Doubt regarding the airline ticket information [closed]

Question

I recently had an English test where we had to read a passage and answer questions about the meaning. I completely failed to understand certain portions of this passage and do not understand the meaning.

Here is the passage. The passage is hypothetical, and is not taken from a real world source or company, but was written by the test makers to demonstrate our understanding of it. (I bolded the parts I had particular difficulty with)

An offer from Cozy_travel.com agency is as follows.

Make a confirmed booking for any service (fight ticket, hotel or rail tickets) through Cozy_travel.com from December 5, 2020 to February 8, 2021 and become eligible for two free air tickets (offer is limited to the base fare).

Free tickets have to be booked through online request from January 1, 2020 to February 28, 2021. The request for free tickets should be submitted at least twenty-one days in advance. Free tickets are non-amendable (except the passenger name) and cannot be cancelled. Free tickets cannot be exchanged for cash or kind with anybody. Cozy_travel will try its best to secure the free ticket as per the request. However, ticket confirmation is subject to airline schedule and set availability in airlines selected and finalized by Cozy_travel from specific available airlines.

Here are the points about this passage that I do not understand:

1. Does this passage say that the two tickets are absolutely free, or is there only a certain amount called the "base charge" that is free?

2. Do you have to redeem the tickets between January 1, 2020 and Feb 28, 2021?

3. The test asked me to describe the "21 days clause" in the passage, but I don't understand what this means.

4. Does the last bolded sentence mean that when using the free tickets, the airlines used and the seats assigned would be decided by Cozy-travel itself?

Answer 1

This text is dreadfully unclear.

The 2 tickets which are free are not absolutely free, but only a certain amount called base charge is free.

This is not clear. What is "base charge"? It isn't a universally understood term, and any reader should expect it the full text to make it clear what that is before using the term.

It might refer to different tiers of pricing (eg first class, second class), as with "buy one, get one free" offers, it is generally the case that the second 'free' ticket is identical to the one that has been paid for. It would be clearer if it simply stated that the free tickets are the same face value as the one purchased.

Is the date between Jan 1, 2020 to Feb 28, 2021, one has to redeem the free tickets?

It depends what you mean by 'redeem'. If you are given a voucher to exchange for something, we might say that the voucher must be 'redeemed' by a certain date, but the tickets claimed might not necessarily have to be used between those dates. Again, this is not very clear. There should be consistent language and terminology used throughout the terms and conditions.

What is 21 days clause, I am not able to understand.

You're not the only one. This is also unclear. 21 days before what? Before you buy the original ticket? Before you 'redeem' the offer? Before you travel?

In the last bolded sentence does it mean that the the airlines and the seats for free tickets would be decided by agency itself ?

Yes, but the travel agency are saying that the decision will depend on airline schedules and availability. They are just an agent booking on behalf of airlines, so they can't book you on a flight that doesn't exist.

Answer 2

Does this passage say that the two tickets are absolutely free, or is there only a certain amount called the "base charge" that is free?

The passage is clear that the two tickets are not absolutely free, and you bolded the section which says this: (offer is limited to the base fare)

When purchasing and using airplane tickets, there are often additional fees you must pay, such as airport fees, taxes, and baggage fees. The passage doesn't name all the extra fees, but the meaning is clear that any additional fees, such as the ones I mentioned, must be paid, and are not free.

Do you have to redeem the tickets between January 1, 2020 and February 28, 2021?

According to the passage, yes. The passage says that you must book your flights from January 1, 2020 and February 28, 2021. When you "book" a flight, you are saying that you wish to leave on the specified day. When you arrive at the airport with your tickets on the day you booked your flight, you are redeeming those tickets. Since we know that we are required to book the flights between 1/1/2020 and 2/28/2021, we also know that we must redeem them in that time frame as well.

The test asked me to describe the "21 days clause" in the passage, but I don't understand what this means.

Look at the passage and you will see what it means. You bolded the correct sentence: The request for free tickets should be submitted at least twenty-one days in advance. Your misunderstanding might come from knowing the implied part of the sentence: "in advance... of what?" you might ask. The answer is in the previous sentence: you must submit the request for free tickets twenty-one days in advance of the flight you wish to book.

The meaning is that you cannot book a flight less than twenty-one days in the future from the day you are doing the booking. If today was December 1st, 2020, then I could not book a flight for any day before December 21st, 2020.

Does the last bolded sentence mean that when using the free tickets, the airlines used and the seats assigned would be decided by Cozy-travel itself?

Yes, it does (assuming you made a typo when copying the passage into your question, and "set" should be "seat"). Cozy_travel.com are the ones who will choose the airline based on the airline schedules, and will be assigning you any available seats. They are also saying that they might change the airline or seat up to the last minute, when they "finalize" it.