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• You can reserve a seat ahead of time, and then when you want your ticket, just present the money and your reservation is permanent.
• You can stay longer, the maximum that I have encountered is normally 60 days and then you might have to pay a fee if you want longer than that.
• Your ticket is NORMALLY changeable for free, so if you have a ticket in which you are only staying for two weeks, you can change it and stay a couple weeks more, until you reach a 60 day limit. Just make sure you read the rules on your ticket or ask your agent if it is possible to change. Sometimes if you buy a cheaper ticket, or a seat sale, the rules will change and you won't be able to change it.
• Because one can switch planes, there is more access to uncommonly used airports, so if you want to land in a not commonly heard of city, it is possible, where as charters are usually only limited to certain resorts and airports.

• Commercial Airlines, with advertising, switching at airports and such things like that, are usually more pricey than Charter Flights. Plus when dealing with lots of different airlines, there will be different ticket rules and such.
• Vacation companies that specialize in planning your vacation, airlines, hotels, tourist packages, and such (I.E. Fiesta West, Sun Tours, Signature and countless others) usually deal with Charter Airlines to make prices and other things convenient to customers who don't know much about planning a vacation, or don't want to take the precious time to. So you will be on your own if you go commercial.

Technical Definition: (Thanks to Don) Charter flights is a term used to describe companies that do not own their own planes and have to rely on leasing them from other airlines. For instance Fun Jet leases from ATA Air Trans American, Apple Vacations lease some from Air Meridian, etc, etc. The normal charter flights such as Sun Travel, Apple Vacations and Fun Jet run year around and are usually more dependable than the smaller charter companies that only run during spring break or just after graduation

My definition: What this is, is an airline that takes a direct non-stop flight to its destination. For example, if the flight takes off from CityA, it will go directly to CityB without stopping. Some Canadian charters that fly to Cancun are Canada3000, Royal Airlines, and I am sure other ones too.

• Charter flights are usually cheaper because of the direct service. And you don't have to worry about switching planes half way through or getting lost in some foreign airport.

• Two words "Seat Sales" -- even though this applies for commercial airlines as well, when an airline cannot sell all of its seats on a certain flight (on a certain date) it will often lower prices drastically for that day. The cool thing about charters is that their prices are already low so a ticket to Cancun costing $400US may only cost $150-200US during a seat sale. However, you must leave on THAT date!

• Some charter services suck, ok, like any airline, some of them really suck. One of the more annoying things about charter airlines are all the restrictions. They tend to be more picky about luggage weight and amount of luggage, and you can't even pay a fee to get around these. They will also take it in their hands to be "customs" for you and often don't research the rules or what "really" happens. Then most of the charters I have seen have had fairly poor and rude service. The one I am implying is Royal -- I had 5 hour delays and several other big problems.
• If you are enjoying your vacation, don't plan on changing your ticket, because, there will be a sizeable fee involved, i.e - you will have to buy a new ticket home. Sooo if you paid 500 American for your two way ticket, you will pay 200 American to get your departure date changed, which is in simple terms, a one way ticket back home.
• Charter services won't let you stay longer than usually a month, or expect to pay mega mega bucks.
• You can't reserve a seat ahead of time, you only get a seat if you present your money right away. No money, no reservation, no seat.

Once you have decided which kind of flight you want, it is time to go shopping. If you give yourself plenty of time, you can almost guarantee you'll get the flight on the date you choose, but you might not get a bargain.

If you want to get a bargain, ask about seat sales. Seat sales, as I explained earlier, are when for a particular date, that flight is not completely full, so rather than loose money and have a partially empty plane, the airline lowers the ticket price to get those seats sold. Sometimes you can fly for half or 75% of the normal price. But you probably won't get the departure date you would like, and the departure will most inevitably be within the next few weeks.

Another way to get a cheaper seat is to ask your travel agent about buying tickets from a consolidator. Consolidators buy tickets in mass quantity at wholesale prices so in this, they can give you a deal. It is also not usually best to buy your ticket directly from the airline since it will be more expensive. If you buy it from a travel agent, for some business reason, you will most likely get the exact same ticket cheaper. And trying to buy a ticket over night will cost you too. That is only for emergencies, unless there is an instant seat sale.

IMPORTANT Customs/Airline Information!!!!!!

Mexican Customs has some really weird rules and unfortunately, if you are flying to Mexico, sometimes the airline will also take those rules into their own hands. Your travel agent should fill you in on all the details but just in case they forget something.....

Mexican Border requirements

It is not required that you have a passport but a current photo ID (drivers license) and your birth certificate will do. If you can obtain a passport though, it will save you A LOT of trouble. In Canada they cost 60 dollars, are not too hard to get, and will last 5 years. It will be worth the money.

Notarized Letter