01 · Checking in
Tengo una reserva.
I have a reservation.
The line that opens every hotel and restaurant conversation, everywhere.
andbefluent.com/spanish/travelista
Travelista
Know the words for flights, buses, and hotel rooms — and say them when it counts.
The airport runs on a handful of nouns: el vuelo (flight), la puerta (gate), el equipaje (luggage), la tarjeta de embarque (boarding pass). At the hotel, lead with Tengo una reserva — though Mexico prefers tengo reservación a nombre de…. Ground transport is where the map really splits: a bus is el camión in Mexico, el colectivo in Argentina, la guagua in the Caribbean — and your ticket is el boleto, el pasaje, or el tiquete depending on the country.
Below: the words lesson by lesson, the full country-by-country table, the phrases that get you through check-in and delays — and a way to learn them by saying them at the counter, not from a flashcard deck.
The warm-up pack
The lines that get you from check-in to the gate — said, not memorized.
01 · Checking in
Tengo una reserva.
I have a reservation.
The line that opens every hotel and restaurant conversation, everywhere.
02 · Confirming the time
¿A qué hora sale?
What time does it leave?
Works for trains, buses and flights — echo the answer back to make sure you heard it right.
03 · Finding your way
¿Dónde está la puerta?
Where's the gate?
Swap puerta for andén at a train station — same question, new noun.
04 · Buying the ticket
Quiero un boleto para...
I want a ticket to...
Name your destination after para. Boleto is Mexico's word; pasaje and tiquete work elsewhere.
05 · The hotel question that matters
¿Está incluido el desayuno?
Is breakfast included?
Ask before you book the room, not after you've already eaten it.
06 · Announcing your gate
Me toca puerta 23.
I'm at gate 23.
Literally "it's my turn at gate 23" — more natural than "mi puerta es la 23."
07 · At the customs desk
Enseña el pasaporte.
Show your passport. (Mexico)
Enseñar, not mostrar — the word Mexican officials actually use.
08 · The travel complaint nobody wants
Me brincaron el equipaje.
They lost my luggage. (Mexico)
Brincar here means "to skip over" — Mexican slang for exactly this bad-luck moment.
09 · Confirming with voseo
¿Tenés mi reserva?
Do you have my reservation? (Argentina, voseo)
Tenés instead of tienes — same question, different country's grammar.
10 · The delay announcement
El vuelo trae retraso.
The flight's delayed. (Mexico)
Argentina would say el vuelo está demorado instead — same news, different phrasing.
11 · The complaint that says it all
Me lo cancelaron.
They cancelled it on me.
Putting "me" in front makes it personal — this is how you complain about it, not just report it.
FLUENT
Finally, someone to talk to in Spanish.
Ten-minute spoken lessons. A teacher who answers back — and gently fixes what you got wrong.
First 10 lessons freeandbefluent.com/spanish/travelistaRegional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
| English | Mexico | Argentina |
|---|---|---|
| bus | el camión | el colectivo / el bondi |
| ticket | el boleto | el pasaje |
| suitcase | la maleta | la valija |
| reservation | la reservación | la reserva |
Watch out
The part no drill site can do
Olivia
Your vocabulary teacher for this pack
The Travelista lessons put you where the words live, and Olivia plays the other side of the counter. First a check-in desk: passport out, confirm your vuelo, ask ¿dónde está la puerta?. Then a hotel reception: tengo una reserva, and the question that matters — ¿está incluido el desayuno?. Then a station window: quiero un boleto para…, find el andén, and when the board says retraso or cancelado, handle it out loud. No flashcards — just the trip, rehearsed before you take it.
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 6 lessons and Travelista is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
All four are real — the difference is geography. El boleto rules in Mexico, el pasaje in Argentina and Peru, el tiquete in Colombia, and billete is Spain. Any of them will be understood; matching the local one just sounds better.
Tengo una reserva. In Mexican hotels the set formula is tengo reservación a nombre de… — reservation with -ción. In Argentina expect the voseo back at you: ¿tenés mi reserva?
Textbooks say el autobús, but locals don't: Mexico says el camión, Argentina el colectivo (or el bondi), Colombia la buseta, Chile la micro, and the Caribbean la guagua — a word to avoid in Chile, where it means baby.
¿A qué hora sale? — then echo the answer back to confirm you caught it. For flights, casual Mexico asks a qué hora despega, what time it takes off. Departures are la salida, arrivals la llegada.
The noun is el retraso: Mexico says el vuelo trae retraso, Argentina prefers el vuelo está demorado. Cancelled is cancelado — and the tone-perfect complaint is me lo cancelaron, they cancelled it on me.