Travel Industry Basics is my guide to the language and machinery behind a trip: the reservation that passes through several companies, the fare that changes while you are deciding, the room a seller can still offer after another has sold out.
I spent some twenty years leading a destination management company. I want to make that working knowledge useful on the other side of the desk. You should not need to learn the whole industry to understand what you have bought—or ask a precise question when something goes wrong.
Start with the vocabulary
Travel acronyms and terms
Pax, DMC, GDS, F&B, shoreside and the less obvious meaning of “release”. A selective glossary covering hotels, airlines, cruise ships and rail, with a direct link to every definition.
The room you booked
How hotel booking works
Why a flight-and-hotel package can cost less than the accommodation alone, and how the hotel manages rooms sold through different businesses.
Hotel allotments, release periods and stop-sales
How an operator can confirm a room before reporting the sale to the hotel, and why changes to that relationship produce different answers at the agency counter.
Hotel overbooking: reduce the risk and negotiate at reception
My Cartagena suite experience, the booking relationships I would favour, and how to negotiate a better room, covered transport and a replacement for the whole stay.
Flights: seats, fares and bookings
Flight overbooking: why it happens and what you can negotiate
Why aircraft changes and no-shows leave a flight short of seats, why the airline usually offers its own next departure, and what can be negotiated at the gate.
Why flight prices change: inside airline revenue management
From early yield management to business-class fares and reward seats: what drives the price, what a scarcity message means, and why there is no universal cheapest booking day.
GDS and NDC explained
Why agents can see different offers, how airline distribution is changing, and why the ability to fix a booking matters as much as the ability to sell it.
PNRs, booking references and ticket numbers
A record, a code and an issued ticket do different jobs. How to establish whether your flight booking is ready for travel.
Codeshare flights explained
One aircraft, several flight numbers. Find the operator, understand the seller’s role and give the baggage allowance its own attention.
On the rails and at sea
Train tickets and seat reservations
Permission to travel and a place to sit can be separate purchases. Understand the difference before choosing a flexible ticket, rail pass or overnight journey.
What a guarantee cruise cabin gives you
The category is promised; the precise cabin may be the cruise line’s choice. Decide whether the saving is worth surrendering that choice.
About this guide
These explanations follow the ordinary workings of the industry and make the useful distinctions. They are written for people planning a trip, rather than as a training manual for every exceptional contract or system setting.
For the places themselves, explore my destinations and hotels. For editorial partnerships with travel businesses, see Work with me.