Charter flight or regular, which is better?

Charter or regular flight — what to choose? Today we will talk about the pros and cons of each option. First, let’s understand how a charter flight differs from a regular one. A charter flight is a flight chartered not by an airline, but by a travel agency. These flights do not operate regularly, but during a specific period, season, most often from May to September for summer tourist destinations and from December to March for winter ones.

You can only buy a ticket on Kupi.com for a charter flight from a travel agency or on the websites of special booking services. A charter ticket cannot be bought from an airline or at an airline ticket office.

The main advantage of charter flights is the price. On short routes, it can be 30–50% lower than the cost of a regular flight. Moreover, charter prices do not “jump”, unlike regular flights, and become cheaper a few days before departure.

Tickets for charter flights are non-refundable in the vast majority of cases. If you return at least some or all taxes and fees when surrendering a non-refundable airline ticket for a regular flight, then in the case of a charter, you lose everything. For some destinations, tickets can be returned, in which case a progressive scale applies: the fewer days remaining until departure, the more money you will lose.It should also be noted that charter flights operate outside the schedule, in a free “window” between regular departures according to the charter flight schedule. Therefore, they often depart early in the morning, around 4–6 AM. On the one hand, this is good, you will have a whole free day, but keep in mind that in most hotels, check-in starts after 2:00 PM, which means you will have to sit with your luggage in the hotel lobby all that time.

If for any reason a charter flight is delayed, for example, due to bad weather or technical malfunctions, you will not be able to depart as soon as everything is fixed. First, regular flights that were delayed or depart on schedule will take off, and only then will you. While waiting for a free “window”, you could lose a day of your vacation! For tourists who bought a ticket with a tour package, this is not so bad, their vacation dates will also be shifted, but what should you do if you have already paid for the hotel? You should also not rely on the charter’s departure time. Delays of 10–20 hours are not uncommon for them. Even though you booked and paid for your airline ticket several weeks or even a month before departure, it will only be issued one or two days before the plane’s departure.We have already written about what to do and what you can expect in case of a flight delay or cancellation. It is much easier to obtain fair compensation and due services on regular flights. In the case of charters, airlines refer to the contract with the aircraft charterer, but according to aviation regulations, the carrier is still responsible. And even if the flight is a charter, you must be provided with food, drinks, a hotel, etc., in case of a flight delay.

Please note that, according to the contract, on most charter flights, no later than 24 hours before departure, the passenger is independently obliged to clarify the departure time with the tour operator.

It is also worth noting flights that are popularly called “regular charter flights”. This is when blocks of seats or all seats on a regular flight are bought out by a tour operator. If you bought an airline ticket for such a flight, consider yourself lucky. The departure date will definitely not be postponed, and the percentage of delays here is the same as on regular flights.

What else should you keep in mind when buying a charter flight ticket?

Most charter airlines do not aim to turn you into a regular customer, this is impossible, so they often save on service quality and passenger comfort.First and foremost, this is reflected in the cabin layout. Most often, the cabin is reconfigured to accommodate as many seats as possible, which results in very little legroom between rows.

The difference in the number of seats is obvious. The whole point is in the seat arrangement: some airlines primarily use a 2–4–2 scheme, while charter configurations often use 3–3–3, and there are more rows. Due to the increased number of rows in a charter airline, the distance between seats will be significantly smaller. For short flights, this is not so bad, but flying with bent knees for 6–8 hours is already problematic.But it’s not just about the seats: don’t expect the same service from a cheap charter flight as on regular routes.Pillows and blankets are rarely provided here, or not at all. Meals are also not available on all flights, and there’s no need to talk about their variety… Fortunately, recently, many airlines have started paying more attention to this, and now on some charter flights, you can order vegetarian or children’s meals.It’s worth remembering that miles are not accrued for charter flights! If you are keen on collecting airline miles and bonuses, it’s better to look for a suitable option on a regular flight.A big plus of charters is that they fly non-stop to most popular resorts, but sometimes they are served by small, remote airports. For package tourists, this is not a problem, as transfers are included in the tour price. You, however, will have to get there on your own.Before you buy an airline ticket for a charter flight, be sure to clarify which airport it arrives at and how to get to the city from there. Taxi costs can be much higher than the amount saved on the flight.