How do you compare air quotes with different routing and handling assumptions?
What would you ask when one quote is much cheaper but appears to include an extra connection?
All questionsLogistics
9 replies
- Check the promised service first: airport-to-airport, door-to-airport or delivered. A different scope can explain most of the price gap.
- Ask whether the connecting flight is protected in the quoted plan and what happens if it is missed. The cheapest itinerary may carry more schedule uncertainty.
- Use the same packed dimensions and chargeable weight in both requests. Different assumptions there can make the comparison meaningless.
- Destination handling, screening, collection and delivery charges should be visible. A low linehaul rate can be only a small part of the final bill.
- Check the cutoffs you must meet to use each option. A fast service that you cannot physically tender in time isn't the fastest workable choice.
- For sensitive cargo, compare handling conditions at the connection. Another transfer may be a bigger issue than another few hours.
- Look at the final delivery day, including weekends and local operating hours. Two flights arriving a day apart can still produce the same warehouse receipt date. For example, if both options miss the warehouse's Friday receiving window, the expensive earlier arrival may only buy an extra day at the airport. Get the downstream plan before paying for speed that the receiving operation cannot use.
- Ask for the quote validity and booking conditions. Don't present an expired spot quote to finance as if it is still available.
- Once the scopes match, the cheaper option may be perfectly sensible. The point is to know what trade-off you're accepting rather than paying more automatically.
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