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Almost anyone will probably agree
that in a perfect world they'd
be able to travel more. It is
one of the most natural human
desires to want to see different
parts of the world and experience
new things.
And anyone who has traveled will
probably agree that you don't
really appreciate or think about
your home too much until you have
the perspective of seeing how
people live in other parts of
the world.
The problem of course, is that
travel has always been expensive.
Although airfares have gotten
cheaper over the years, they are
still expensive enough that most
people don't fly regularly, and
this is likely to remain the case.
So unless you plan on suddenly
getting rich, you're going to
have to come up with some discount
travel solutions if you want to
fly more, and a great thing to
look into if you're looking for
a cheap flight are charter flights.
Charter flights are cheaper because
they work on a different system
than a started airline flight.
A standard airline will have a
set route between two cites: an
airline will fly a certain amount
a times a week between two cities,
and this remains constant regardless
of the amount of passengers.
In other words normal airline
routes function like bus routes,
and sometimes there may only be
a few people on the plane. It
is this need to average out costs
- to be able to afford all those
times when the plane is a third
full - that leads to high airfares.
A charter company can offer cheaper
fares by working in a different
fashion: they will charter an
entire plane from an airline for
a particular date and time, and
thus receive a heavy discount
on the cost.
They can then pass some of this
discount on to you by offering
a lower per seat price for the
flight. Most charter companies
operate along very common routes
during peak times - for example,
sunny vacation spots during the
winter.
Charter flights are much more
reliable then other more radical
ways of obtaining discount airfare,
and fares will generally get cheaper
as the departure date approaches.
There is a certain amount of risk,
however: a charter company can
decide to cancel a flight if they
haven't sold enough tickets.
Unlike a regular airline, which
constantly has planes going to
multiple destinations, the charter
company may not be able o immediately
put you on another plane.
So instead of waiting a few hours
it's likely that if your charter
flight is cancelled you'll either
be receiving a refund, or waiting
at least a day or two for another
charter - which of course can
ruin any vacation.
That being said, there are many
large and reliable charter companies,
and charter flights -- while not
offering discounts as big as can
be found through other discount
travel methods - remain a reliable
alternative to regular airfare.
And if you're flexible and willing
to buy a ticket on short notice,
you can find many excellent airfares
from charter companies, making
charter flights one of the more
popular discount traveling methods.
Drikus Botha is wellknown for
his articles and e-courses.
You can subscribe to his free
"Discount Travel" e-course
right here
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