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"Huh? What was that again? Could you speak English please?" How often have you wanted to say it to a travel agent?

"It`s frustrating talking to a travel agent. I keep asking them to repeat themselves and keep asking for explanations. Is it my IQ that`s lacking? Or is it my hearing skills? Or is it just them?" moans a first time traveller.

Relax. More often than not it is just them. Travel agents are like IT professionals. They have a lingo of their own. And it seems like Greek and Latin to you.

So, lets take a fresh look at airline jargon. Then you could indulge in some plane talk.

Actual flying time: This is the time the plane is actually in the air. The time on the ground, waiting for takeoff clearance or for anything else is not included as actual flying time.

Adcoll: Stands for additional collection. Usually used by the ticketing agents when they need to collect additional fees on a ticket. Upgrading a ticket or a special stopover would usually need an adcoll.

Apex: A short form for: Advance Purchase Excursion Fare". Certain international fares are sold at discounted rates. When these two way fares are bought before hand, they are known as `excursion fare`.

ADT: Approved Departure Time. The airport, with the approval of the airline authorities, has cleared the time of departure of the aircraft.

Airline Designator:The IATA or the International Air Traffic Association has designated a code for each airline. The code for Air India is AI. Indian Airlines` code is IC.

Base fare:The basic price of a ticket before various taxes have been added on.

Black Box: The cockpit recorder. Records all data transmissions, voices and sounds in the cockpit. If a plane should crash, authorities go in search of the black box to get clues about how and why the disaster occurred.

Bulkhead: The partitions that divide the plane into various classes. The physical divisions between the business, economy or first classes are called bulkheads.

Bulkhead seating: Refers to the seats behind the bulkhead. These seats usually have less storage place and legroom. They are not very popular with the passengers.

Blackout dates: Discounted tickets or special fares will not be permitted on certain dates. These dates are called the blackout dates. A blackout period is announced when certain types of tickets are withheld for weeks together.