Learn Your Airport Code
Three little letters determine whether you arrive where you’re supposed to, or if you go astray. Those three little letters comprise what is known as an airport designator code.
Your ticket will use these letters, and it is important to know the airport code for your city of arrival, as well as all places where you are making a connection.
Some codes are obvious:
SEA is Seattle (Washington)
LAX is Los Angeles (California)
MIA is Miami (Florida)
AMS is Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Some are not so obvious:
GEG is Spokane (Washington)
MSY is New Orleans (Louisiana)
ORD is Chicago O’Hare (Illinois)
YYJ is Victoria, B.C. (Canada)
And some are so very close that one letter could mean you and your bags wind up in a different part of the world:
LGB is Long Beach (California)
LGA is New York LaGuardia (New York)
LGW is London Gatwick (U.K.)
LGZ is Leguizamo (Columbia)
A good reference site is World Airport Codes, which allows you to search by country name or abbreviation, city name, airport name, or airport code. With that kind of search capacity, you should never be at a loss for the correct city code.
Remember, you’re bags should be tagged with the same airport codes as your ticket. Double check to make sure that they match up, or you and your bags will head off in different directions.
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POSTED IN: Air Travel
2 opinions for Learn Your Airport Code
Tim
Apr 2, 2006 at 5:38 am
{sigh}…. CYYJ. One of my favorite places on earth. Can’t wait to go back.
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Sep 10, 2007 at 3:33 am
[…] code on the tag is the city code of your final destination. (Which means that you need to know your airport codes.) If you’re on a non-stop flight, this usually isn’t a problem, but occasionally, […]
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