Air Ticket Tips

Cheap Flights To Laos

2010-05-28T04:38:00.000-07:00

Mekong : Travel Guide Infomation

Thailand
Bangkok (BKK) :
The capital city and the primary city of Thailand. Don't miss to tuk-tuk ride, ladyboy show and Muay Thai, the famous art of Thailand fighting.

Chiang Mai (CNX) :
The largest and most culturally significant city in northern of Thailand. Charm of history, and fresh weather make Chiang Mai is a base tourism such as trekking, spa resorts and night life.

Koh Samui (USM) :
Elephant trekking, canoeing, sailing, diving, golfing and fishing ! Never be surprised make Koh Samui is the famous island of Thailand. Getting is easy just a short time from Bangkok only 80 minute. If you like the beautiful beach.

Phuket (HKT) :
The largest island of Thailand. Enjoy with world class diving in the Andaman Sea, world class golf championship, beautiful tropical islands and elephant safaris.

Laos
Vientiane (VTE) :
The capital city of Laos , situated in the Mekong Valley. It is also Laos's largest city. If you compare with hectic city, bustling capitals in other Southeast Asia countries, Vientiane's very relaxing atmosphere makes it feel good like small town.

Luang Prabang (LPQ) :
The most popular destinations in Laos. Once Luang Prabang was the ancient royal capital city of the Lan Xang Kingdom. It was designated a UNESCO World in 1995, an outstanding example of the fusion of traditional architecture.

Savannakhet (ZVK) :
Savannakhet town is situated on the banks of the Mekong river opposite Mukdahan in Thailand. The province bridges the country between Thailand and Vietnam and the town is a very active junction for trade between the two countries.One of the best things to do in Savannakhet is to simply wander around and soak up the wonderful Art Deco and other early 20th c buildings.

Xiangkhoang (XKH) : The Plain of Jars
A worldwide famous destination of vast plateau with The Plain of Jars a large area extending around Phonsavan from the southwest to the northeast. The Xieng Khouang Plateau is home to the Plain of Jars. this enigmatic archaeological site consist of clusters of stone jars, varying in heightin the Xieng Khouang landscape.

Vietnam
Hanoi (HAN) :
The capital city of Vietnam for almost a thousand years but still has many interesting cultural and historic monuments for visitors.

Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) :
The largest city in Vietnam and this city is the centre of commerce but also a scientific, technological and tourist center.

Cambodia
Siem Reap (REP) :
The gateway city for nearby Angkor Wat. Siem Reap is a major tourist hub in Cambodia. The most recognizable Siem Reap is the temples name Angkor Wat and this is gateway city major tourist hub for nearby Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

China
Kunming (KMG) :
Have a history more than 2400 year, today the city is the cultural, economical, transport, science and technology center that has become to the most popular tourism in Southwest China. You will miss Dianchi Lake, Stone Forest , the Village of Ethnic Culture, Grand View Pavilion, etc.

Myanmar
Yangon (RGN) :
It was the capital city of Myanmar until Yangon was superseded in November 2005. Today, it remains the largest city, beautiful temple and main economic hub of Myanmar.

Airline Cheap Flight Ticket Tips : Part 2

2009-11-19T10:03:00.000-08:00

Lower Your Airfare

Here are 10 basic tips for air travellers to help you get lower price airfares on your next flight.

1. Flexibility
Be flexible with your travel dates and always plan ahead. Air flight ticket prices are dynamic and depend on demand and supply. The more flexible you are, the more chance you give yourself of finding a lower discount airfare.

2. Know the Air Market
Monitor the airfares on your desired route and find out the lowest published fare. Get a feeling for 'value' for your airline ticket - you can do this by logging on to the major online travel agents and experimenting with travel dates. There is a new generation of websites which can predict airfare pricing on a route and help you find the best time to buy, although they are generally restricted to analysing US domestic flights currently.

3. Know the Season
Fly during times of the year with less demand - the 'off-peak' and 'shoulder' seasons. Avoid flying at peak times of the year. This should get you a cheaper airline ticket.

4. Choose Your Day and Time
Flights departing between Tuesday and Thursday tend to be cheaper due to lower demand and thus greater availability of lower fares. Very early morning or late evening flights are less busy and could offer you a better airfare deal. Or choose an inconvenient overnight 'red-eye' flight that many travellers avoid.

