First flight: the airport step by step
· Vol Spot
Flying for the first time, or after fifteen years, is mostly a sequence of steps nobody explains. None of it is complicated, but the order is never spelled out, and that is what makes it stressful.
Here is the whole thing, in order, including the points where people get caught out.
Before you leave the house
Online check-in usually opens 24 hours before departure. Do it: you pick your seat while seats remain, and you get a boarding pass on your phone. Screenshot it too, in case the network fails you at the airport.
Check your documents the night before, not the morning of. For a domestic flight in Canada, government-issued photo ID is enough. For international travel it is your passport, and many countries require it to remain valid six months past your return.
Weigh your suitcase at home. A bathroom scale does the job: stand on it holding the case, stand on it without, take the difference. Settling an excess at the counter is expensive and always happens in the queue with people behind you.
The counter and your bags
At the airport there are two cases. With no bag to check, you go straight to security. With a checked bag, you stop first at the counter or a self-service kiosk, which prints the tag you attach before dropping the case off.
Counters close earlier than the flight: often 45 minutes before on a domestic flight, 60 on an international one. These are hard limits, not suggestions. Arriving two hours early for domestic and three for international keeps you clear of that risk.
Keep in your cabin bag: medication, documents, charger, and enough to last 24 hours. Checked bags nearly always arrive, but when they are delayed, those four things are exactly what you miss.
Security screening
This is the step people worry about most, and it is a routine. You put your things in trays: coat, belt, pocket contents, and electronics bigger than a phone taken out of the bag.
The liquids rule is the one that costs time: containers of 100 ml or less, together in a single one-litre transparent resealable bag, taken out of your luggage. A full water bottle will be binned, so empty it first and refill on the other side.
Take your shoes off only if asked. If something beeps you will be sent through again or given a pat-down. It is routine and means nothing.
Between security and the gate
Once through, find your gate on the screens before going to eat. Gates change, sometimes late, and the screen is more reliable than a boarding pass printed three hours ago.
On an international flight there may be a passport check after security. Flying to the United States from Montreal, you clear US customs in Montreal before boarding, so allow extra time.
- Boarding : Usually starts 30 to 45 minutes before departure, by groups printed on your pass. The gate normally closes 15 minutes before departure.
- Your seat : The number on the pass, 24A for example, gives the row then the position. Cabin bags go in the bin above, small bags under the seat in front of you.
On arrival
Follow the crowd and the signs to baggage claim, checking your flight number on the carousel screen. Internationally you clear customs before leaving, sometimes with a form handed out on the plane.
Before you leave home, know how you are getting out of the arrival airport: train, shuttle, official taxi or app. That is the moment tired travellers most often get overcharged.
That is the whole thing. The second time, all of it happens without thinking.