Flights are frequently asked questions. Report to accounting

Many air travelers wondered: “Why did a ticket cost $ 100 yesterday, and today 150?” Or how can it be that the same tickets in economy class differ in price? In fact, the answer to these questions is very simple. The plane has a “business class”, “economy class” and sometimes “first class”; all of this is called service classes. In different classes, the cost of the airline lays different in quality of service: the seats in them differ in comfort, and most importantly, the rules for using tickets differ. But in addition to the service classes, there are also booking classes, which uninitiated people very often do not even guess about. And it depends on them how much your ticket will cost.

What are booking classes?

In each aircraft, airlines break down service classes additionally into reservation classes, for example, in “Business class” 3-4 service classes, in “economy” 5-20. All of them differ in cost and in the rules of the application of the tariff, different classes of service in the same booking class do not differ at all in comfort or distribution of seats. That is, you can very well fly next to the person who bought the same ticket as yours, but three times more expensive. It turns out that the sooner you book a ticket, the cheaper you will be offered to buy it. And by purchasing a ticket before departure, you will buy it more expensive, since the seats at a more profitable class are already over. But the difference between your tickets will still be, the cheaper the ticket, the more restrictions are imposed on it. This may mean that a cheap ticket cannot be handed over, or you can make changes to the departure date, or that it can be redeemed only on the day of booking. There will be many such restrictions, and the more, the cheaper the ticket will be. But it should be remembered that the service on board will be unchanged for people with different cost tickets. Such a system was also created so that the airline could pursue a more advantageous flexible financial policy. For example, if the demand for tickets is large, and the flight loads quickly, the airline closes cheap classes for sale, and, conversely, when there is no demand, it opens.

Therefore, the difference in airfare may depend on when you booked the ticket.

Summarize:

The earlier you book a ticket, the cheaper it will be and the more restrictions it will have
Booking classes do not differ in terms of comfort or level of services provided.
For early bookings, it is advisable to redeem tickets in advance. Until the time the ticket is issued (while the ticket is on the reservation), the ticket price is not fixed, and the airline has the right to change the price of tickets.
Always check the rules for using your ticket.

What is a service charge?

Each ticket office takes a service charge for issuing a ticket, that is, a service charge. Moreover, contrary to the beliefs of many, this is not a percentage of the ticket, but a fixed amount that does not depend on the direction of the flight, airline and class of service. This means that the ticket office will work the same way when selling a ticket worth 1000 and for 5000 rubles.

Consequently, the service charge does not significantly affect the cost of the ticket.

Why are there different prices at different ticket offices?

Probably, you often came across the fact that at different ticket offices they offer different prices for flights. This is due to several factors:

Miscellaneous service charge
Professionalism of managers

Miscellaneous service charge
Service fees in airline companies may vary, but due to high competition, travel companies try not to raise their service fees above the recommended ones. The service charge does not significantly affect the cost of the ticket.
Current seat availability
The cost of seats on the plane depends on the booking class. Since the booking system is the same for all agencies, the cost will depend on how quickly they arrange seats for the flight. So, you can call one at the ticket office, find out the cost, and in a minute call the next - the cost may be very different. This indicates that while you were comparing, someone had already taken cheap places. Or the cost may be lower, because the airline sets a time limit for reservations and non-purchased tickets on time are automatically returned to the reservation system.
Professionalism of managers
The factor that affects cost the most, especially if you are looking for a difficult flight. When searching for difficult routes, managers often have to look for flights with transfers, combine different airlines. The cost of tickets may depend on a host of factors that are known to different degrees by air tellers. Therefore, professional managers often find cheaper options than their less professional colleagues. But it should be remembered that this rule is more relevant for complex flights, and there are exceptions to each rule.

Why are low cost cheaper?

Low cost airline (other names - discounter, low-cost airline) low cost airline, discount carrier, budget carrier) is an airline that offers extremely low fares in exchange for rejecting most traditional passenger services.