5. Holidays
Try not to fly just before or just after major holidays - these are some of the busiest flying days of the year and you will pay a heavy premium to travel at this time. You could try flying on the holiday itself - demand usually plummets and the airlines sometimes offer exceptional airfare deals to tempt the public.

6. Beware Restrictions
Some airlines still impose the infamous Saturday night stay restriction rule. Many fare tariffs have a 30 day maximum stay restriction. Break these rules and you are looking at significantly more expensive air flight ticket prices. Also, many tickets should be booked at least 21 days in advance to get a better fare.

7. Circumnavigate
Flying long-haul in business class or first class? Always get a quote on a round the world ticket and compare prices. Round-the-world biz class airfares are often cheaper than an ultra long-haul return trip - and you will get more choice in stopovers. Likewise Circle Fares around the Pacific can save you money.

8. Make a Connection

Routes with a change of plane at a connecting airport are often cheaper than non-stop flights. Airlines are willing to pay you to fly a more inconvenient route.

9. Use a Low-Cost Hub City
If flying long-haul into Europe, fly into a budget hub like London and continue your journey on the budget carriers like Ryanair, Easyjet and Air Berlin. The budget airlines tend to operate out of London Gatwick, Stansted and Luton.
If flying to Asia, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur both offer good international connections with low-cost Air Asia. Consider new budget long-haul carrier Air Asia X which connects Asia and Australia and UK.

10. Check the Code
If your flight is 'code shared' then check the price of the same flight with different alliance partners. The flight will be exactly the same (make sure it has the same flight times) but there can often be significant price differences between airlines

Cheap Airfare From/To Laos Here!

Good Tips for Booking Cheap Air Tickets : Part 1

2009-11-18T08:55:00.000-08:00

Some Good Tips for Booking Cheap Air Tickets

BE FLEXIBLE WHILE BOOKING AIR TICKETS:
Being flexible is all time golden rule to avail cheap tickets. Well have you ever been asked by an airline to catch a later flight and offered a voucher for free tickets as a compensation. If possible there is no point losing this kind of chance, actually it should be considered as an opportunity.

BOOK AIR TICKETS IN ADVANCE:
One should not wait till the last moment arrives, in fact this works on the idea of demand & supply, so book your air ticket when the supply is greater than the demand itself, and don’t wait till the situation get reversed resulting into not so cheap air tickets.

CHOOSE A DAY TO BOOK AIR TICKET:
If possible please choose day and time of the air ticket you gona book. Try to shift your air journey to the mid week like Wednesday and that too, try to have an air ticket of the night flight. The late night flights take less time spent in long question.

OFF SEASON:
This works this works especially when you are planning to go for a vacations and can shift the vacation toward the so called “off season” of the tourism industry. There are two off seasons winter is an off season for polar areas and summer is the off season for the areas around equator.

COMPARE THE AIR TICKET PRICE:
one has to have a good level of awareness about the jungle of different airlines and their different offers. Compare the price of different airlines prices of the air ticket for the same destination.

COMBINE HOTEL & AIRPACKAGES:
No matter your trip is pure vacation or business or for some other purpose. Always try to have booked your air ticket and hotel with the same travel agent and avail the combo pack designed and offered by all leading travel agents for cheaper price.

DISCOUNTS OFFERS:
Most of the airlines offer cheap air tickets to attract the people who never tried out their airline. And there are number of reasons the airline might be offering the Cheap Air Tickets but you are there to avail the opportunity.

TRAVEL ON MAJOR HOLIDAYS:
Christmas and Deepawali and many more festivals are there when people tend to reach well in time to their desired destination so that they can celebrate with their loved ones. The people are already reached where they want to be on the day of the festival, which makes the air tickets available cheap.

RETURN TICKET RATES:
If you buy just one way air ticket make sure about the prices of return air ticket also in advance. Although it is always better to buy return air ticket and the air ticket to the destination in one go for that will be cheaper for you.

CHEAP AIR TICKETS ONLINE:
You have a fair chance to buy a Cheap Air Tickets if you don’t mind spending sometime searching for the same on webnet. There are different websites offer various range of prices and have different policies and approaches.

SMALLER AIR LINES:
Trying smaller air line is another way towards cheap airfare.

smaller air lines may have only couple of flights every week to choose from, where bigger airlines having dozens of flights every week but then you are getting cheap air tickets.

