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Online Booking
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Travel Tips |
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Travel Links |
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Before
You Leave
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Do I need to confirm
my reservation?
How can I avoid long waits at the airport?
What should I do if I call and find out
my flight is delayed?
What arrangements should
I make if I’m meeting someone at the airport?
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Do I need to confirm my reservation?
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Yes, it never hurts to confirm your reservation
directly with the Airline, especially if you depended on someone
else to book that reservation. This will give the Airline the
opportunity to update to any changes in flight information. Verify
all your ticket information, including the spelling of your name.
You also want to verify that any special requests are listed on
your reservation.
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How can I avoid long waits at
the airport?
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- Before you leave for the airport, contact
the Airline for an update on the flight schedule. It could save
you hours of lobby waiting, especially if weather conditions are
poor. There are other sources of flight delay information, but
checking directly with the Airline should provide you the most
accurate information. Be careful to stay updated and still allow
yourself plenty of extra time to make it to the airport when the
flight is ready. Late flights will mean an even more crowded airport
with longer lines everywhere so be sure to arrive early enough
to make it onto your flight.
- Look at the airport’s layout in advance to
get an idea of where you are going.
Go To: US
Airports & Foreign
Airports Links
- If available to you, consider using curbside
or off-airport check-in or electronic ticket kiosks. This way
you may be able to avoid the long lines at the counter. Following
the hijackings of four commercial passenger jets and the terrorist
attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September
11 2001, curbside and off-airport check-in were suspended indefinitely
at all U.S. airports.
- Sometimes you just can’t avoid the delays
that cause you to wait, so always carry reading material or some
other form of entertainment in your carry-on luggage.
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What should I do if I call and
find out my flight is delayed?
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- If your flight is delayed, get the name of
the Airline’s agent and have them note on their computer that
you are going to show up for the later flight time. Even if the
flight is delayed, they still may recommend that you go to the
airport at the normal departure time.
- Be careful to stay updated and still allow
yourself plenty of extra time to make it to the airport when the
flight is ready. Late flights will mean an even more crowded airport
with longer lines everywhere so be sure to arrive early enough
to make it onto your flight.
- If you think the flight is late, but the
Airline won’t confirm this information, go to the airport anyway.
You may have to wait, but you don’t want to forfeit your rights
to the ticket because you didn’t show up on time.
- Remember to update your car rental and hotel
reservations to let them know you’ll be later then planned. Otherwise,
you may find that since you didn’t show up on time someone else
has your car and your room.
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| What
arrangements should I make if I’m meeting someone at the airport? |
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Airports are huge and congested places so you
want to take extra care when arranging to meet someone at the airport.
- Make sure you give them all your flight information
so they can stay updated in case your flight is delayed.
- Ask them not to leave for the airport until
they have gotten an update concerning your flight’s status. The
Airline will not verify that you are on the plane or that you
even bought a ticket to be on the plane, but they will usually
update individuals on the arrival time of particular flights.
- Check out the airport’s web site and share
that web address with the person you are meeting. This way you
can both see the airport’s layout and identify a good place to
meet.
- Agree on a specific place to meet and be
as specific as possible. Agreeing to meet in the passenger pick
up area may leave you looking for each other in a huge place.
Also, many airports have more than one terminal building and thus
they can have several passenger pickup locations.
- Realize that security may prohibit them from
waiting for you in their car at the pick up area and they may
need to park or keep driving around until you can meet them.
- Don’t plan to meet at the gate. Most airports
only allow ticketed passengers past security and into the gate
area. You might even consider agreeing on a secondary location
that is just off the airport property, such as a specific restaurant
or hotel, in case security prevents them from making it onto the
airport property. Again, the airport’s web site can probably help
you locate such a location.
- Trade cell phone and pager numbers, if you
have them, so you can reach each other once you both make it to
the airport. You will need to keep your cell phone and pager turned
off on the plane, but you can use it once you reach the airport.
You might want to call when you are ready to be picked up so they
don't have to park or keep driving around until you arrive.
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Go To Next
Section: ARRIVING AT THE AIRPORT
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