How to read a flight before you book: times, stops, duration and the fare rules
Two flights at the same price can be very different trips. Everything that tells them apart is already on the result — it only has to be read in the right order.
5 min read ·
The times are the airports' own
A departure time is the clock at the airport you leave from, and an arrival time is the clock at the airport you land at. Neither is converted to where you are now.
That is what makes a flight from London to Athens look longer than it is, and the flight back look shorter: the clocks at the two ends are two hours apart. The duration next to the flight is the real time in the air and on the ground.
A small +1 after the arrival time means the flight lands the next day, local time. Check it against your hotel's dates: a flight that lands in the small hours of the 15th needs a room from the night of the 14th if you want a bed when you arrive, while one that lands on the afternoon of the 15th needs it from the 15th.
Direct, one stop, two stops
A direct flight takes off once and lands once. A flight with stops changes aircraft, or at least lands, on the way; the airports it passes through are listed as "via".
Three things decide whether a connection works for you:
- How long it is. Very short connections leave little room for a delay; very long ones are a day spent at an airport. You can limit connection length in the filters.
- Where it is. Some airports are easier to connect through than others, and some need a transit visa for some passports. You can exclude an airport you do not want to pass through.
- Whether you change airports. A city with two airports can put your two flights at different ones. Read the airport codes on both sides of the connection, not only the city.
Duration is door to door
The duration shown for a journey runs from the first take-off to the last landing, connections included. Sorting by fastest sorts by that number, so a direct flight and a well-timed connection compete on the time you will actually spend travelling.
Who flies it
"Operated by" names the airline whose aircraft and crew fly the plane. It can differ from the airline that sells the ticket, which is common on shared routes. On the day, you check in with the operating airline, at its desks and its gate.
The fare rules: three answers, not two
Every fare has rules for refunds and for changes. For each one there are three possible answers:
- Yes, under the fare rules — refundable or changeable, usually with conditions or a fee set by the airline.
- No — non-refundable, or cannot be changed.
- Not stated — the supplier did not say. We show it that way rather than guess.
Some fares also cannot be cancelled or changed through us at all; the flight says so plainly when that is the case. Read these lines before the price: a cheaper fare that cannot move is a different product from a dearer one that can.
The price, and when it was read
The total is for everyone on the booking, with the price per traveller beside it. Flight prices move while you look, so a fare shows the moment its price was read, and it can change until you book. "Seats left at this price" is the count the supplier reports for that fare, not an estimate of ours.
After you book
Seats are chosen with the airline after the ticket is issued, not at booking. Check-in, seat choice and extra bags all happen on the airline's own pages from then on.
If the flight is cancelled, delayed or overbooked, you have rights against the airline. Our passenger rights page explains them, and on request we contact the airline for you.
Questions that keep coming up
Which time zone are flight times shown in?
Each time is the local time at its own airport — departure at the airport you leave from, arrival at the one you land at. They are not converted to your phone's time zone.
What does "+1" next to an arrival time mean?
That the flight lands the day after it leaves, in the local time of the airport it lands at. "+2" means two days later.
Does the total duration include the connection?
Yes. The duration of a journey is door to door, from the first take-off to the last landing, time on the ground at connections included.
What happens if my flight is cancelled or badly delayed?
The law gives you rights against the airline — assistance, a refund or another flight, and in many cases compensation. Ask us and we contact the airline for you.
On Rahlio each flight shows the local times, the stops and airports, the door-to-door duration and the fare's refund and change terms before you choose it — and a term the supplier did not state is said to be not stated.