Taking The Stress Out Of Air Travel

Unfortunately, flying can be a turbulent experience -be able to enjoy a leisurely breakfast and take a
and that's before you even get into the air. With theshuttle bus, (which most airport hotels provide for
crowds, the queues and security checks that takefree) to the airport.
longer than ever before, airports can be stressfulOnce you arrive at the airport, locate the correct
places, especially if you're not familiar with the waycheck in desk by looking at the large screens which
things work.show the flight timetables. If you have hand luggage
The most important thing you can do to make youronly, some airports and airlines offer a new service
flying experience as pleasant as possible is to allowcalled "online check in", through which you can print
yourself plenty of time to get to the airport. Thisoff your own ticket and avoid the check in queue
means arriving at least two hours before your planealtogether. This is especially useful for short haul and
is scheduled to leave or, if possible, even earlier.business travellers, but unlikely to be of much use to
There is nothing more stressful than sitting in a trafficthose who are going on holiday and therefore have
jam and seeing the time until your plane's plannedlarge amounts of baggage.
departure tick away. This is the absolute worst wayDon't underestimate the amount of time needed to
to commence a journey, so ensure you double checkpass through security and into the departure lounge.
all flight times before departure and allow yourselfDuring peak time this can take up to half an hour, so
plenty of time to get to the airport. Don't forget toit's essential you budget for this. Another mistake
take into account the chance of heavy traffic, delaysthat novice travellers have been known to make is
or possible security checks of vehicles.not allowing enough time to reach their departure
If you have an early morning departure, then it's agate. At large international airports, getting to the
good idea to travel down to the airport the nightgate can take twenty minutes or more, and may
before your flight and take advantage of an airporteven require travellers to take internal transport
hotel. Almost all large airports have hotels on site,system.
from Heathrow to Honolulu, and will allow you a fullSo as long as your plan your journey and allow
night's sleep, avoiding the hassle and stress of havingyourself plenty of time, it's easy to take the
to rush to the airport in the early hours. Instead, you'llturbulence out of flying!