In short
The DepartCart travel ancillary glossary defines the commercial, retailing, distribution, and seat map vocabulary used around post-booking revenue. It is written for travel teams that need plain-English explanations of industry terms, so strategy, product, and distribution conversations start from the same meaning rather than from assumed jargon.
Air retailing is full of useful terms that become unhelpful when teams use them loosely. A revenue lead may say ancillary revenue and mean every sale outside the fare. A product lead may hear attach rate and think only about a checkout metric. A distribution lead may hear NDC or ATPCO and think about content sources rather than merchandising strategy.
That difference matters. Post-booking revenue is not one topic. It touches fare structure, offer timing, cabin data, seller economics, and the way content moves through travel retail. Teams make better decisions when the vocabulary is specific enough to show which problem they are actually discussing.
How to use the glossary
Each term starts with a short answer that can stand on its own. The rest of the page explains why the term matters commercially, where it is commonly confused, and which related concepts are worth reading next.
The glossary is deliberately educational rather than promotional. DepartCart is a post-booking ancillary checkout platform, but not every definition needs to be about the platform. Some terms are revenue terms. Some are cabin terms. Some come from airline distribution. Understanding the distinctions is what makes the commercial conversation more precise.
| Family of terms | What it describes | Which decision it informs |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue terms | How money is earned around a confirmed trip | Where to invest, and what to report upward |
| Cabin terms | What the aircraft interior actually offers the traveller | Whether a paid seat can be described honestly |
| Distribution terms | How fares and options move between airline and seller | Which content a seller can present and then service |
Terms our own cabin research can answer
A handful of these entries carry a measurement rather than only a definition. DepartCart researches aircraft cabins layout by layout, so the pages for seat pitch, seats abreast, cabin layout, exit row, bassinet row, narrowbody, and widebody publish what the researched layouts show, recomputed whenever the underlying data changes.
Those figures are there because the spread inside a term is usually the commercial point. Knowing what seat pitch means is table stakes. Knowing how far it moves between two aircraft an agency sells as the same product is what decides whether a paid seat can be explained honestly.
What the vocabulary helps you see
A travel seller that understands attach rate talks differently about a cart. A team that understands unbundling reads fare families differently. A team that understands seat pitch, seats abreast, and cabin layout can ask better questions about seat maps before a traveller sees them.
The terms are not academic. They are the working language behind whether a post-booking offer is relevant, whether a paid option feels fair, and whether a seller can explain the commercial value of the next item in the journey.
Frequently asked questions
Who is this glossary for?
It is written for commercial, product, and distribution teams at travel sellers who need shared language for ancillary revenue and post-booking merchandising.
Does the glossary explain implementation details?
No. It defines public industry vocabulary and commercial concepts, while leaving private operating methods and booking mechanics out of the marketing surface.
Why do short definitions matter?
Clear definitions help teams compare options, brief stakeholders, and ask better questions before they commit product or engineering effort.