Group bookings

Airlines price groups under their own terms. A group fare can come with a deposit, a deadline for final names, and its own conditions for substitution and reduction. On busy dates, individual tickets sometimes come out lower than the group fare. Both routes get priced, and the trade-off is explained rather than decided for you.

The size at which an airline starts treating a booking as a group varies by carrier and by route, so an agent checks it for yours before quoting.

You deal with one agent, who keeps one name list and one schedule. Every date on that schedule — deposit, balance, final names — is written down before you commit to anything, and each step is confirmed back to you in writing.

How it works

1. 1

   Set out the plan

   Dates, the departure airport or airports, the destination, roughly how many are traveling, and how firm that number is.

2. 2

   Two routes priced

   The group fare and the individual tickets, side by side, with conditions, deadlines and full totals.

3. 3

   Seats taken, dates issued

   You choose a route; the booking goes in and the schedule of deposits and name deadlines comes back.

4. 4

   Names, then tickets

   You send the final list, an agent checks every spelling against ID, and the tickets are issued with one summary for the organizer.