Surely you have repeatedly heard phrases like: “I had to get by charter”, “Great savings on the charter”, “Charter flights from Moscow are profitable and convenient!”
And what is this mysterious charter and how does a charter flight differ from a regular one? No one needs to explain what regular flights are. Schedules are posted at airports and on airline websites, and anyone who wants to get from point A to point B chooses a suitable flight for himself and purchases a ticket for it.
What is a charter flight? It is easiest to call charter flights one-time. The consolidating company, which is what charter organizers are called, charters an aircraft from the airline and sends it along a specially compiled route. Most often, travel companies act as consolidators. And this is understandable, since a sufficient number of people usually go on tours at the same time. Therefore, it is convenient for tour operators to charter a plane at the beginning of the season and then send their clients on almost their own aircraft, without worrying about pre-booking tickets.
So we found out what a charter flight is. Now let's move on towhy the cost of tickets for them is lower than for regular flights. A regular flight included in the general flight schedule must depart regardless of how full the cabin is. Even if only a few tickets are purchased, it will still take off. And the cost of one flight of an aircraft is equal to the sum with six zeros. And airlines, in order not to suffer too obvious losses, raise ticket prices.
Charter is always full by definition. It is simply not included in the schedule if all or the vast majority of seats on it are not sold. But from this follows the minus of such flights. What is the downside here? Let's explain now.
What is a charter flight and why it costs less, we already know. At first glance, this is a very profitable service - to charter an entire aircraft and send passengers on it to where the charterer needs. But what to do if the required number of passengers is not recruited? Wait until the missing wishers are found? This is not an option, as time, as everyone knows, is money. And the time that a paid plane spends on the ground is money thrown away. Therefore, operators can sell a ticket for a charter flight even without buying a tour. But a passenger who has bought such a ticket must be prepared for the fact that he will not be able to get to his destination at the time he needs. Charter flights, figuratively speaking, are the stepchildren of airports. They are delayed most often, giving priority to regular flights. Therefore, after reading the schedule of charter flights at Domodedovo, add immediately to the time of arrivalfew hours. And only after that decide whether such a flight will definitely be beneficial for you.
By the way, those passengers who know well what a charter flight is, know one more trick to save on the ticket price. If it is more profitable to purchase tickets for regular flights long before the departure date, then the cost of a charter flight on the eve of the flight may turn out to be significantly cheaper than when ordering a week in advance. Tour operators tend to sell tickets for all available seats on the plane. If there are still unsold tickets, and it is simply impossible to postpone the flight, then the price for them falls very rapidly.