The homeland of the low-cost concept is the USA, from where it spread to Europe in the early 1990s and later in many countries of the world. The term low-cost is borrowed in many languages \u200b\u200bof the world from the English language, where it originally applied to all airlines with a lower structure of operating costs than their competitors. While the term low-cost is often applied to any airline with low ticket prices and a limited range of services, regardless of their operating models, low-cost airlines should not be confused with regional airlines that operate on short flights without service or with full-service airlines, but limiting the range of services.

A typical low-cost airline model usually (but not always) includes the following provisions:

one passenger class;
one type of aircraft (usually Airbus A320 or Boeing 737), which reduces the cost of training personnel and maintenance of equipment;
the minimum set of additional equipment on the plane, the lack of entertaining video panels, AVOD, ACARS digital pilot communication systems with ground, auto-braking, etc., which makes the machine lower and reduces its weight, which means fuel consumption;
a simple scheme of fare, the use of one form for round-trip travel, and recently, the complete absence of paper tickets when switching to electronic tickets has been common;
focus on direct ticket sales, especially through the Internet (in order to avoid paying commissions to agents and reservation systems);
typically increasing the price of a ticket as the airplane fills to encourage early reservations;
lack of seats on boarding passes (but not always - as indicated on the seats on Airberlin boarding passes), i.e. encouraging passengers to board and take seats faster;
the use of cheap, less crowded secondary airports and departures early in the morning or late in the evening in order to avoid possible delays due to air traffic loading, and also with the aim of saving due to lower airport charges;
fast turnaround of aircraft (with a view to its maximum load);
simple routes, routes are constructed on a point-to-point basis (direct flights between airports) without intermediate landings in order to maximize the use of the aircraft and avoid delays associated with the delay of transit passengers and baggage loss between flights);
focus on direct flights (baggage is not automatically transferred from one flight to another, even if these are flights of the same company); reduction of the range of services provided to passengers on board the aircraft, exclusion from this set of services that are standard on other airlines (for example, distribution of soft drinks and meals to passengers), transferring such services to the category of paid ones;
obtaining additional income from the sale of additional services on board the aircraft and goods;
the employees perform several functions at once, for example, cabin crew, in addition to their direct duties, also clean the cabin, register passengers for the flight (in order to save the wage fund);
reducing the role of special services (for example, increasing the age of children, starting from which you can fly on your own), which reduces the cost of them;

Not every low-cost airline carries out the entire set of the above activities (for example, some low-cost airlines indicate numbers on boarding passes, while others use more than one type of aircraft).

Can an agency issue a ticket from a site?

Agencies work in professional reservation systems in which information is updated every minute and connected directly with airlines all over the world.

We do not reserve or issue tickets from sites and cannot be held responsible for the relevance and accuracy of the information provided in them. In private, everyone can make a decision and buy a ticket on the site, providing their credit card details, thereby taking full responsibility for the reservation and payment.

Nevertheless, if a client independently finds a ticket cheaper than our manager offers, we make a second request to the airline for the availability of more favorable fares.

What does the term “hang on the reservation”, “extend the reservation” mean?

“Hang a ticket for a reservation” means to fix seats on certain flights for certain dates on specific passengers. These places will be assigned to you for some time (the airline will set a time limit - time limit, the time when tickets must be redeemed, otherwise they will be automatically removed from the reservation). That is, the airline will know that you want to buy these places, and will not sell them to anyone else for a certain period, until you think you need a ticket or not.

If airlines increase flight load, they send special messages to the agency stating that the validity of the reservation (time limit) has been reduced. In such situations, we are forced to ask you to hurry up with a decision.

If you can’t decide which flight to fly and make several reservations for passengers with the same name, the airline will withdraw all your bookings. Airlines really do not like it when they are prevented from selling tickets for their flights normally.

“Outweigh or extend the reservation” means that the reservation is completely canceled on the day the reservation expires (time limit - time limit) and a new reservation is made. If there are seats in the same fare, then the manager can make a new reservation at the same price. If there are no seats in the same tariff, then the cost will change. It should be borne in mind that until the ticket is issued (while the ticket is on the reservation) the ticket price is not fixed and airline the right to change the cost of tickets.

