16 mistakes that we make at the airport, spending money, time and nerves
Edition AdMe.ru wrote proven travel tips: what to refrain from at the airport so as not to spoil the trip at the very beginning.
Photo: Shutterstock
Most trips start at the airport, and there are a lot of nuances - from baggage to passport control. Everyone seems to know that you shouldn’t be late for a flight, joke about the bombs in your suitcase and use alcohol during the flight. But there are non-obvious reasons why staying at the airport can become unpleasant, and the trip itself can be in jeopardy.
1. Arrive earlier than 3 hours before departure
Check-in and baggage check-in start 2 hours for domestic flights and 2-3 hours for international flights. Passengers who arrived much earlier are doomed to while away while waiting for airline employees. Well, if this is Changi Airport in Singapore, where there is something to do. Bad - when you fly out of the small cities of Asia and South America.
2. Carry a phone and a trifle in your pockets
After check-in, the passenger must go through a metal detector. Before him, they often ask to put coins and a mobile phone in the tray. In order not to linger on searches, put metal things in a bag and place them in your hand luggage.
During the inspection, many passengers also remove jewelry and put them in the tray. This is just not worth doing, because most scanners at airports are configured to search for metals with magnetic properties. Gold and silver belong to diamagnets, whose magnetic susceptibility is extremely small, and the detector does not respond to them. However, some frames can still scan jewelry. In such cases, a sensitivity level is built that does not respond to a small amount of metal.
3. Have at the airport before departure
Prices at food points at the airport exceed city prices by 1,5–2 times. So, “Wopper” in an ordinary Burger King costs 196 rubles, and at the “Domodedovo” airport - already 300. The owners of cafes and restaurants explain this by the high rent at airports and the strict requirements of the regulatory authorities. When the prices at the airport become acceptable is not known, so economical travelers dine in advance so as not to pay exorbitant prices.
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4. Report baggage excess
Before baggage, bags and suitcases are weighed at the front desk. If an advantage is displayed on the scoreboard, and the airline employee is silently stressed, you just need not to remind him of this. Usually they turn a blind eye to the extra 2-3 kg of luggage and do not charge extra. Another thing is low-cost airlines - in this case you need to be prepared to pay for exceeding the norm.
5. Check in your valuables
According to the Swiss news agency SITA for 2019, nearly 4,5 million bags and suitcases handed in luggage were damaged or stolen. Therefore, valuable and fragile things - a laptop, a camera, money, important documents - should only be carried in hand luggage.
6. Put electronics and liquids from hand luggage on the bottom of the bag
At the preflight inspection, they often ask to put electronic devices and liquids up to 100 ml in a special tray. If they lie at the bottom of the bag, you have to stand in the middle of the inspection area, break through the hand luggage and get the necessary things. This situation can be avoided if the luggage is correctly folded:
- clothes and shoes compactly placed at the bottom of the bag;
- to lay out documents and money in inner pockets;
- place large electronics on top (camera, laptop, external hard drive, power bank) and liquids up to 100 ml in a transparent bag;
- put earphones and chargers in small external pockets.
7. Transfer medicine from hand luggage to baggage
The 100 ml limit for liquids in carry-on baggage can be circumvented by carrying baby or medical food on board. It can be taken in an amount sufficient for the entire flight time.
In addition, passengers are entitled to carry:
- a thermometer for measuring body temperature that does not contain mercury;
- mercury thermometer packed in a container and sealed with a special seal;
- mercury tonometer for measuring pressure - 1 per passenger and always in a case;
- hydrogen peroxide - not more than 100 ml of a 3% solution per passenger;
- disposable lighter - 1 pc.;
- medicines with a prescription and a certificate from a doctor.
8. Wrap hand luggage with cling film
Screening officers have the right to open their hand luggage and carefully examine the contents. Wrapping a bag with a thick layer of cling film, as many do, you risk spending much more time on a simple procedure.
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9. To worry about the dangers of health scanners
Body scanners come in 2 types:
- based on backscattering - consist of 2 x-ray detectors, the rays of which do not pass through the body, but are reflected from each other. The result is the display in different colors of substances that differ in density. The muscles in the picture will be light, and the metal will be dark;
- microwave scanners are rotary antenna booths. They use millimeter waves and create a clearer and more realistic image on the screen.
