Air Travel

-     Start planning for the trip much in advance of your actual date of journey. If you are travelling to a foreign country, start processing your visa application etc with the necessary documents keeping in mind that different consulates take generally minimum five working days to process the visa, if all the required documents are complete.
-     Make sure that all your travel documents are in order before the departure to the airport. Make sure you have taken passport/visa copy/tickets/travel insurance (If required)/Travellers Cheques, currency and other documents like hotel booking vouchers etc. If you are going through an agent then don’t forget to keep the contact numbers and emergency numbers of the agents or relevant contact person.
-     Always go and report to the airport a bit early as there could be considerable time spent for security checks depending on which airline you are travelling on.
-     Always pay attention to the kind of items prohibited to be taken out from the respective country or generally on a particular airline. This knowledge will help you in avoiding unnecessary security hassles at the last minute. If there are items that need to be declared, remember to do so with customs prior to the check in desk.
-     Airlines follow a particular regulation when handling baggage. There are two concepts which are followed by majority of the airlines.
-     Weight concept- A passenger is allowed to carry 20 kg on economy class and 30 kg on business class and 40 kg on firs t class irrespective of the number of baggage you carry.
-     Piece concept –A passenger is allowed to carry a certain number of pieces with a maximum of 23 kg per piece. This concept is more followed in the US, Canada, and certain European countries.
-     All baggage for check in should be properly tagged with identification labels carrying all your contact details. This helps a lot to trace a missing baggage and also prevents the confusion arising due to same looking baggage of two passengers.
-     A visible mark on the baggage prevents another passenger on arrival at the other end from picking up your bag mistakenly due to misidentification.
-     Certain airlines also offer the facility of Pre-baggage check-in. Some other airlines have the provision to check in on-line. Once a passenger goes on the web and check in on line, the airlines keep the seat allocated and the tags with boarding pass ready upon the arrival at the airport. This helps to avoid the rush at the airport, as the passenger has to simply go and hand in the baggage to the check-in counter without standing in a queue.
-     If you are likely to travel a lot during a particular season or in general, you are advised to become a member of the Frequent Flyer programme offered by many airlines. The Frequent Flyer programme enables to earn mileage points besides enjoying other fringe benefits like additional baggage allowances, use of lounge facilities etc.