Before You Buy

A few things you should check before you buy your plane tickets:

Basic terms to know

• Non-stop Flight: A flight with no stops or connections to your destination. “Non-stop flight” means non-stop.
• Direct Flight: Means stop(s) but no change of plane. It does not mean non-stop flight to your destination. Your plane will make at lease one stop in a mid-point airport.
• Connecting Flight: Requires at least one change of planes en route to the final destination.

Non-refundable discount tickets? Know the "fare rules"

• Most discount tickets you may find on the Internet are non-refundable. However, recently some major US airlines eased the restrictions on non-refundable discount tickets.
• Now, for some carriers, if you make cancellation before the departure date, some non-refundable discount tickets may retain full face value up to one year. It is important to call your airline and cancel your flight BEFORE the departure date otherwise you lose the value of the ticket. Also, there could be penalty fees involved for these cancellation. These rules are different from airline to airline and may not even apply to some type of deeply discounted non-refundable tickets. So look into "fare rules" when you purchase your tickets.