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Tips for Traveling by Plane
Adapted from
Checking in for your flight
- If you need to check baggage, you must do so at least 30 minutes
before your flight. You will not be allowed to check luggage once
the 30-minute mark has passed.
- Most non-U.S. airports have an exit tax to be paid before you
can leave the country. This tax is between $5 and $50 and must
be paid at the airport when you are leaving your host country.
Ask an airport official or your host if there is an airport tax
and the cost of the tax. Sometimes the airport tax is already
figured into the price of your plane ticket. Your travel agent
can tell you if the exit tax is already paid in the cost of your
ticket.
- If your flight is cancelled, get on the phone to your travel
agent ASAP. The first people to connect with their travel agent
(or to get in line at the airline service desk) are the first
people to get seats on the next flight. Keep your travel agent's
phone number handy.
Getting good airplane seats
- Check in early (at least 2.5 hours early for international flights,
1 hour for domestic flights) to keep your assigned seats or for
a good chance at getting another seat that you prefer.
- For extra legroom, ask for exit row seats, but make sure that
you ask for an exit row that reclines. For most international
flights, exit row seats are not assigned until the day of the
flight, so you will have to ask for these seats when you check
in for the flight.
- Avoid the row of seats in front of an exit row (or the first
of two exit rows) because those seats will not recline.
- If you want to ask for (and possible get) an upgrade to business
or first class, wear suitable clothing for those sections (i.e.
not jeans, shorts, uncollared t-shirts, or anything torn, faded,
or dirty).
- For international flights, request an aisle seat if you want
freedom to move around without bothering other passengers. The
tradeoff is that other passengers will have to bother you to get
in and out of their seats.
Being Bumped off a Flight
Most airlines overbook flight because statistics show that 10 to
15 percent of travelers don’t show up for flights. You can
capitalize on overbooking by bumping yourself off a flight voluntarily,
or you could become a victim of the system by being bumped involuntarily.
Here are tips for surviving the overbooking game.
Voluntarily Bumping Yourself Off a Flight
You can capitalize on overbooking by giving up your seat in exchange
for something the airline offers (like a free round-trip ticket
or a voucher to apply to the purchase of a future ticket). You will
find out at the gate as you wait to board the plane that the airline
is looking for volunteers to give up their seats in exchange for
reimbursement and a later flight. Before giving up your seat, though,
be sure to ask some important questions
1. How many volunteers does the airline need for your flight?
- If they need several volunteers and not enough people seem interested,
wait for the airline to make a better offer (higher priced voucher).
The gamble here is that a lot of people may want to give up their
seats to get the voucher and if you wait, you could be out of
luck.
2. When is the next available flight on which you can get a confirmed
seat?
- You might end up waiting on stand-by for hours or even overnight
if you give up your seat before knowing the next flight with open
seats. Be sure that your seat is confirmed for the next flight
before walking away from the ticket agent at the gate counter
once you've relinquished your seat.
3. How will the airline take care of you until your next flight?
- You could be eligible for meal vouchers, a phone card, even
a hotel room if you have a long or overnight wait for the next
flight. If you have an overnight wait, ask also for an overnight
kit that will contain a travel toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo,
and various other toiletry items.
4. Are there strings attached to your free ticket/voucher?
- Is there an expiration date on the free ticket/voucher? Are
the limits to where you can fly using it? Are holidays included
in the dates available to fly with this free ticket/voucher? Can
you reserve a seat using this free ticket/voucher, or do you have
to fly standby? If you receive a voucher, ask if you can use the
voucher to partially pay for a ticket while you pay for the rest
of the ticket, or do you have to fly to a place where the voucher
alone will cover the price.
- Strings attached to a free ticket/voucher are not necessarily
bad, but it's better to know the restrictions ahead of time than
to be taken by surprise.
While the government does regulate the amount of compensation an
airline must provide a passenger who is involuntarily bumped from
a flight, there are no guidelines for compensation amounts when
you voluntarily relinquish your seat. You are at the mercy of the
gate agent, and the desperation of the airline to get the seats
they need for the flight. Check the government's "Denied
Boarding Compensation" law for a starting point in the
bargaining process and see what you can get!
Involuntarily Being Bumped from a Flight
The government requires that all airlines seek volunteers to give
up their seats before the airline begins bumping passengers off
flights involuntarily. To know your rights for flights in the USA,
you can read an overview of the "Denied
Boarding Compensation" law at the link above, or you can
find in-depth information on the entire law here.
International airlines function by different laws and, therefore,
are not necessarily required to compensate you if you are involuntarily
bumped from the flight.
As for compensation from the airlines, there isn't a set
amount. The airline
During the Flight
- Walk around often on long flights to keep down leg swelling
and the possibility of blood clots.
- Try to sleep when it is dark to acclimate your body to the time
at your destination.
- Take earplugs and an eye mask if you have trouble sleeping
around any light or noise.
- Drink lots of water to stay hydrated and do not drink caffeinated
drinks. The air on a plane is very drying and caffeine will dehydrate
your body, too. Dehydration increases exhaustion and can worsen
the effects of jet lag, not to mention that dehydration can put
you in the hospital if it becomes too severe.
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