Air Travel - Your First or Fiftieth Experience

People travel to different places for different reasons. Some travel far, often outside their countries or even outside their continents while others travel within their localities. For those traveling far, air transport is usually the mode of choice because of the need to save time.

Flying can either be an exciting or an unnerving experience. Traveling by air for the first time is an experience that sticks to memory for many people. It does not matter how much one has heard, read or watched about air travel, it is until they actually make the trip that they get the real feeling. 

Flying each time is a different experience since there are many parameters that come into play all the time - different airlines, aircraft, flight crew, fellow passengers, the weather, global situations like pandemics, terrorism and many others.

 Therefore, someone flying for the first time or the fiftieth time is sure to encounter something different each time.

This writeup is specifically for first time flyers. I will try to include as much information as possible that is usually needed for a successful flight right from acquiring of a passport, to buying an air ticket, to checking in and the entire inflight experience. I will also include information on layovers and connections then subsequent legs of the flight until the destination where the traveler has to get involved in the host country's immigration and customs agencies. 

Finally, I will delve into what happens after one collects their luggage and leaves the airport including arrangements for transportation from the airport - whether getting picked up by a contact, using taxis, hail rides, or public transportation. I will also look into accommodation - where to spend the first night or the next few days upon arrival - hotels, Air BnBs, hostels or pre-arranged permanent accommodation. 

  Passports

A passport is an official document that is issued by a government and allows a person to travel to and from foreign countries. It is a form of identification (ID) with features like the holder's image, details like date of birth, place of birth and colour of eyes etc. 

If you are planning on traveling outside your country, one of the first things you will need is a passport. Check your country's passport application requirements. In most cases, a primary identification document like a birth certificate, national ID, or in some cases, a baptismal card may be required. Passports have expiry dates.

Depending on countries, children passports expire after five years and adult ones after 10 years. You cannot travel on an expired passport because it is not valid. Some countries and airlines do not accept passports that expire within six months so be sure to check your passports and apply for a new one if necessary to avoid problems on the day of your flight. 

Some countries require travelers to have visas to be allowed into those countries.  Airlines check to make sure that a traveler is eligible to travel to a given country. Without a visa, one won't be allowed to board the aircraft. A visa is usually superimposed on a passport so make sure you have enough pages on the passport if you need a new visa otherwise you might be required to apply for a new one.

Air Tickets

To fly, you will need an air ticket. It is proof that you have paid for your travel. You can either obtain an air ticket by visiting the airline (online or in person),  through a travel agent or buying your own ticket online. There are many travel sites that can enable you to look for and buy your ticket online. To pay for the air ticket, you need a form of payment like a credit card, visa debit card, or other recognized payments methods like Paypal.

Air tickets get more and more expensive near the flight date so it's advisable to buy your ticket early. There are times and days of the week that tickets are more expensive than others. When buying your own tickets online and you have the luxury of time at which you can travel, try to play around with different departure and return dates. 

Sometimes changing a day could save you lots of money. Flying on Fridays and Mondays is usually more expensive than say Tuesdays because of the number of people needing to travel back on Monday after a vacation for instance.

At the time of buying your ticket, check if you can add some form of insurance that will allow you to change your travel date or get compensated should anything crop up during your flight. Buying insurance at the time of buying the ticket may be the only opportunity to do so because most tickets sold online are not changeable once bought.

Check-in and Boarding Pass

Once you are ready to fly, it is time to check in and obtain your boarding pass. Checking in online is recommended and can be done up to 24 hours before the flight time. Some airlines charge for in-person check-in at the airport but majority of them can do it free of charge. 

The goodness with doing online check-in is that it saves time as you don't have to stand in long queues at the airport before your flight.

Checking in entails confirming your passport details and acknowledging that you are not carrying unlawful items onto the plane. You can also select your seats at this time. I will explain how seats are set up on a plane under "inflight" section later.  After checking in, a boarding pass is created which you can keep as a soft copy on your device or you can print it at home or at a kiosk once you arrive at the airport. 

A boarding pass is is a document that allows you to board the plane without which you will not fly. A boarding pass has your flight details like your name, flight number and the gate from which your plane will depart. I will discuss what a "gate" is later under 'Departure from the originating Airport.'