Ghost flights to gate lice: The phrases every traveller needs to know

By Michael Gebicki

March 13, 2025 — 4.00am

What’s a codeshare flight or an open-jaw ticket, and what’s the difference between an aggregate and a consolidator? Does a FIT traveller work out regularly in a gym?

The travel industry has a language all its own with words and acronyms you probably won’t encounter elsewhere.

While you don’t need to know what every piece of jargon means, there are plenty of words that will define you as a more informed traveller. Here is our primer for the travel terms every serious traveller really should know.

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

Aggregator
Aggregators such as Skyscanner and Expedia scour the web looking at prices from airlines, hotels and car-hire operators, and display the various options. Aggregators do not sell the products they list, but they earn a commission if the searcher proceeds to a booking via the aggregator’s website. They’re a wonderful tool when you want to check all the possible options, but it’s often preferable to book directly with the airline or hotel.

APEX
Airline shorthand for advance purchase excursion fare, normally the least expensive fare. These tickets must be bought a specified time before the flight, typically 14 to 28 days, and include a minimum-stay requirement, which might be seven days or over a Saturday night. On an APEX ticket, flight times or date of travel cannot be changed.

Charter of rights
It determines the standard of treatment that travellers can expect from airlines and other travel operators. Australia does not have a charter of rights for travellers, although it is developing an aviation customer rights charter that will establish customers’ expectations of fair and reasonable conduct by airlines and airports.

Consolidator
A wholesaler of airline tickets, hotel rooms or other travel products. They buy big blocks of tickets or rooms at a discount, apply a mark-up and resell them online. They include names such as eDreams and mytrip.com Consolidator fares are usually cheaper than those offered by the airlines, but they often come with more restrictions.

Coolcation

The term is a marriage of “cool” and “vacation” and describes a cool-climate holiday. The Nordic countries all qualify, and with scorching, climate-change heatwaves and crowds packing into the traditional summer favourites around the Mediterranean rim, coolcation is a hot new European trend. Visitor numbers to Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway were all up in 2024, despite the relatively high cost of travel.

Direct v non-stop v connecting

A direct flight is one in which passengers go from A to B, which can include one or more stops in between, but aboard the same aircraft using a single flight number. A non-stop flight is exactly what the name says, and a connecting flight is one that requires a change of aircraft. Even airlines, travel agents and travel websites sometimes confuse “direct” with “non-stop”.

Dupe destinations
Swapping Tuscany for Umbria, Fiji for Samoa, Mykonos for Paros? These are dupe destinations, and as the must-visit hotspots of the world suffer from overtourism, some travellers are looking for budget-friendly options with similar experiences minus the costs and crowds. Some travellers have been looking for dupe destinations for years, but since 2024 it has become a thing, anointed with a name.

End-on-end ticketing
If you travel from Melbourne to Bangkok return on one fare, then fly return from Bangkok to Vientiane on another fare, that’s end-on-end ticketing. It’s travelling on two different round trips that meet at a connection point, resulting in a complete itinerary.

E-ticket

An electronic ticket, now the most common form of ticketing for flights, cruises and any other travel booking. Delivered via email or on a smartphone app, it’s a digital record of confirmation of a flight or other travel activity, accessible across various platforms.

E-visa
An electronic visa. Applied for via a website, and typically processed and delivered in a matter of days, it’s a vast improvement over the time when travellers needed to apply to an embassy or consulate and have the visa stamped in their passport.

Fifth freedom rights
This is the right of a carrier to transport passengers between two countries other than the one in which that carrier is based. For example, Emirates has the right to sell tickets from Sydney across the Tasman to Christchurch and in the opposite direction.

FIT
This acronym stands for “free, independent traveller” or “fully independent traveller”, that is one not travelling in a group but rather making their own flight and accommodation bookings. They do their own research, and they tend to prefer to travel slowly and experience places on their own terms.