What changes can be made to the reservation, which cannot be?

Can change dates, flights of the same airline, increase the booking class (upgrade). All changes to the reservation are made based on availability in the reservation system.

It is impossible change the airline, route, first or last name, all passport details in the reservation. Reservations must be made on specific people. To do this, cancel the old reservation and make a new one. The places removed from the reservation go on free sale.

I fly for more than ten years, 10-15 times a year.

I spend more than 150 thousand rubles a year on flights, but I would like to spend less.

I figured out what the price of an air ticket depends on. It turned out that there’s not much to be done, but you can still save on a flight.

Sergey Korol

spends a lot on flights

What does the ticket cost consist of

The ticket consists of a fare, fees and additional options of the seller. Tariffs and fees cannot be affected, but seller options can be saved.

Rate. This is the cost of a ticket for the airline - for this money it is ready to take you to your destination. The tariff does not depend on the time of departure, nor on the occupancy of the aircraft. Even if one passenger flies aboard, he will pay for the ticket at a fare. Airlines change fares, but not often - usually once a season.

If you decide not to fly, then the fare will be refunded, in full or with a penalty. The fine of Aeroflot for flights in Russia is from 1,500 to 2,500 R, for foreign flights - 50-100 € (3647 -7294 R). Other airlines have similar rules.

There are still promotional tariffs, they are the cheapest. But such a ticket cannot be returned or handed over, luggage and the choice of a place on board will be for a fee. Lowcosters have all tariffs - promos.

Fees Additional fees are transferred to fees: taxes, airport service charges, state taxes and fees, etc. Even in the airline’s fees include part of the cost of the flight, for example, fuel fees.

Fees depend on the country and airport of departure, as well as on the exchange rate: airlines pay for kerosene in dollars.

Strange Fees

In Australia, all passengers pay $ 42 (1944 R) for departure from the country. In the Netherlands - 42 € (3,064 R) of environmental tax. For the flight from the Bahamas and back, you will have to pay taxes an additional $ 140 (9063 R).

In the USA, airlines pay 7.5% of the cost of each ticket plus $ 4 (259 Р) for each passenger for take-off ($ 8.7 (563 Р) for take-off from Hawaii or Alaska) and $ 5.6 (363 Р) security fee. For international flights, the fees increase: $ 5.5 (356 Р) of the customs fee, $ 11 (712 Р) - fee for a foreign flight, $ 5 (324 Р) to the veterinary control service.

If the passenger passes the ticket, the airline will return all fees, even for promotional tariffs.

Seller Options. Air ticket sites show the fare and collection of airlines and try to capitalize on their additional services. Sites sell insurance, SMS, rent a hotel and a car, offer to register for money.

To save on a ticket, turn off all options of the seller. Be especially careful when buying a ticket on the website of low-cost airlines: Iziget, Air Berlin, Raynair, Wizz Air. Low-cost airlines do not hesitate to include options in the ticket price without demand.

How to buy a ticket more profitable

Travelers have stories about when it is cheaper to buy tickets. Some say that you need to take for six months, others are advised to buy right before departure. In fact, no one knows the best time to buy. The airlines probably know, but they don’t tell: it’s profitable for them to sell unprofitable tickets.

The American payment company Akorp examined 144 million ticket prices in 2011 and found out that it is most profitable to buy a ticket 6 weeks before departure. In Russia in 2017, everything can be different. But there are a couple of simple rules.

Fly on weekdays. I noticed that weekend tickets are usually more expensive than during the week.

If you need to fly on specific dates, you can’t save money. But if you are planning a trip, check the ticket prices in the coming days by the estimated time of departure. See the sections “Price Dynamics” on airline sites.

In winter, we flew to Sri Lanka. At first they wanted to return on Sunday. But then they saw that on Tuesday a ticket costs 15,000 rubles less. For this money, we rented a large villa and rested on the island for another two days.

