You're listening to Business English Pop, the business English podcast for professionals on the move.
Booking tickets is a basic part of business travel.
In this intermediate podcast, we'll practice useful phrases and language for making airplane arrangements.
Viva is an Italian manufacturer of ladies apparel or clothing.
Marco and Francesca, Viva employees, are on a business trip.
After visiting customers in the UK, they're now heading to Las Vegas in the United States, to meet with their American distributor, the company that sells their products there.
Marco calls a travel agent to book tickets for them.
As you listen, try to answer the following questions.
The answers will be posted in a few days on our website at www.businessenglishpod.com.
Will he and Francesca be flying first class, business class, or economy?
2.
Does Marco ask the travel agent to hold the fare, or does he pay for it immediately?
And three, does Marco need to pick up his and Francesca's tickets at the travel agent's office?
Hello, Jupiter Travel, Tom speaking.
What can I do for you?
Hello there.
I'd like to book two round-trip tickets from London to Las Vegas.
All right.
And what dates were you planning on traveling?
I'd like to get to Las Vegas on March 8th.
And return on?
We'd like to leave the following Sunday, March 14th.
Okay.
Will that be first class, business, or economy?
Economy.
Let's see.
Ah, there's a United Airlines flight leaving London Heathrow at 10.30am on March the 8th.
Uh-huh.
Connecting in Los Angeles and arriving in Las Vegas at 5.05pm.
Mm-hmm.
You don't have anything that gets in a little earlier, do you?
Actually, most of them are like that.
Unless you want to connect in New York or maybe Denver.
But then it looks like you're going to have a long layover.
No, no.
The flight to Los Angeles sounds fine.
All right.
How about the return?
Let's see.
Departing Las Vegas at 11.30am and arriving the next day, London Heathrow, at 8.30 in the morning.
How's that?
That'll be fine.
Okay.
How much will it all come to?
£725 per person, including tax.
All right.
Sounds good.
And how long can you hold it for me?
You'll need to make payment within 24 hours to guarantee this fare.
I see.
Hmm.
Hmm.
That's okay.
I'll just pay for it now.
Okay.
Any seating preferences?
Can you put one of us on an aisle, please?
Yes, that should be no problem.
Okay, now I'll just need your names and passport numbers, please.
Okay.
First me.
Marco Rossi.
M-A-R-C-O-R-O-S-S-I.
Okay, Mr. Rossi.
Everything is confirmed.
I'll email you your itinerary, and these are e-tickets, so you can just pick them up when you get to the airport.
Great.
If you have any questions, please call me at any time.
Thanks, Tom.
You're welcome, and thank you for using Jupiter Travel.
Success!
Marco has booked and paid for his and Francesca's tickets.
Let's go through the language he and the travel agent use.
How does the conversation begin?
Hello, Jupiter Travel, Tom speaking.
What can I do for you?
Hello there.
I'd like to book two round-trip tickets from London to Las Vegas.
First notice the professional phone greeting that Tom uses, including his company name and an offer to help.
We've already studied answering the phone in BEP21, and BEP69.
These are both good podcasts to review for basic telephoning skills.
To make his booking request, Marco says, I'd like to book two round-trip tickets.
Round-trip means to and from your destination, as opposed to one way which refers to travel only to your destination, not back.
What are some other useful expressions for making a booking?
Let's study some typical language.
Can we book a round-trip ticket to Manila, leaving March 20th and returning the following Sunday?
Could you give me a quote on round-trip flights to New Zealand for the end of March?
Notice that Tom asks Marco what kind of tickets he wants.
Economy, business, or first class.
First class is the most luxurious and expensive, while economy is the most basic and inexpensive.
Business is in between.
Listen to a couple of example phrases.
Can you put us in economy, please?
What happens next in the dialogue?
First, the travel agent asks Marco which days he was planning on traveling.
Marco says he'd like to get to, that is, arrive in Las Vegas on March 8th and return on the following or next Sunday.
In all this language, notice the use of the present participle, ing or ing.
Listen.
Let's see.
Ah, there's a United Airlines flight leaving London Heathrow at 10.30 a.m. on March the 8th.
Uh-huh. connecting in Los Angeles and arriving in Las Vegas at 5.05 p.m.
As the travel agent Tom demonstrates, participial phrases with ING are convenient for explaining times and places.
There is a flight leaving London Heathrow at 1030 am on March 8th, connecting in Los Angeles and arriving in Las Vegas.
Participial phrases are very useful in talking about times and places when making reservations.
