Eli Orzessek has passed the mantle of Ask Away to Eleanor Barker, who has an embarrassing airport story that might qualify as a cautionary tale.
I've got to admit that my first Ask Away column comes from a mistake of my own. While in Sydney Airport during what I thought was a layover but really was a stop-and-for-Pete's-sake-go-get-your-bags-over I sat in the bleak international transfer area as I tried to find a single person who could tell me what I desperately needed to know (that I had gone to the wrong part of the airport).
Finding a friendly face was hard, so by the time this idiot left Australia for Abu Dhabi, my bags were heading home to New Zealand.
Seasoned travellers, I see your rolling eyes and you're right to roll them — your girl was not well acquainted with the difference between a layover and a stopover. Optimistically, I reckon what I learned could help someone else someday, especially if you use loyalty programmes. If not, please enjoy your feelings of superiority as I explain.
The aviation industry has its own language and many terms are regularly misunderstood in less punishing ways by travellers who are not me — such as the difference between a direct and non-stop flight. Non-stop is what it says on the packet; direct flights involve stops. On a direct flight it is unlikely you will need to step outside your plane before your final destination, but you will wait for other passengers to come and go.