Sign up for a price change. Ticket sites offer to subscribe to price changes by mail. Once a day they will send you letters: “The ticket has fallen in price” or “The ticket has risen in price”.

A subscription is useful if you plan to fly cheaper, and when it doesn’t matter. Browse prices and wait for a good option. The price may fall due to the sale or special offer of the airline. You will see this in the newsletter and buy a ticket.

Pay for your ticket by credit card. I usually buy tickets in advance and pay with a credit card. This is convenient if you need to buy a ticket for 70,000 R, I can’t spend that kind of money right now. Over the course of a month, I gradually return the funds to the card - as if I bought a ticket by installments.

What is an electronic ticket and how to use it

On December 1, 2007, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin signed federal law N 314-ФЗ “ON AMENDMENT OF ARTICLE 105 OF THE AIR CODE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION” which states literally the following:

A ticket, baggage receipt, other documents used in the provision of services for the carriage of passengers by air can be issued electronically (electronic carriage document) with information on the conditions of the contract of carriage in the automated information system for processing air carriage.

Thus, an electronic ticket was legalized. Since then, airlines have been actively introducing electronic tickets at home. One of the first, even before the adoption of the law, such an airline introduced an electronic ticket for an airplane, and others followed it. Now electronic airline tickets are introduced at almost all airlines.

What is an electronic airplane ticket?

This is the preservation of full information about air travel, including passenger data, its route, payment in a special electronic database. Using an electronic airplane ticket guarantees the same rights and opportunities for a passenger that he has with a regular ticket on a form. An electronic ticket can be booked in advance, payment is made in any way convenient for the passenger - for cash or bank transfer, by credit card. Immediately after paying for the ticket, the client receives an itinerary-receipt with detailed information about the flight by e-mail.

Benefits of an electronic airplane ticket

An electronic airline ticket has significant advantages over a paper counterpart.

It cannot be lost, since all information is safely stored in the database of the carrier company.
In addition, it is impossible to fake, which serves as a guarantee of safety for the passenger.
Buying an electronic ticket is simple and can be done in a variety of ways. You can, for example, with us :)
At the same time, the cost of an electronic ticket is lower than the cost of an ordinary one, and the time spent on its registration and purchase is significantly less. It is especially convenient to book electronic tickets via the Internet, since the passenger does not need to go or go anywhere at all - he will receive the document necessary for boarding the plane by e-mail.

How to use e-tickets

Some passengers, having received the itinerary receipt on their hands, are surprised by its appearance - this is an ordinary A4 sheet, on which all information about the upcoming flight is printed. However, this is indeed an official document confirming an agreement between an air carrier and a passenger, which can save money and time for an airline client.

In order to fly off on a scheduled flight, the passenger must present the itinerary receipt with the identification card on registration in the same way as an ordinary paper ticket is presented.
Check-in with electronic tickets is carried out according to the standard scheme, and in some cases takes much less time. The fact is that an electronic ticket allows you to check in for your flight yourself, in special self-check-in kiosks or even on the airline’s website, so the passenger does not have to stand in line.

Report to accounting

Often electronic tickets are used for flights on a business trip. In this case, in order to confirm the costs of the ticket, the passenger will have to provide the accounting department:

receipt route
fiscal receipt,
boarding pass (original).