Force majeure
An event that happens outside the control of you or your travel operator. It includes terrorist activity, war, civil unrest, epidemics and natural or man-made disasters. Force majeure clauses are commonly found in the terms and conditions of travel operators and these clauses absolve the operator from fulfilling their contractual obligations. Some travel insurance policies offer limited coverage for certain categories of force majeure events.

Open-jaw ticket
Not a meal-free hunger flight but a round-trip ticket that flies you into one city and brings you back from another, saving you from backtracking. For example, you might fly into Singapore, travel overland to Bangkok and return from there.

OTA
An online travel agent, such as Expedia and Booking.com. Using an OTA, travellers can book flights, hotels and car hire, and complete entire holiday packages from the OTA’s website or via its app.

Pax
The travel industry abbreviation for passengers, most often used in the aviation context, although it also appears in hotel nomenclature. Nothing to do with the Latin word for peace, and some airline pax are anything but peaceful.

PNR
This stands for passenger name record, a six-character code made up of letters and numbers that identifies the holder of an air ticket. After you’ve made your booking, any communication between you and the airline, such as a seat change or online check-in, will require your PNR. However, if you book through an OTA, instead of a PNR you may get a booking reference number that allows you to communicate with the OTA but not with the airline.

RTW
Round-the-world airfare, usually involving several partner airlines, and often cheaper than long-haul return airfares. They are available from some airlines and also from One World and Star Alliance. RTW fares cost no more in high season, but they are subject to availability.

Schengen Area
A group of 29 European countries that have abolished border controls among members. When a traveller enters one Schengen Area country, they can travel to other Schengen countries without needing to show their passport, although they are required to carry identity documentation. Australians will soon require an ETIAS, an electronic travel authorisation, to enter the Schengen Area.

Skiplagging or throwaway ticketing
Due to the vagaries of airline ticket pricing, it sometimes happens that a flight from A to C via B is cheaper than a flight from A to B. Say you want to fly from Cairo to London. The cheapest ticket might be $450, but on a website you find a flight from Cairo to Dublin via London for $350. You buy that, and when the aircraft stops at London you hop off and toss the rest of your ticket. Skiplagging only works sometimes in the US, rarely in Europe and never in Australia. It’s hated by airlines and is a practice they are cracking down on.

Travel hack
A strategy that enables travellers to see the world at minimal cost, often using points and status credits collected by savvy exploitation of loyalty programs, bill payments and cash transactions. For the seriously afflicted travel hacker, accruing points is the name of the game, replacing the experience of travel itself.

AT THE AIRPORT

Passengers who try to board a flight before their assigned time have a special name… gate lice.Credit: Greg Straight

Airport access fee
This is a fee that operators based at airports pay for the right to use facilities at that airport, such as in-terminal hire-car operations. That fee is usually passed on to the customer. It can also apply to transport facilities – for example, the surcharge that travellers pay to take a train to Sydney Airport.

Bump
Airlines commonly overbook, based on the assumption that some passengers will change their mind at the last minute or fail to show up for their flight. However, if all those passengers check in, some will need to be bumped from their flight and given a seat on another flight, possibly with compensation, although that’s unlikely if it happens in Australia.

Codeshare flight
When different airlines market a particular flight as their own, that’s a codeshare flight. One airline will operate the flight, while another partner airline sells the flight as its own, with its own flight number. Airlines participate in codeshare partnerships because it allows them to offer a greater array of destinations, while keeping the flyer “in house”. They also allow airlines to operate on routes that would not be profitable otherwise.

Gate lice
The crowd that gathers at the gate as boarding time approaches have been given this unflattering tag by airline employees. They clog the gate in an unruly horde, disregarding their designated boarding zone in a rush to board early either from anxiety or because they’re keen as mustard to grab as many cubic centimetres of overhead locker space as possible. By sheer force of numbers, they overwhelm the staff’s attempts to enforce orderly boarding.

Interline agreement
An arrangement between carriers that allows each to act as agents on behalf of the other. If you’re flying a sector with one airline and connecting to a flight with a different airline on the same booking, an interline agreement between the two means you don’t need to check in or transfer baggage to the connecting flight.

