Love ’em or hate ’em, airports are a necessary part of travelling, and until we can grow wings and fly like birds, we’re just going to have to accept the waiting in line and the overpriced coffee.
Still, that isn’t to say you can’t make things a lot easier on yourself – indeed you can! You can choose to fly only to those insanely cool airports where there are tons of things to do, such as the one in Dubai.
Or you can just educate yourself…
Here are six tips for getting through airports in record time and without the added stress.
1. Empty all your pockets before being X-rayed
Coins and other metallic objects can make you look like you’re packing heat or something just plain illegal.
So save yourself the embarrassment (yes, that means not packing a sex toy like this passenger did either) and the possible delay by keeping your pockets empty and keeping all your coins in the front pocket your carry-on bay.
2. Keep all your tickets/paperwork in the one place
Avoid that on-the-spot scramble for your travel documents at the airport by filing everything you need in the one place.
Document wallets are a worthy investment here – some tour companies, such as Contiki, Topdeck, and World Journeys even provide them FOC with their travel docs – and will save you from stressing over where you put that boarding pass or, even worse, your passport, when you’re travelling.
3. Fly at off-peak times
Getting up a little earlier or staying up a little later can pay some pretty awesome dividends at airports.
The timing of your flight can turn a snail pace slog through crowded immigration into an in and out affair. Nice!
As a bonus, not only will getting through airports be a much less painful affair at off peak times without all the people, but there’ll be less traffic on the way too.
Score!
4. Try to take just carry-on luggage
Of course, this tidbit of advice isn’t applicable if you’re going somewhere for an extended period of time or on a RTW itinerary across different climate zones.
But try as much as you can to limit the times you need to check in luggage and take a carry-on bag instead; but be careful, because the bag you choose says a lot about you…
Why carry-on? First off, you’ll be able to breeze through check-in and breeze out of immigration upon landing. Secondly, you won’t tempt fate to lose your bags. And thirdly, you can save $$$ if you’re flying with an airline that charges extra for baggage. God knows you have better uses for that money, such as shopping!
5. Print out an airport map
If you’ll be transferring at a notoriously busy/huge/complicated airport (e.g., Heathrow, LAX, and Suvarnabhumi in Bangkok) onwards to your final destination, then it’s probably a great idea to print out an airport map to help you get to where you need to go without bursting a vein.
A little study and preparation beforehand can stop you from stressing and potentially missing your connection.
6. Check-in online and save yourself a lengthy wait
Most airlines have made it pretty easy for us travellers to move through airports swiftly. But you’ll need to use their online check-in service if you want to take advantage of it – obviously.
It’s usually possible to check-in online at least 72 hours before the scheduled time of your departure. Just make sure you print out your boarding pass as some airlines, usually budget airlines, will charge you an arm and a leg just to print you a new one.
It’s madness, I know, so don’t let them ping you on that.