Getting the best air fare deals is an art and does not take a lot of time to learn, you will have to do only some home work that surely involves some research work on webnet. If you go for that you gona be surely rewarded with cheap air tickets.

The more the ticket is cheap, the more rich feeling it gives about you, after all this an achievement.

Airline Tickets, Booking Class and Abbreviation

2009-11-12T09:33:00.000-08:00

Booking Class

The following codes are used on airline tickets to identify the class of service
and the associated fare structure:

First Class	Examples: A, F
Business Class	Examples: C, D, J
Economy Class	Examples: H, K, L, M, O, N, S, V, Q & others

Detailed Booking Class

A - First Class Discounted

B - Coach Economy Discounted

C - Business Class

D - Business Class Discounted

F - First Class

H - Coach Economy Discounted

J - Business Class Premium

K - Thrift

L - Thrift Discounted

M - Coach Economy Discounted

P - First Class Premium

Q - Coach Economy

R - Supersonic

S - Standard Class

T - Coach Economy Discounted

V - Thrift Discounted

W - Coach Economy Premium

Y - Coach Economy

Double Digit Airline Abbreviation

These codes, which appear in front of the flight number on the ticket, identify the airline:

AA - American Airlines

AC - Air Canada

AF - Air France

AI - Air India

AB - Alaska Air

AZ - Alltalle

A3 - Amtrak

BA - British Airways

CO - Continental Airlines

CP - Canadian Pacific Airlines

DL - Delta Air Lines

ET - Ethopian Airlines

HP - American West

JL - Japan Air Lines

KL - KLM-Royal Dutch Airlines

LH - Lutheran German Airlines

LY - El Al Israel Airlines

ME - Middle East Airlines

MG - MGM Grand

NW - Northwest Airlines

OA - Olympic Airways

PK - Pakistan International

PR - Philippine Airlines

QF - Quantas

SA - South African Airways

SK - Scandinavian Airlines

SN - Sabena

SR - Swissair

TB - Trump Shuttle

TW - Trans World Airlines

UA - United Air Lines

US - US Air

WN - Southwest Airlines

YX - Midwest Express

ZV - Air Midwest

Ticketing Abbreviation

Ticketing Abbreviation	Meaning/Explanation
Non-refun or Non-refundable	No refund value
Non-rerte or Non-reroutable	No changing of destinations
Non-endor or Non-endorsable	No changing of airlines/carriers
Stopover	Break journey in that country
Transit	Stopover and change plane
Inbound	Return Sector
Outbound	Outgoing Sector
Ex-SIN	Departure from Singapore
No Show	Passenger no show on departure date
Pax	Passenger
Child Fare	Age range from 2 to 11 years old
SATA ticket	Students (ISIC) under 35 years old and Youth (IYTC) under 26 years old
ISIC Card	International identity Student Card
FOP	Form of Payment
TCP	Traveling together
N/A	Non admissible
TTL	Ticketing deadline
GV 2	Minimum of 2 passengers to travel together. Must depart and return together
GV 4	Minimum of 4 passengers to travel together. Must depart and return together
GV 10	Minimum of 10 passengers to travel together. Must depart and return together
W2A	With 2 adults
PTA or Prepaid ticket Advice	Prepaid ticket advice. Ticket collect from country of departure, payment
PNR	Booking reference number
STNP, s/o	Stopover
ow	One way
Dep	Departure
YRT	1 year ticket
Add-ons	Extra flights at extra costs
Amendment	Changes to your booking
Backtracking	you cannot go back from whence you came
Cancellation	Penalties involved if you cancel your ticket
Carrier	Refers to the name of the airline you are travelling on
Changes	Penalties involved if you change your ticket
Child	Person 2-11 years
Class	Letter used to book your flight reservation
Codeshare	A flight operated by another airline
Combination	Permitted add on fares allowed to be used with the fare you are on
Conditions	Rules pertaining to this airfare
Destination	The final stopping place before turning around to come home
ETA	Estimated time of arrival
ETD	Estimated time of departure
E-tickets	Electronic ticket, full payments must be made before E-tickets can be issued
Farebasis	The name/code of the faretype you are travelling on
Fares	The cost of the airfare
Infant	Child up to 23 months at time of the flight departure
Interline Transfer	Transfer from one airline to a different airline
Longhaul	An overseas flight of some distance i.e Sydney London
Mileage	The amount of miles permitted to be flown on an airfare
Minimum stay/Maximum stay	The shortest and longest times you can stay at your destination
MPM	Maximum permitted mileage-the maximum distance you can fly in air miles
Nominated Carrier	The airline you can fly
Open Jaw	Fly into one city and out of another city at no penalty
Open-Dated	No return date set
Origin	Point you start from
Outbound	Flight from USA or point of origin
OW	One way journey
PNR	Passenger name reference - used for computer reservations
Reissue	Changes requiring a new ticket to be issued
Rerouting	Changes to flight routing
RT Fares	Return journey fares
Season	Different times of the year for travel have different fares
Stopover	When you leave the airport for more than 24 hours
STPC	Airline pays for your accommodation at a stopover
Surcharges	Extra costs involved
Surface Sector	You make your own way between two points
Turnaround point	The furthest point on your return journey
US Pass	Airpass within the USA
V.V.	Vice versa
Validity	How long a ticket is valid e.g. the minimum and maximum times you can be away
Waitlist	The flight is full you are waiting for a cancellation to be confirmed

