I have traveled quite a few times (if not too many times) by an airplane - but somehow always forget the exact steps one has to follow once inside the airport till actually boarding the plane.. This time I made sure I jotted down all the things I did and wrote it down here - for my own future reference!
1. Always keep ticket and passport handy, you get a nice passport bag in the market
2. Stand in line for the check-in bag to be screened. Make sure you don't keep an alarm clock somewhere deep inside your bag with batteries inside it! (I had to open up my bag at the airport just because the lady realized that the batteries are left inside :-( All the effort in packing up the bag neatly gone waste)
3. After screening, the bag is normally strapped.
4. Stand in the line at the respective airline counter for the bag to be checked in.
5. Once at the counter, you will get name tags for all the bags - the bags to be checked in as well as your hand luggage. Put them on the bags with your name and address.
6. Show the ticket and your passport to the lady at the airline counter. She will give you an immigration form and a boarding pass. After this step, you will need only the passport and the boarding pass. You can keep the ticket inside safely.
7. Fill the immigration form (it is very simple to fill with name, address details) and stand in line for the immigration check. Normally this will be a nominal check, nothing serious or time consuming unless there is a big line at the immigration counter.
8. Now proceed to the gate number specified on the boarding pass for the security check. Wait till the security check for your aircraft is announced and has begun. Till that time, you can try to kill the time - though there is not much of an option there. This is the place where you can charge your mobile phones if needed. After this point, there is no way of doing that.
9. During the security check, your hand luggage will be screened. There are different lines for ladies and gents.
10. If everything is ok, the name tags on your hand luggage will be stamped. This means you are free to proceed.
11. Wait for the boarding to begin. Boarding is normally done in the following order, so you need to wait for your turn to come:
a. First class and Business class passengers
b. Passengers with infants
c. Economy class passengers called row-wise
Once inside the aircraft, find your seat, dump your hand luggage into the overhead cabin and start counting the time before the plane takes off! And yes - send as many messages you like till the time they finally ask you to switch off the mobiles :-)
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2 comments:
Really informative!
Cheers!
Some more tips:
1) If you need refereshments and other stuff, take them BEFORE you pass through immigration. Once you get beyond, you cannot get out. And once inside, you need to shell out really big bucks - unless you are travelling business class, in which case, you can use the aircraft lounges for free.
2) If you reach early, check out the gate, verify everything, and then have a blast roaming around the airport - but check the gates first, and keep a look out for changes etc. Most of the lounges now do not make explicit announcements for departure, so please do NOT fall asleep!
3) At Mumbai, you can actually get your luggage wrapped in a very nice, protective plastic sheet for 100 bucks - really, really worth it - you have no idea how badly your luggage is treated on the tarmac!
4) There are two kinds of immigration forms - make sure your's is the one for Indians. It has a second part which you use on the way back!
5) Customs is very very easy now - most cameras, mobiles, laptops etc can be taken through, but makes sense to just check with the customs guys immediately after you get through immigration
6) At the immigration counter itself, be relaxed and cool and answer each question short and sweet - do not get into lengthy explanantions.
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