Connecting Flights
When combining two or more
airlines to get to a destination not directly served by any
online carrier, it is necessary to consider whether
an offline carrier has an agreement with an online carrier
to the destination of your choice, through a SPA (see
Jargon Buster). For
example, an airticket from Colombo to Heathrow may cost LKR 90,000
on SriLankan Airlines, and an airticket from Heathrow to Los Angeles may cost LKR
140,000 on an US carrier, but through agreements and market
fares, it may be possible to obtain a single
return ticket on a carrier to Los Angeles for LKR 120,000 using the same
airline combination. Fares are for illustration only.
If you have two tickets, and there is a flight delay
or schedule change, neither airline will take responsibility
for the misconnection.
Have a look at the
Planning Your Trip page for important tips on Ticket
Validity etc.
If you are visiting Europe or the Americas, and plan to
explore by train or low cost airline, it would be worth your
while considering an
Open Jaw
ticket. In business class and for reverse direction fares,
sometimes two one-way tickets are cheaper. We will give you
these options as long as it does not amount to tariff abuse.
How to get the best airfare quote
When asking for a quote, please let us know:
1) the names of the passengers to book
Note: When making a booking, just any first name
that appears in the passport (preferably the one with the
best recognition by you) and a last name/surname are enough.
There is a limit to the characters that can be held in your
booking (this varies), so you
might be denied boarding if the name booked
is too long. This applies to multiple surnames too. Initials
are not accepted to some countries including Australia and USA, and any
full given name
is required. We will not make a booking until you instruct
us to do so. See:
Company Policy
2) the Destination
3) the Dates of Travel, and the maximum
validity and flexibility of the e-ticket required. If we do
not have this information in advance, a request for change
cannot be accommodated. In the case of a
multi-destination itinerary, please specify each travel
date.
4) your telephone number, email address ,
passport photo page details or failing which, the
citizenship details of the passenger.
Budget Airlines
Budget Airlines, also known as Low Cost Carriers (LCC),
are point to point airlines, which take you directly where
you want to go. Since they are point-to-point you should
avoid making fast connections, as you may not have time to
re-check your bags at the via point. If you miss your flight
for no fault of the airline, you will have to buy another
ticket (the airline will not take responsibility for
the misconnection). You should also check
on additional
Fees and Charges.
Special
Requirements and Preferences
Before you fly, if you have any seat, meal preferences or
wheelchair requirements please do tell us in advance. These
can usually be accommodated free of charge, and you
will be served first before the usual menu meal service is
brought round.
Reverse Direction and itineraries not including Sri Lanka
Many people assume that the cost for flying
London-Colombo-London for example. is the same as flying
Colombo-London-Colombo. This is called Reverse Direction,
and fares are usually very different. Only a few airlines
sell reverse direction fares here in Colombo, and options
are limited. The choice is even more limited where
itineraries do not include Colombo at all (for sale here in
Sri Lanka).
Frequent
Flyer Programmes
We recommend that you join the Frequent Flyer programmes of
the airlines that you use most often. If you fly frequently,
advantages such as extra baggage allowances, use of airport lounges
irrespective of the class of travel, business class priority
on the baggage belt, priority checkin,
guaranteed seat reservations and eventually, upgrades and free flights.
Frequent Flyer programmes are for frequent flyers,
so the benefits are not attractive for infrequent travel. Still, it's
free, and it's very easy and quick to join on the web. When
you enrol, please make sure that you use one first name
(what you are called) and surname only. We will make your reservations
using this name and your frequent flyer number, so that airline systems will
auto-accrue your miles.
Frequent Flyer programmes are not very developed
for "other benefits" in Sri Lanka.
The multi-Freddie-winning
Skywards
programme, by
Emirates
is the best one to join. Skywards, with probably the
best web interface of all, will enable you to earn benefits
on both westbound and eastbound flights of Emirates and
their partners.
SriLankan
SmiLes
(since 01 April 2008), is also worth joining
since they have the most flights out of Colombo.
E-tickets: what you need to know
Paperless-
or E- tickets, mandatory
since 1 June 2008, mean that you cannot lose your ticket, wet it or otherwise
mutilate it and it will be stored in our reservation
system until the end of your journey, if you wish to recall
details for a travel insurance claim, among other benefits.
You can also date change your itinerary if the airline allows
us to do so, without having to visit the airline office at
only the airline charge for doing so. This is sometimes free
of charge.
Alliances combine frequent flyer
programmes, code-sharing and reselling each others' flights.
The three main alliances are, in order of size,
Star Alliance,
SkyTeam and
Oneworld. Click on
each name to be redirected to their websites.
Tentative Reservations, Bookings and Ticket Issuance
Book/Reserve/Tentatively/Make a booking means to enter
the flight itinerary into the system with the name (passport
details if available). There is no obligation on either side
at this stage (customer, airline, travel agent).
Cancellation can be made at any time by either party. Fare
changes, Tax changes and Ticketing deadlines are applicable
for these bookings; the price is not
protected.
Issuing / Ticketing / To
Issue / to Ticket means to make the payment and issue
the ticket. Once this is done, name changes are not
possible. The price is protected, and cannot change. The
airline has a responsibility to carry the passenger to the
destination (and back for return tickets). If there is a
cancellation of flights after ticketing, the airline has a
responsibility to either make a full refund or give
alternate travel arrangements on other airlines (at no extra
cost). Date change fees and refund fees may be applicable.
Duplicate Bookings
Please don't make duplicate bookings with multiple
agents, all your bookings will be automatically cancelled by
airlines. We only make bookings that you have instructed us
to make, and will immediately cancel it if you instruct us
to do so.
The following links may be useful to you.
Airport codes
