Many people fly these days, and it can be a stressful experience. I was pondering all of the little things I do to make it easier. Here are my tips to ease your journey;
Weeks before flying
Ensure your passport is current (some countries won’t let you enter with less then six months on the passport).
Do you need a Visa? Try and get this done before you fly even if it is available at the foreign airport – you will probably need to pay for it in foreign currency and inevitably there will be long queues of people when you land, who haven’t organised one and don’t have the right currency.
Check if you need any vaccinations done and check if there will be Malaria risks. Phone your local Doctor and they will be able to advise on this.
I always travel with hard luggage with wheels. Some people swear by soft luggage but I can’t see the advantage of having 50 other bags squashing down your soft bag in the aircraft hold. Bags without wheels start weighing alot more after a long journey.
Don’t pack thousands of clothes. Even when going for extended time away, I try and pack enough clothes for ten days only. Every country in the world has the facilities to wash clothes. If you need more T-shirts etc, these can be easily bought abroad.
Leave room in your luggage for items you will buy when abroad. If your bags are packed so tight you have to sit on them when you leave this country, then you will be throwing things out or buying more luggage when you are packing for your return.
Buy some PVC plastic insulating tape and wrap it around the tops of shampoo, mouth wash bottles etc etc to stop leakages into your luggage.
Do you want to start collecting air miles? Apply for a frequent flier card if you think you will be making more journeys with this airline.
Take three photocopies of your passport (just the photo and details page);
- Leave one copy with family or friends in the UK
- Pack one copy in your checked in luggage
- Put one copy in your transparent documents folder (details coming next)
Get an A4 plastic transparent folder (it’s going to become your documents folder) This should always travel in your carry on luggage) and print out;
- Ticket details – and also find out if the airport has several terminals – which one are you flying from?
- Hotel address
- Insurance documents
- Debit/Credit card helplines in case they are lost or stolen
- Air mile / Frequent Flier membership number (if you haven’t been issued with a card yet)
- Pen – very useful to fill in baggage labels and any immigration cards
Keep it all in the transparent folder because you always get more paperwork as you go (boarding pass etc) and this means you can keep it all together.
Do not keep important travel information in emails on your laptop, always take a paper copy.
Take two debit or credit cards from different suppliers. Why take two? Sometimes one bank will stop you withdrawing money as the spending pattern will be different from normal. I’ve always used VISA, and also remember that the LINK network is not found easily abroad.
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The night before flying
Put passport and documents folder into travel bag. Don’t do this in the morning – you may have a very earlier start and will be tired, grumpy and forgetful.
Don’t bother putting your passport in a pretty leather holder – Passport control will ask you to remove it.
Make sure you find mobile phone charger, shaver charger, camera charger, toothbrush charger etc etc, and pack them now.
Make sure you don’t have anything banned in your carry on luggage e.g. no knives, nail clippers, screwdrivers. Ensure all bottles of liquid you need in your carry on luggage are smaller then 100ml. Anything larger should go into your checked in luggage.
Prepare the clothes you will be wearing for tomorrow. You will be taking your shoes off for security so try and make sure your socks don’t have huge holes. Wear clothes that aren’t tight. Comfort is more important then trying to make a fashion statement on a 12 hour flight. What will the weather be like when you land? Remember that Planes can be cold so if going to a very hot country don’t just wear a T-shirt. Take a light jumper which can be removed after you finally land.
Checking in
On entering the terminal building, take a minute to actually look at all of the signs. Don’t do anything now, apart from find a display board which shows where to check in.
Once you’ve found the correct area to check in, go straight to the front of the queue and find some baggage labels. Now go to the back of the queue and fill in the baggage labels with your hotel details.
The check in staff will want to see your passport, and booking reference. They will ask several questions;
- Where are you flying to?
- Did you pack the bags yourself?
- Have you left the bags unattended?
- Could your bags have been interfered with?
- How many bags are you checking in? i.e. how many bags do you want to go in the airplane hold
- How many bags are carry on? i.e. how many bags will you be carrying on to the airplane yourself
This is not the time to make any jokes to try and lighten the mood (which does happen when you’re nervous), particularly with regard to bombs, guns and terrorism. Airport staff do not necessarily have your same quirky sense of humour and can easily refuse to let you board the flight.
You will be asked to put your checked in bags onto the conveyor belt to be weighed.
If this goes well, then your baggage tags will be added to your checked in bags and you will be given your boarding pass and the check in staff will tell you your departure gate and boarding time (this may also be printed on the boarding pass).
If you have also been given boarding passes for your return flight, stop and put these into your document folder now (you will otherwise lose them).
