Originally published: 9/26/2016 | 11:28pm
Keeping up with my recent post about my love of airports, I have decided airports once. This time I will discussing some tips to help you navigate your way through an airport as smoothly as possible. I will be executing these same tips as you are reading this post (assuming you are reading it on the original day it was published) because I will be catching a flight for a short vacation! So, here's 3 tips to help you get through the airport:
Tip #1: Arrive Early
Easy enough, right? The recommended arrival at the airport is 2 hours prior to the departure of your domestic flight and 3 hours if you are flying internationally. This is especially true for peak travel times (daytime, holidays, summertime). However, if you fly at obscure hours (red-eye or super early in the morning) or plan to fly out of a smaller airport, you may be able to get away with arriving with less time prior to departure. You want to arrive early to the airport because you never know when sudden changes can be made to travel plans or how long security lines will be. Being early also gives you plenty of time to get bags checked and find your gate!
Tip #2: Know What To Do BEFORE You Get To Security
There are signs along the way as you wait in line to help you get prepared. Even before leaving to go to the airport you can read about what you should do to make things run smoothly and quickly by searching for the information online. Yet, there are still people who aren't sure of what to do, so here's some of the basics:
Cooperate with security; do as they say and try not to question them
Pay attention to what the people in front of you are doing as they walk through security (this is good regarding the situation of having to take shoes off or leave them on)
Move quickly; don't hold up the line sorting your belongings (have electronics grouped together, don't wear a belt with a huge buckle, wear shoes that you can easily take off and put back on, minimal or no jewelry, etc.)
IF YOU HAVE FOOD OR DRINKS GET RID OF THEM BEFORE YOU GET TO SECURITY! (I've seen so many travelers fail to do this and hold up an already lengthy line. Don't be that person.)
Tip #3: Go Directly to Your Gate
This is the final tip in this post. It's also the most important. Airports have a ton of activity going on and people wandering about. You may be hungry or see something you want to buy prior to boarding the plane. Worry about that after you find your gate and know just how much time you have (or don't have) for "exploring". Plenty of people miss their flight because they went to some other part of the airport for food and couldn't find the correct gate in time because they never knew where it was to begin with. Following Tip #1 helps you have enough time to explore the airport before the time comes to board the plane, but you have to GO TO YOUR GATE FIRST.
And those are the tips to help you navigate your way through any airport. At least, those are the 3 most basic tips. I've literally been flying my entire life and it never fails that hundreds of people have not figured out a way to properly go about doing these things. I encourage you all to take these tips into consideration if you have never flown before or do so infrequently. For those of you who fly regularly, take some time to reflect and decide if these are things you've noticed yourself doing. I will be doing the same for my flight. Happy and safe traveling!
Feel free to leave comments below, tweet (@KimiThoughts), or leave a post/message on Facebook (@KimisTravelThoughts) and share what you do to navigate airports!