Frequent Flyer Miles

2009-11-10T07:50:00.000-08:00

Airline mileage membership

Frequent flyer miles can be accrued on all airlines sold by our partners. However, some low special fares with these Airlines might not permit frequent flyer mileage accrual. Please check with your agent about whether the fare you wish to purchase will allow mileage accrual. Listed below is an index of frequent flyer programs with various airlines. These links might help you with information pertaining to mileage accrual rules specific to the concerned airline. Also, check directly with the concerned airline for your Mileage Program membership information.

One World Alliance
oneworld is a global alliance that brings together ten of the world's biggest and best airlines, all committed to providing world-class service and value. With quality as our focus, oneworld is honoured to have been named the World's Leading Airline Alliance for the seventh year running.
World Travel Awards Winner 2009

* Almost 700 destinations worldwide
* Nearly 550 airport departure lounges
* Exclusive Frequent Flyer benefits
* Innovative fare products
* Corporate solutions

* Finnair
* American Airlines
* Iberia
* British Airways
* Aer Lingus
* Cathay Pacific
* Qantas
* Lanchile

Sky Team
There you go again on your global journey, always flying somewhere. You can do without long lines and complex connections. You expect a place to recharge and relax. SkyTeam’s with you. As you make your paths across the world, our 9 Member airlines and two Associate airlines are dedicated to you, wherever you go. SkyTeam helps make your travels smoother, simplified and keeps you informed.

* AeroMexico
* Air France
* Alitalia
* Czech Airlines
* Delta
* Korean Air

Star Alliance
The Star Alliance network provides a true end-to-end service for frequent flyers to ensure a convenient, smooth and efficient worldwide travel experience.
Explore this section to find out about the benefits on offer, such as faster and smoother transfers, frequent flyer programmes, upgrades, awards, lounges and the rewards of Gold and Silver status.

* Air Canada
* Air New Zealand
* All Nippon Airways
* Ansett Australia
* Austrian Airlines
* British Midland
* Lauda Air
* Lufthansa
* Mexicana
* Scandinavian Airlines
* Singapore Airlines
* Thai
* Tyrolean
* United Airlines
* Varig

Cheap Airfare From/To Laos Here!

Cheap Airfare Tips

2009-11-09T11:42:00.000-08:00

Cheap Airfare Tips !!!

1. Traveling on weekdays traditionally costs less if your travel plans are flexible.

2. Buy your air ticket as far in advance as possible. Air Fares are often lower when purchased 15, 30 or 45 days in advance.

3. Try the prices on at least 2-3 airlines. Sometimes the price differences are enormous. Remember to discount the difference for a potential loss of frequent flyer mileage points. At times you may not get full mileage points with certain discount airline fares.

4. Book travel during holidays, or other peak periods, as early as possible to get the best promotions and deals.

5. Try a connection or one stop or 2 stop flight. They are sometimes cheaper than the nonstop direct flights.

Cheap Airfare From/To Laos Here !