Layover
As opposed to a stopover (see below) break between connecting flights lasting less than 24 hours on an international flight. A change of aircraft and a different gate are usually involved, sometimes a different terminal. Layovers are usually included in the ticket price and don’t require any additional cost.

No-show

A ticketed passenger who doesn’t check in for their flight. The airline is not obliged to refund the ticket cost, although it might rebook you on another flight, possibly with a change fee. If you are a no-show, any subsequent flights on the same booking are usually cancelled.

Offline connection
If you’re changing flights to a different airline with no interline agreement (see above) between them, that’s an offline connection. Checked baggage will not be transferred from one flight to the next, and you’ll need to check in for your connecting flight.

Op up

Airline shorthand for operational upgrade, this is the sweetest phrase you’ll ever hear at the check-in desk. If the economy-class seats are overbooked on your flight, some passengers will need to be upgraded to business or even first class, and that’s an op up. Gold or platinum flyers are first in the queue.

Pink-eye flight
One rung down the agony ladder from a red-eye, the pink-eye is a flight that takes you across the midnight threshold but reaches its destination before the clock strikes one. By the time you retrieve your baggage, it’s probably another hour at least before your head hits a pillow, with just a few hours of downtime before fronting up at the office or the kids’ swimming lesson.

Phonetic alphabet

Alpha, Bravo, Charlie – that’s the phonetic alphabet. Clarity is all important in the air, and while English is the communication standard throughout the aviation world, B can sound like D, E, G and several other letters. In 1956, the International Civil Aviation Organisation adopted a standard phonetic alphabet for aviation use, and there’s no chance of confusing Bravo with Delta, Echo or Golf.

Unbundling
The word signifies a bare-bones flight. You’re guaranteed a seat and in-flight meals, while checked luggage and seat selection come at an extra cost. Low-cost carriers are the masters of unbundling, and some legacy carriers have adopted the practice with their cheapest fare categories.

Visa waiver
A visa waiver applies to a traveller who is permitted to enter a country without a visa but must apply for authorisation to travel. Australian tourists are permitted to enter the US without a visa, but they must apply for an Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA), and that’s a visa waiver.

IN THE AIR

Airline alliance

Most major airlines belong to one of the three major alliances, and they expand the opportunities for using your frequent-flyer points. Within an alliance, the points that you accrue with one airline can be used to pay for travel aboard another airline. Therefore, it pays to choose your alliance based on where you would prefer to fly using points.

Arm doors and cross-check
On every flight, as the aircraft leaves the gate, you’ll hear this command from the flight deck to the cabin crew. It’s a directive to set the doors to automatic so that emergency slides will deploy when the door is opened. “Cross-check” means that after they have armed their assigned door, the flight attendant makes sure the flight attendant opposite has done their job.

Bulkhead seat
Just behind the solid partition that divides the aircraft cabin, the bulkhead seat is a prized position because it offers much greater legroom for those in cramped economy seating. Airlines will often capitalise by charging an additional fee for these seats.

Crew rest compartment

Long-haul flights can require aircrew to exceed the maximum number of hours they are legally allowed to work. When that happens they head for the crew rest compartment in shifts. Depending on the aircraft type, the CRC might be at the top of the aircraft, such as aboard Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, or in a sealed-off section in the main cabin.

Deadhead
In the aviation industry, when an employee is travelling in a passenger seat, relocating to where they’re needed, they’re deadheading. They will often be in uniform, and they won’t necessarily be flying in premium class – I’ve sat next to pilots on deadhead runs in economy.

Ghost flight
Those that operate with fewer than 10 per cent of passenger seats occupied are ghost flights. Although the airline loses revenue, they operate the flight to maintain a particular slot. Airlines are required to fly at least 80 per cent of flights in their allocated slots, or risk losing them.

IATA
The International Air Transport Association is an airline trade association that represents and promotes the cause of its member airlines to governments, regulatory authorities and the public. It helps formulate industry policy on such critical aviation issues as safety, security, efficiency and environmental protection.