Manufacturers report that both types of scanners are safe for health. The power of the first is comparable to the dose of radiation that a passenger receives in 2 minutes of flight, and the second - with the radiation of your smartphone.
10. Argue with security officers
The rules for the transport of liquids are spelled out literally everywhere: on the websites of airports, carriers, online booking offices and even on airline tickets. However, there are still passengers who carry their favorite perfume or cream in hand luggage over 100 ml in volume. Alas, the inspection staff have the full right to confiscate them or not to let a passenger pass in case of refusal.
Other stumbling blocks are a long search procedure, scanning frames, and, as it sometimes seems, excessive pickiness of employees. Particularly annoying is the need to remove the belt and boots. For the latter, you must “say thanks” to Richard Reid. On December 22, 2001, he carried explosive in high heel boots on a flight. Fortunately, the offender was detained, but since then, at airports with strict searches, they are forced to scan shoes separately.
Temperamental passengers often do not withstand pressure and begin to openly conflict with service workers. Such emotionality can put an end to the trip. If the passenger evades the check, actively intervenes in the process or threatens with physical harm, control officers must call the police and hand over the violator to them.
11. Do not check the departure board
The time and gate number are recorded in the boarding pass. But it often happens that they change at the last moment. At the same time, passengers who arrived in advance spend an hour or two in Duty Free and forget to look at the departure board. In such a situation, there is every chance of being late for the flight. To prevent this from happening, make it a rule to check every 15–20 minutes to see if the time and exit number have changed.
12. At all costs try to get out of the plane before the rest
The reason may be a connecting flight, waiting for a transfer on the street or just a desire to leave the plane soon after a long flight. Alas, it is unlikely that it will be possible to push through the crowd in the aisle. Especially if you were sitting in the tail. Instead, the passenger will only spoil his mood, but still leave after the rest. The best strategy is to sit still and wait for your turn to exit.
13. Applause on landing
Pilots doubt that passengers can draw the right conclusions about the quality of landing. The lack of jolting in flight is by no means a sign of skill, and applause may be undeserved. At the same time, if the crew fights with a crosswind and hardly lands on a short landing strip, then for strong shaking, instead of applause, it receives bad reviews about the flight. Although he showed remarkable efforts for a safe landing.
In addition, pilots focus on the fact that landing is not landing. It is considered a complete stop of the aircraft near the ramp. Even at this time, force majeure situations can occur, so the crew asks you not to unfasten your belts. When passengers start clapping during taxiing, the employees, to put it mildly, are perplexed: the landing has not yet ended.
But the main thing, even the previous arguments fade before, is that the pilots, most likely, just don’t hear you from behind the cockpit doors.
14. Do not prepare for passport control
Here are the top 5 questions that you are likely to hear at the border:
- What is the purpose of your visit?
- How long will you be in the country?
- Where are you planning to stay?
- What is your occupation?
- Have something to declare?
Consider the answers to these questions in advance. So you will look more confident at passport control and reduce the time of border crossing.
In addition, pre-print return tickets and hotel reservations - the border guard may ask for official confirmation of travel plans. Also write down the hotel address on a piece of paper in case the officer inquires about the exact location.
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15. Give the officer a passport in the cover
On the passport control, you can see 2 warning labels: that you should not give the officer a cover document, and that you are responsible for attempting a bribe.
The fact is that it’s convenient to put money into the pockets of the cover. This is often used as an opportunity to give a bribe to an officer. Now employees are asking to remove the cover from the passport in order to protect themselves from suspicion. If you do otherwise, accidentally forget the money in the cover and present the document to the border guard, he may regard this as an attempt to give a bribe and detain the offender.
Another reason is that covers often make it difficult to read information from an electronic chip in a passport.
16. Talk a lot at passport control
One of the officer’s tasks is to track the entry attempts of illegal workers and migrants. Particularly attentive searches await at the border of the USA, Canada and Australia. The friendly inquiries about where you are going, what you plan to do, whether there are friends or relatives in the country, are hiding attempts to track the risks. Therefore, the best strategy is not to chat a lot with the border guard, but to answer questions briefly and in a friendly manner. The scheme “I am a tourist, arrived in the country for X days, I want to see this and that” is ideal for traveling.
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