History of Airport Codes

2009-11-09T11:27:00.000-08:00

Airport Codes, Airport Code Lookup

Airports around the world are universally known by a unique three-letter code: the "Location Identifier" in aviation speak to uniquely identify individual airports. It's obviously much easier for pilots, controllers, travel agents, frequent flyers, computers and baggage handlers to say and write JFK than the John F Kennedy Airport, New York.

The continued growth of aviation worldwide meant that three letter combinations were insufficient to identify every airport. Eventually the system expanded, allowing numbers and four digit combinations; however, an airport served by scheduled route air-carrier or military airlift aircraft always has a code comprising of only three letter IATA code.

History of Airport Codes

An airport code is a three letter designator for a commercial airport. These are the codes that airlines and pilots use to identify airports and are used in timetables, baggage tags, tickets, and advertisements. They are also used in air ticketing reservation systems. So it can be handy to know them when you are researching airfares online

When the worlds first plane(s) took to the air in 1900's, there was no need for coding airports since an airport was literally any convenient field. However, the National Weather Service did tabulate data from cities around the country using a two letter identification system. Early airlines simply copied this system, but as airline service exploded in the 1930's, towns without weather station codes needed identification.

A bureaucrat had a brainstorm, and the three-letter system was born, giving a seemingly endless 17,576 different combinations. To ease the transition, existing airports placed an X after the weather station code. The Phoenix tag became PHX.

Many airport codes are simply the first three letters of the city name: IND is Indianapolis, BOS is Boston, DEN is Denver, SIN is Singapore, BOM Bombay, India SYD is Sydney, Australia. The first letter's of multiple cities served forms other codes: DFW for Dallas Fort Worth, SFO , and GSP for Greenville/Spartenburg, South Carolina. Sometimes the city name lends itself to one letter for each word, such as Salt Lake City (SLC), Port of Spain in Trinidad & Tobago (POS).
Some codes are reseved for special purposes for example, the US Navy is using abbreviations starting with an "N". Canadians got the "Y" letter.

This system of identifying airports caught on quickly and soon expanded to include all radio navigation aids used by pilots. This system of identifying airports caught on quickly and soon expanded to include all aviation radio navigation aids.

All localizer identifiers are prefaced with an "I." Compass locators are assigned a two-letter identifier, normally using the localizer as a base. For example, at ABC the localizer might be IABC, the locator outer marker, AB, and the locator inner marker, BC.
Some special interest groups successfully lobbied the government to obtain their own special letters.

The system is not quite sufficient to cover all possible small airports. Perhaps as a sign of that, just over 300 codes are actually reused (i.e. used by more than one airport). This isn't a big problem when the airports are too not close (there's no chance of confusing 2 small regional airports on different continents).

For traffic planning, a different system with 4 letters and digits is used. However, all of the world's biggest airports have three-letter airport codes and passengers only know those. 3 letter codes are assigned by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

*** Some cities have several airports. In these cities the city itself gets a code and each airport also gets a code.

IATA airport code 3 letter city code location identifier code three letter codes for Airports.

Cheap Airfare From / To Laos Here !

Cheap Airline Ticket

2008-06-27T09:13:00.000-07:00

Best 10 Tips on How to Buy Discounted Flight Tickets

Everyone who travels wants to save as much as possible when flying. Why would you want to pay the regular going cost when you can get flight tickets cheaper? I have provided a few clever ways of saving yourself a ton of money on your next air trip.

1) Book online instead of offline; you'll save money from the paper processing fee.

2) Clear out your cookies. Why? Many travel websites use the cookies to log when you search for a particular route and will quote you higher when you return to that site to search again.

3) Many airline websites update their airfare shortly after midnight. A little research about the route you are looking will help you get the best airfares before they are sold.

4) Stay less than 30 days. Most airfare tariffs have a month's limitation stay restriction. If you require more time, you will pay a higher priced ticket.

5) If you are traveling with a child under 2 year of age, your child is qualified to travel for free. Buying a separate seat for your child is really expensive.

6) Be ready and open to have different departure and return dates. Mark "anytime" in the search window.

7) Buy flight tickets during the off-season periods; flight tickets are usually cheaper.

8) Buy flight tickets in advance; you can save a lot.

9) Buy from an air courier service; these are companies that will buy your luggage space in exchange for lower-priced tickets.

10) If you fly a lot, join a frequent flyer program; such a program offers long-term discounts.

by: George Alarcon