In-flight Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi delivered to your laptop, tablet or smartphone while you fly, although often at a price. Budget carriers tend not to offer it, and some airlines make it available only over land, but aboard class-leading carriers, it might be available for almost the entire flight.

LCC
A low-cost carrier, also known as a budget airline. Typically, their seats are more cramped, baggage restrictions are tighter, there’s no in-flight entertainment or Wi-Fi, and you’ll pay for whatever you consume on board, but you will fly on the cheap.

Legacy carrier
Strictly speaking, one that existed before the US Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, although the term also applies to carriers that emerged after that date, such as Emirates. A legacy carrier will usually offer a higher level of service than an LCC, with meals, baggage allowance and frequent-flyer points included in the price.

Minimum connecting time

The minimum time required for an able-bodied passenger to transfer from one flight to the next. MCT considers several variables such as airport layout, security and whether the connection is between international and domestic flights. MCT is a potential hazard for a traveller making their own bookings involving a connecting flight.

Seat pitch
The distance between a specific point on an airline seat and the same point on another seat in the row in front or behind. It’s commonly used to indicate how much legroom a passenger has in a particular airline’s cabin, with 29 inches (73.7 centimetres) as the bare minimum.

AT THE HOTEL

Rack rate is the walk-in rate, and the highest price a hotel will charge for a room.Credit: Greg Straight

Continental, European and American plan
These are terms used by the hotel industry to indicate whether meals are included in a booking, and what type. Continental means breakfast is included, American plan signifies all meals included and European means no meals are included.

Pre-authorisation
A hold against your credit or debit card to cover any future expenses you might incur. A hold is not a charge, but it puts a lock on your available funds, which will be converted to a charge at the end of a booking. Most common in the hotel industry, but also used by car rental agencies.

Rack rate
The published, official rate for a hotel room, with no discount applied. Also known as the walk-in rate, it’s the highest price a hotel will charge for a room, based on room type and season.

Resort fee
Hoteliers in the US justify charging a much-despised resort fee on the grounds that it includes a long list of amenities. As well as the swimming pool and pool towels, it might also include Wi-Fi, an in-room coffee machine and the fitness centre. Unfortunately, there is no room to dodge a hotel’s resort fee on the basis that you have no intention of using those facilities.

Stopover
As opposed to a layover (see above), this is a break between connecting flights of more than 24 hours on an international flight. Often booked specifically to allow you some time to explore and have a decent sleep of a night or two at a hotel or resort before continuing your journey, refreshed and stimulated.

…AND THE REST

Knots... short for nautical miles.Credit: Greg Straight

Airbridge
The moveable, glass-walled bridge that connects an aircraft to the terminal. They make it quicker and easier to load and unload aircraft, and save passengers from inclement weather and flights of stairs that might create a domino-style disaster caused by those who burden themselves with several carry-ons.

Bridge
The command centre of a vessel, from where steering, navigation and speed are controlled. It’s where the officer of the watch, in command of the vessel, will always be found on duty, and where the captain will be during critical manoeuvres.

Flag carrier
The national airline. It can be owned by the government, as in the case of Air China or Emirates, or supported by the government, as is Qantas or British Airways. Several countries, including the US, do not have a flag carrier airline because this would appear to be preferential government treatment in the US’s deregulated aviation market.

Kangaroo route
The traditional air route between Australia and the UK. The phrase was coined when Qantas Empire Airways began operating the route in the 1940s. At the time, when it took seven hops to fly from Sydney to London, the concept of a leaping marsupial fitted the journey well. These days, with non-stop flights between Perth and London, that kangaroo would be called in for testing on suspicion of using performance-enhancing supplements.

Knots
The measure used by early navigators to determine their ship’s speed, expressed in nautical miles, “knots” for short. A nautical mile equals 1.852 kilometres. Ships still use nautical miles to express their speed, as do aircraft pilots – although they don’t measure it by tossing a knotted rope overboard, which is how ships once measured knots.

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