Travel vocabulary
 departure (n)
1. The act of leaving; a starting out, as on a trip or a new course of action.
Ex1: The evening before their scheduled departure for Glasgow, Marguerite and Nicholas returned to
the closed doll shop so she could put together a small box of miniature furniture and other
accoutrements for the baby house they had already packed to take to Claudette's daughter, Rebecca.
Ex2: Your Eurostar departure will normally be between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., although on some holidays
an earlier start of around 6 a.m. is necessary.
 departures (n)
1. the place at an airport where people leave when they board (get on) a plane
Ex1: Backups at the checkpoints are forcing Air Canada to postpone some departures, said Peter
Fitzpatrick, an airline spokesman.
 arrival (n)
1. the act of arriving; when someone or something arrives somewhere
Ex1: Traffic problems account for one third of late arrivals.
 arrivals (n)
2. the place at an airport where people arrive when they get off a plane
Ex1: At Ronald Reagan National Airport in Virginia near Washington, arrivals and departures were
briefly halted, alarms went off and objects tumbled from shelves.
 passport (n)
1. An official government document that certifies one's identity and citizenship and permits a
citizen to travel abroad
Ex1: For non-British passport holders and for British passports endorsed in any way, requirements
should be checked with the nearest relevant embassy.
 boarding (n)
1. the act of a person who boards a ship, train, airplane, etc.
2. to board = to get on a plane, ship, boat, etc.
Ex1: Boarding is now taking place at Gate 38.
Ex2: In order to board the plane, you are required to present your boarding pass at the boarding
gate.
boarding gate = a gate used for boarding (usually when traveling by plane)
Ex1: Sawyer showed her his FBI credentials and quickly explained his situation. The supervisor
picked up a phone and alerted both the boarding gate and security, who would, in turn, inform the
flight crew.
boarding pass (boarding card) = a card that you show before you get on a plane or boat; a pass that
authorizes a passenger to board an aircraft or boat.
Ex1: You must have a boarding pass and photo ID to go through security and on to the gate
concourses.
 to refund (vb)
1. to give someone their money back, especially because they are not satisfied with the goods or
services they have paid for
Ex1: I took the radio back, and they refunded my money.
 carriage (n)
1. the act of carrying; transportation
Ex1: Passengers without a valid passport will be refused carriage on international flights.
 to advise (vb)
1. to tell someone what you think they should do, especially when you know more than they do
about something
2. to advise someone to do something
Ex1: You are strongly advised to take out medical insurance when visiting China.
 baggage (n)
1. the cases, bags, boxes, etc. carried by someone who is travelling [= luggage]
Ex1: Check your baggage in at the desk.
baggage room (left luggage office) = a place, usually in a station, where you can leave your bags and
collect them later
baggage reclaim (baggage claim) = the place at an airport where you collect your cases and bags
after a flight
 airport (n)
1. a place where planes take off and land, with buildings for passengers to wait in
Ex1: The plane landed at Heathrow Airport at 13:45.
 (to) travel (vb+n+adj) = a very general term used to talk about going from one place to another
Ex1: Jack travels a lot in his job. He is a salesman. (vb)
Ex2: Travel nowadays is faster and cheaper than a few years ago. (n)
Ex3: There is a travel agency opposite to my house. (adj)
 trip (n) = a term used to talk about a short journey from one place to another for a purpose
(business, pleasure, etc.) ; usually the process or the reason of going in more important than the
destination
Ex1: For our wedding anniversary we decided to go on a trip to Las Vegas.
Ex2: My wife is often abroad on business trips.
Ex3: During our holiday to Bahamas we took a boat trip to some beautiful small islands.
 journey (n) = a term used to define the distance covered in traveling from one place to another; it
can be a long or a short or a regular distance
Ex1: Our journey was long and tiring; it took us 7 hours to get there.
Ex2: Did you have a pleasant journey? – Yes, actually it seemed shorter this time.
Ex3: How long is your daily journey to work? – About 45 minutes.
 (to) tour (n+vb) = (n) a tour is a journey during which several places are visited, especially on a
holiday; (vb) to tour means to visit several parts of a country or area, to go round or be shown
round a place
Ex1: We went on a tour of France. (n)
Ex2: We toured the north of Italy. (vb)
 voyage (n) = a long journey by sea or in space
Ex1: In the 19th century long sea voyages were common.
Ex2: Rich people can take a spacecraft and go on a voyage through space.
 outing (n) = a short pleasure trip usually lasting no more than a day; a short trip that a group of
people take for pleasure
Ex1: They had gone on an outing to the pool for Jack's birthday.
 (to) cruise (n+vb) = (vb) to sail along slowly, especially for pleasure; (n) a holiday on a large ship,
a journey by boat for pleasure
Ex1: A Mediterranean cruise would be the best wedding gift for your sister. (n)
Ex2: We were cruising in the Caribbean all winter. (vb)
 expedition (n) = a carefully organized journey undertaken by a group of people with a definite
objective (accomplishing a specific purpose)
Ex1: We believe that an expedition to the North Pole would be dangerous without the proper
equipment.
 excursion (n) = a short journey arranged so that a group of people can visit a place, especially
while they are on holiday
Ex1: Included in the tour is an excursion to the Grand Canyon.
Ex2: We went on an excursion to the Pyramids.
 guided tour (n) = if someone takes you on a guided tour, they show you around a place of interest
and tell you all about it; you can also take a guided tour or a city or even a country
Ex1: You will be taken on a guided tour of the palace.
Ex2: We enjoyed most the guided tour of the Coliseum.
What you do at the airport:
When you arrive at the airport, you go into the terminal building. You check in for your flight at the
check-in desk. You show your passport at passport control and then go through security, where
they check that you are not carrying any weapons. If you have time you can wait for your flight in
the departure lounge. When your flight is called, you go through the departure gate in order to get
onto (board) the plane. The plane then takes off from the runway. After your plane has landed, you
go to the baggage reclaim to collect your bags, then go through customs and immigration, where
they check your passport and your bags. You then go out into the arrivals area.
Similar words:
 airplane = aeroplane, aircraft
 planes that carry people: passenger plane, airliner, jumbo
 a military plane: warplane, bomber, fighter
 people on a plane: pilot, co-pilot, captain, flight crew, cabin crew, passenger,
flight attendant, steward, air hostess
 the place where a plane lands or takes off: runway, the tarmac, airport, aerodrome