Do not assume that you can let your hair down and run around. Assume that there will be massive queues waiting for you at security, so go directly to security.
Security Checks
This is normally a three part process. They are not always done in this order;
- Airport staff will ask to see your passport and boarding pass. They are checking that you are traveling on the right day and leaving from the right airport. They may also ask that any bottles of liquid are placed in transparent plastic bags.
- Customs staff will ask to see your passport. They are checking that your passport is valid and there aren’t any outstanding security issues.
- Airport security staff will now scan your carry on luggage and you will be asked to walk through a scanner.
- Remove your jacket, trousers belt, house keys, wallet, mobile phone and anything metallic from your pockets and put into a plastic tray.
- Remove your laptop and place in a plastic tray.
- Remove your shoes and place in a plastic tray.
- Keep your passport and boarding pass with you in your hand.
- All of these items will go through a scanner and then you will be asked to walk through a scanner.
- Do not be surprised if you are asked to step aside to do more security checks. This is a random process and should not be seen as the precursor to you being locked up for life. You may have swabs taken from your luggage / clothes which are then quickly analysed for explosives. Do not panic!
Once through all of security checks, get dressed and make sure you have collected everything from the plastic trays. Look at the time, and check your flight is leaving from the same departure gate (they have been known to change).
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Terminal & Duty Free
Buy a bottle of water. You can’t bring them through the security checks but you can buy water afterwards. Your airline will serve water on the flight but it will never be enough to keep your body hydrated.
Buy a magazine to read to keep you amused. Flights are very boring.
Consider having a light meal (airline food can be appalling).
Don’t lose track of the time and make your way towards the departure gate.
Departure Gate
At the departure gate, you will be asked once more to show your boarding pass and sometimes your passport.
You will be called to board depending on your seat number. This is to stop too many people blocking the aisles as they store their hand baggage.
Onboard
I call it unpacking. The time when you’ve found your seat but before you actually sit in it.
Remove bottle of water, book, magazine, boarding pass and your documents folder. Pack these items into your seat pocket.
The last two are really useful if you need to fill in an immigration card. It saves you having to unpack to find the items mid flight.
Take time with this, as you always promise you will do it in the flight, but inevitably you get stuck in the window seat pinned in by a large sleeping man and can’t move.
Put your carry on luggage in the compartments above the seats.
Remember to turn your mobile phone off before packing it away.
Once you’ve taken off, take your shoes off or at least loosen your laces – your feet will swell, and end up making your feet ache.
Change your watch to the local time now. It helps to let you know if you should be sleeping.
Need to visit the toilet? My favourite tip when you flush is to press the handle or button and then quickly put your fingers in your ears. These avoids you getting shocked by the loud noise as any waste is sucked away at high pressure.
Airlines will try and supply the cheapest food possible. Do you really want to go with the meat option? Seriously think about the quality of the food that is going to come your way. I always try and select pasta whenever possible.
Bread rolls and butter will always be frozen hard – try putting the butter on top of the foil of the hot food and let it melt, whilst you eat the salad first.
Drink water – airplanes dehydrate you.
Try and take a walk down the aisles every 1.5 hours, and stretch your limbs, to keep the circulation moving.
Enjoy the flight.
After landing, and whilst the aircraft makes its way to the Terminal building, make sure to check that you collect everything out of the Seat front pocket, and most importantly take you documents folder.
On leaving the aircraft, follow the signs to the Baggage Hall. This will lead you automatically to Passport Control.
Passport Control
Once again, take your time and check the signs. There will usually be two main areas, one for people holding national passports, and one for people with foreign passports.
Queue patiently.
Entry into the USA requires scans of your index fingers to be taken and a photo taken. This is very quick and painless – don’t worry!
Your Passport, and Visa if required will be checked.
Once you have successfully passed through Passport control, make your way to the Baggage Hall.
Baggage Hall & Customs
Follow the signs to the Baggage Hall and look for a display indicating on which luggage carousel your baggage will arrive from.
Don’t be disheartened if your luggage doesn’t appear in the first 10 seconds – it never does, so be patient.
When you have picked up your bags, you can then make your way to the customs area and hopefully the exit. It is rare to actually get stopped in the customs area, but if you do, be polite and helpful. You may be asked to open your luggage.
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Once you make it through the customs area, you will now be free to leave the airport.
I generally try and make it to the first Cash point machine / ATM in the Airport Terminal, so that I can withdraw local currency to pay for any Taxi’s or transport to the hotel.
You have made it! – Enjoy the trip
Tags: airports, check-in, duty free, flights, passport, travel, visa