The fastest way to get from one destination to another is to board a plane and fly. And some countries can, at times, be reached only in this way. But the cost of a plane ticket is high enough to make this mode of transportation inaccessible to the category of middle-income people. You can, of course, save on buying a ticket by choosing the budget option, the cost of a plane ticket at this rate can be quite affordable for a simple consumer. But not always and not in all directions there is a similar fare for flights. And given that in the Russian Federation there are many companies specializing in the sale of airline tickets that specialize in the sale of tickets at a rather high price, it becomes clear that the availability of flights on air transport is not a concept for the average consumer. cost can be found if the flight is not fully filled. The airline, which is presented on the site’s website, does not want to work to its own detriment and spend quite expensive fuel for transporting a small number of passengers, therefore it is more profitable for them to sell tickets for less than not to get enough passengers. And in order to prevent or minimize the risk of low flight filling, the carrier is ready to offer airfare much lower for people who purchase advance travel documents. So, an early purchase is a sure way to save money. Another option to purchase tickets on a website at a reduced price is to wait for travel documents to appear at special rates that limit the ability to return tickets. This option to reduce exists in a limited form, because it is sold on any stock. Typically, the price of such plane tickets is reduced by half, in contrast to the usual price of travel documents for air transport. In any case, to save money, you need to fully study the information on flights by plane. Budget options allow you to make a flight at a lower price, but there you will not get lunch during the flight, departure and arrival times will be as inconvenient for the passenger as possible, the airport will be far from the city, which is not always convenient for tourists. And, sometimes, the cost of plane tickets with such a tariff does not justify all these inconveniences. You should not even hope that the travel agency will choose the cheapest travel document for air transportation for you. The tour operator, as a rule, cooperates with a certain company, which itself is raising the price, and the tour operator takes its own, albeit small, but percentage. In order to save money, you must first choose a direction in which you can reach without problems, inexpensively and comfortably, and then choose a travel route in this direction. Another thing is when someone flies at the expense of the company. An employee of the company thinks little about saving, preferring to make a flight with comfort. But on those days when the weekend comes, you practically cannot find business travelers at the airport. That is why these days you can save quite a lot by purchasing a ticket. All because the flight will, for sure, not be completely filled. This means that the price of air tickets will decrease by at least thirty percent. And cheap tickets in this case will not necessarily mean a flight without amenities.

Season ticket - This is a type of travel document that gives the right to multiple travel in suburban trains.

COST OF PASSING TICKETS
(TARIFF CALCULATOR)

The cost of subscription tickets depends on the route and type of train.

Indicate the station of departure and destination:

Types of subscription
of tickets

Subscription "DAILY"

For those who ride an electric train every day, including on weekends.

Subscription "WORKING DAY"

For those who often travel by train on weekdays.

subscription validity days

"WEEKEND" Subscription

For those who often travel by train on weekends.

subscription validity days

Subscription "FOR NUMBER OF TRIPS"

For those who do not often travel by train on different days of the week or regularly travel one way.

more details

valid for passengers on all days of the week;
includes a limited number of trips (10, 20 or 60 trips in one direction);
entrance is allowed at any stations within the route equipped with turnstile complexes or validators, and exit at any stations within the route;
to make a trip, you must pass through the “entrance” turnstiles or open a trip using a validator;
if there is no entry mark, the passage is considered to be stowaways, “exit” turnstiles will not work
the cost depends on the route and type of train ();

Special
offers

Subscription "BIG MOSCOW"

For those who often travel by train on routes inside Moscow or the nearest Moscow region.

Subscription "MEGAPOLIS PLUS"

For those who often travel by train along the routes within the Kazan and Kiev directions (valid for a distance of up to 39 km in the chosen direction + in the entire “Big Moscow” zone).

Subscription "CITY NEAR"

For those who often travel by train along the routes within the Kazan and Kiev directions (valid for a distance of up to 52 km in the chosen direction + in the entire Big Moscow zone)

FEATURES OF DECORATION AND USE

Subscription tickets can be issued in advance - 30 days before the start of their validity.
Subscription tickets can be used to exit or enter at any intermediate station on a paid route (special conditions are provided for “On the number of trips” season tickets - see above).
Re-entry to the entrance or re-entry to the exit through the turnstile lines with a subscription ticket at the same station is possible only after 40 minutes.

RETURN AND RESTORATION OF SUBSCRIBERS

Subscription restoration in case of demagnetization or breakdown

To do this, you must:

make an application for restoration,
present a transport card.

If at the box office there is no such technical possibility, then no later 30 calendar days the passenger money back for unused trips.