Language for connecting flights was covered in BEP 26.
Meanwhile, the time you spend waiting for your connecting flight at an airport that is not your destination is called a layover.
Let's listen again.
Mm-hmm.
You don't have anything that gets in a little earlier, do you?
Actually, most of them are like that.
Unless you want to connect in New York or maybe Denver.
But then it looks like you're going to have a long layover.
No, no.
The flight to Los Angeles sounds fine.
Marco wants something that gets in, or arrives, a little earlier.
But Tom convinces him to stick with the original plan, since all the other possible tickets have a longer layover.
Asking for something that gets in a little earlier is one kind of adjustment that we can ask for when booking a ticket.
What are some other common types of requests we need to make?
You don't think you can find something with a shorter layover, do you?
Actually I'd prefer a direct flight if possible.
Is there any way we can get a flight connecting in Tokyo?
Next, Marco asks about the return or flight back.
Notice that Tom continues to use participial phrases to explain times and places.
How about the return?
Let's see.
Departing Las Vegas at 11.30 a.m. and arriving the next day, London Heathrow at 8.30 in the morning.
How's that?
That'll be fine.
After agreeing to these arrangements, Marco is interested in how much it will cost and in whether Tom can hold this fare, that is, reserve the ticket at this price.
When Tom says he's only able to guarantee or keep the price for 24 hours, Marco decides to pay now.
Next, Tom asked Marco about seating preferences.
That is where he and Francesca would like to sit on the airplane.
Okay, any seating preferences?
Can you put one of us on an aisle, please?
Yes, that should be no problem.
An aisle seat is on the hall or corridor going from the front to the back of the airplane, whereas a window seat is next to the window.
In addition to seating requests, what are some other special arrangements that you'll make when you book a ticket?
Let's listen.
Can you make sure one of us gets a window seat, please?
Would you please try to put us in an emergency exit row seat?
Is it possible to request a vegetarian meal?
If possible, I'd like to make sure that I'm not sitting near any young children.
I'd like to get a seat up front if possible.
Can we get three seats in a row together for my family?
Next, Tom gets Marco and Francesca's full names, passport numbers and, of course, credit card information.
Then, how does the dialogue finish up?
Okay, Mr. Rossi, everything is confirmed.
I'll email you your itinerary, and these are e-tickets, so you can just pick them up when you get to the airport.
Great.
If you have any questions, please call me at any time.
Thanks, Tom.
You're welcome, and thank you for using Jupiter Travel.
An itinerary is a list of your departure and arrival times and places.
E-tickets or electronic tickets are paperless.
You can check in for your flight using just your ID and sometimes an itinerary or reservation number.
Marco has successfully booked his flight.
Now it's your turn to practice.
Imagine you need to reserve an airplane ticket.
You'll hear a series of cues that contain your travel information.
After the beep, make a sentence using this information.
Try to use the language we've studied in this episode, including participial phrases.
For example, if you hear round trip ticket Seattle to Shanghai, leave June 19th, return the following Monday, you can say Yes, I'd like to book a round-trip ticket from Seattle to Shanghai, leaving on June 19th and returning the following Monday.
Are you ready?
Round-trip ticket.
Bombay to Singapore.
Leave August 13th.
Return the following Wednesday.
Example answer.
Hi.
Yes, I'd like to book a round-trip ticket from Bombay to Singapore, leaving August 13th and returning the following Wednesday.
One-way ticket.
Bali.
Leave any time in October.
Example answer.
Yes.
Can I book a one-way ticket to Bali, please, leaving any time in October?
Before we finish, let's review some useful phrases for making adjustments and special requests.
You'll hear a series of phrases.
In each phrase, one word is missing, replaced with a beep.
Repeat the whole phrase, including the missing word.
I'd like a class ticket.
Answer.
I'd like a first class ticket.
You don't think you can find something with a shorter... Do you?
Answer.
You don't think you can find something with a shorter layover, do you?
Can you make sure that one of us gets a seat, please?
Answer.
Can you make sure one of us gets a window seat, please?
In the meantime, be sure to check out the study notes for this and other episodes.
There, you'll find complete transcripts, vocabulary explanations, and review exercises.
In addition, there is a wide range of practice and review questions online at wwwbusinessenglishpodcom.
Thanks for listening.
Want to get more out of Business English Pod?
Then go to www.businessenglishpod.com and sign up as a premium member.
Premium members can access detailed study notes and the new phrase cast to practice all the useful language we featured today.
