Surely you have repeatedly heard phrases like: “I had to get by charter”, “I saved a lot on the charter”, “Charter flights from Moscow are profitable and convenient!”
But what kind of a charter is this mysterious and how does a charter flight differ from a regular one? What is regular flights, no one needs to explain. Schedules are posted at airports and airline sites, and anyone who wants to get from point A to point B chooses a suitable flight and buys a ticket for it.
And what is a charter flight? The easiest way to call charter flights one-time. The consolidator company, which is what the charter organizers are called, charter a plane with the airline and send it along a specially designed route. Most often, travel agencies act as consolidators. And this is understandable, since it is on tourist trips that a sufficient number of people usually go at the same time. Therefore, it is convenient for tour operators at the beginning of the season to charter a plane and then send their customers on almost their own aircraft, without worrying about pre-booking tickets.
So we have found out what a charter flight is. Now let's move on to why the cost of tickets is not lower than for regular flights. A regular flight, included in the general flight schedule, should go on the journey, regardless of how full the cabin is. Even if only a few tickets are purchased, he will still take off. And the cost of one flight is equal to the sum with six zeros. And airlines, in order not to suffer too obvious losses, raise the price of tickets.
The charter is always filled by definition. It is simply not included in the schedule, if all or the vast majority of places on it are not sold. But this also implies the minus of such flights. What minus is possible here? We will explain now.
What is a charter flight and why is it cheaper, we already know. At first glance, this is a very profitable service - to charter a whole plane and send passengers on it to where the charterer needs. But what if the right number of passengers is not recruited? Wait until there are missing people? This is not an option, since time, as everyone knows, is money. And the time that a paid airplane spends on the ground is money thrown away. Therefore, operators can sell a ticket for a charter flight even without buying a tour. But the passenger who bought such a ticket must be prepared for the fact that he will not be able to get to his destination at the right time for him. Charter flights, figuratively speaking, are stepsons of airports. They are delayed most often, giving priority to regular flights. Therefore, after reading the schedule of charter flights to Domodedovo, immediately add a few hours to the time of arrival. And only after that decide whether you will definitely benefit from such a flight.
By the way, those passengers who know well what a charter flight is, they also know one more trick that allows them to save on the price of a ticket. If it is more profitable to buy tickets for regular flights long before the departure date, then the cost of a charter on the eve of the flight can be much cheaper than when ordering for a week. Tour operators seek to sell tickets for all available seats on the plane. If there are still unsold tickets, and it is simply impossible to postpone a flight, then the price for them drops very rapidly.