Recovery of a subscription in case of loss of a transport card

To return the amount for unused trips on a lost subscription ticket, you must:

To do this, you must:

apply to the suburban cash desk of Central PPK JSC,
attach a readable receipt for a subscription ticket to the application
in the application indicate the type of payment other necessary data.

Please note that consideration of the refund of a lost subscription ticket starts from the expiration date of the subscription.

Amount to be refunded:

Pay attention: if after applying for this subscription trips will be made, then a refund will be refused.

Refusal to use the subscription

To return the subscription, as well as to clarify the size of the fee and the amount to be refunded, you must:

apply to the suburban cash desk for issuing a subscription, or to the terminal station of the ticket route of Central PPK JSC,
make a request for a refund,
indicate the transport card number and other necessary data in the application.

Pay attention you can return the subscription only within the validity period (for subscriptions for the number of trips - also, until the end of the travel limit).

Amount to be refunded:

The amount of the refundable amount is determined by dividing the cost of the subscription ticket by the number of days the ticket is valid or the number of trips and multiplying by the actual number of days remaining before the ticket expires from the date of its return or the number of unused trips.

The amount of the fee depends on the number of trips made by the subscription, the type of travel document and the length of the route indicated in it (tariff zone).
When you return a subscription ticket before the start of its validity period (or making trips), the passenger will be refunded the full fare, minus the refund fee. The minimum fee is 20 rubles.

Refunds are made up to 30 calendar days from the day the passenger submits a written application. In this case, a refund for an unused travel document (ticket) issued by bank transfer or using a payment card is made to the bank account of the legal or natural person who paid for the travel document (ticket).

This section provides information on subscription tickets in accordance
from

ANSWERS
ON YOUR QUESTIONS

What is a subscription?

Type of travel document, which gives the right to multiple travel in suburban trains.

Where can I buy a subscription?

What types of season tickets exist?

Where to find out the cost of tickets (one-time, subscription)

Is it possible to restore the subscription after loss or damage?

What is a Big Moscow membership card?

This subscription is a special offer for regular trips around Moscow and the nearest suburbs. The cost of a subscription is 1750 rubles.

Can I buy season tickets in a mobile application?

Can I purchase a subscription in advance?

Yes, no earlier than 30 days before the start date of the subscription (except for students, in case of issuing a subscription at a reduced cost).

Can a passenger enter or exit between the stations of his route?

In the presence of any subscription, except the “On the number of trips” subscription, a passenger can enter or leave at any station inside the route.

If you have a “Number of Trips” subscription, you can go to any intermediate station.

You can also enter at any intermediate station that is equipped with a turnstile or validator (to activate a subscription). Otherwise, the passenger will not be able to exit at the terminal station of the route.

Why is the validity of a subscription for 1 month not equal to a calendar month?

In accordance with clause 29 of the Rules for the carriage of passengers, baggage, cargo luggage by rail, the validity period of subscription for 1 month is 30 days.

Can I buy a ticket with a credit card at the station?

You can pay for a one-time ticket or subscription using a ticket vending machine or at a suburban railway ticket office.

How many trips per day can be carried out on a working day subscription?

Is it possible to get a bicycle pass?

Where can I find out about changes in fares (tickets, season tickets)?

Why is there no subscription to Express with a seat?

Tickets for Express with seats are issued at specialized suburban ticket offices, on long-distance ticket forms using a special program and based on information about a passenger’s identification document (passport, military ID or other passenger’s identification document). In this regard, registration of subscriptions in this program is not implemented.

What is a City Near membership?

This subscription is a special offer for regular trips to the Kazan and Kiev directions in Moscow and the near Moscow suburbs. The cost of a subscription is 3500 rubles;

What is a Megapolis Plus membership card?

This is a subscription for daily trips to the Kazan and Kiev directions in the coverage area of \u200b\u200bthe Megapolis Plus subscription (Moscow and the nearest Moscow region). Subscription price 2500 rub