Re: Flying travel tips - HelpForIBS.com Message Boards

Things are little different in Canada, but fairly similar after 9-11 so I thought I'd give some tips, although these will tend to vary with different airlines.

First off, double check all times, flight numbers, dates, airlines and what terminal you're going to. If you are not 100% sure, call your airline. It's better to sound kinda silly asking to confirm the flight number, then look silly showing up for the wrong flight.

Bring photo ID with you and have it easily accesible while checking in, you will get asked for it. If travelling with children, make sure you have their birth certificate.

Bags- Make sure each bag has your name, address and phone number on it. As well, keep your baggage tags with you, they have a number on it that can be matched. Bags can get lost. At my airline (which isn't super high tech), it's amazing how many people call and say I lost my bag, it's black, my name's not on it and I don't have my tag numbers. There are a lot of black bags out there! Know what bags you bring with you and if you can, put a distinct making on it, like tape a big X or any other letter on the front of it. This makes it much easier to know what bag is yours when it gets off the carousel.

With your carry on bags, go through them ahead of time making sure there are no sharp objects and that all electrical equipment has batteries in them. You will often have to turn them on for security. The quicker you can get through security the better. Don't wear lots of jewelery either, you want the least amount of metal as possible so you don't set off the sensor and have to get the individual metal detector. If you do wear lots of jewelery, put it in your bag while going through security, and then put it back on after you are through. Just making sure to keep an eye on your bag at all times.

This is a little pet peeve of mine, when you are packing your carry on baggage in the overhead compartment, keep in mind that space is tight, pack it well. It always bothers me when people who have two small bags and a coat, spread them out through out the entire overhead bin, when if they simple put them on top of each other, there'd be way more space. I'll usually just do that for them, but I really don't like handling other people's stuff.

Getting off the plane- I always have a chuckle as the plane stops, everybody leaps up in the air to get off the plane. Relax

First they've got to chock the plane, line up the jet-way, then open the door and then all 100 -200 people have to go out through one door. Rushing isn't going to make anything quicker. If your flight is running late and you've got a connecting flight, let the flight attendant know that you've got a connecting flight and if they're nice they'll make an announcement to let the people with connecting flights off first.

Lastly this should go without saying, because of recent events, everybody is stessed out when flying, Don't joke about bombs, terrorism etc. It's silly, but if you even joke about stuff like that you can get in big trouble. If you've got a friend named Jack, say hello to him, not Hi-jack.

At Air Canada they have automatic check in kiosks. This are incredibly simple to use. Whether you've got bags or not (not sure what other airlines require). This makes checking in WAY quicker.

Travelling by plane is a stressful situation, but if you give yourself some extra time, bring a good book and keep in a good mode, it can really be quite enjoyable.

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