fact is that they are subject to uniform requirements, and if they refuse to comply with them, they receive very serious sanctions. If a flight is delayed by 2 hours, the passenger is entitled to compensation in the amount of 250 euros, and the maximum payment is 600 euros (for 6 hours of delay).

Who is responsible for the charter flight

Who will be responsible if something happens during the flight? What happens if the tour operator goes bankrupt and does not pay for the charter flight?

It is necessary to divide this question into two parts. The tour operator bears full responsibility for the party related to finances and flight organization. If it suddenly turns out that the airline has not received money for renting the aircraft, it has the right to cancel the charter flight, and all questions must be addressed to the tour operator.

If, for example, a passenger enters the plane and it turns out that his seat is already taken, only the tour operator can resolve the conflict. If more tickets are sold for a flight than the plane can accommodate, then the airline will again have nothing to do with it.

However, if some incident occurs during the flight, for example, a passenger is injured through no fault of his own, he has the right to demand compensation from the airline, because it bears full responsibility for the safety of air travel.

All charter flights are insured for the same amounts as regular flights.

Baggage

The rules for carrying baggage on charter flights are specified in the ticket or in the travel memo. They are installed by airlines, not flight organizers, since the weight and size of luggage directly affects the safety of the flight. As a rule, charter flights allow you to carry more baggage than regular flights, since scheduled flights often carry commercial cargo.

Charter flights are a convenient and economical way to travel, chosen by millions of passengers around the world. Today it is practically devoid of disadvantages, because safety and comfort are at least at the level of regular regular transportation.

Watch the video about what is better to choose: charter or regular flight?