A friend of mine hasn’t been on an aeroplane since he was very small, when his parents arranged everything for him and he was too young to see what they did. He’s planning to fly to Wellington soon, so I wrote him some instructions on how to do it, which i now share with you. Have I missed any crucial information?
Step one is to get yourself a ticket. I always do this online, and check prices at Air New Zealand and Qantas before buying. You can put in the dates you want to fly and see what fares they have available at what times. Once you’ve chosen the flights you want, they’ll charge your credit card and send you an email with the flight details and a code. Print this out just in case you need to prove you booked (although it’s very unlikely – I’ve never had a problem).
Step two is packing. Most travellers are going somewhere for business for the day, so they’re not taking much more than a briefcase, and that’s what airlines plan for. If you have lots of stuff, you may be hit for extra baggage fees – I’m usually slightly over the weight limit because I’m carrying lots of comics, and I get charged about half the time, depending on how nicely I smile.
You’re allowed one bag to carry on to the plane, and one that you check in to go in the luggage hold. If you have anything delicate or expensive, you might want to keep it in your carry-on bag where you can look after it, but if that doesn’t work I wouldn’t worry too much. Baggage handlers in New Zealand are pretty good.
I usually pack a book to read in my carry-on bag, because airline magazines are very dull.
Step three is getting to the airport. Give yourself a bit of time before the flight so that there’s no rush if the queues are long. About an hour will be heaps. You’ll need to arrange for someone to drop you off – I usually take a taxi, but that’s cheap for me because I’m pretty close to the airport.
Step four is checking in. Find the counter for the airline you’re travelling on. If you’re early enough, you’ll be able to just bowl on up. If it’s closer to the flight time, you’ll need to queue. When you get to the counter you’ll need photo ID to prove you’re you, and they’ll check that your name is on their passenger list. They’ll weigh your bags, and put the one you’re not carrying onto the conveyor belt to go in the plane’s hold. Then they’ll give you a boarding pass, which will tell you your seat number, which gate the plane will be waiting at, and what time it starts boarding.
They also have automatic check-in machines, which take a credit card or a frequent-flier card and print your boarding pass straight off. You still have to check in your luggage though, so they won’t save you any time or hassle. They exist to save time for the people who only have a light briefcase.
If you want a particular seat, you can ask for it before they print your boarding pass. I like to look out the window, so I usually ask for a window seat. Some people prefer an aisle seat for long flights because they have more room to stretch their legs and they don’t need to bother other people if they need to go to the toilet. The flight to Wellington isn’t very long, though, so this won’t be a big issue.
Step five is waiting around. If you’ve allowed some time and everything’s gone smoothly, you’ll have a bit of time before the boarding time. I recommend the airport DVD shop – they often have good deals. Check the signs to see where your gate is, and start going there about fifteen minutes before boarding time.
Step six is security. They need to check that you’re not carrying dangerous things onto the plane, so they’ll run your carry-on bag through an x-ray machine, and ask you to empty your pockets of cellphones and wallet and such to also go through the machine. Then they’ll ask you to step through the metal detector to make sure you’re not carrying any weapons. If it beeps, they’ll need to give you an extra check with the hand-held detector to figure out what it saw – sometimes it’s a belt buckle or button or something like that. Don’t worry if they need to check you – it happens to everybody at some point.
I once had a pocket knife attached to my key ring, and forgot that I couldn’t take it on the plane. They sent me back to go to the airport post office and mail the knife back to my home address.
Step seven is going to the departure lounge. At this point, you’re all sorted out. Follow the signs to find your gate, and they’ll have some seats there to wait on. Departure lounges are very boring. When they get to boarding time, they’ll announce what to do over the intercom. Exactly what they do depends on what kind of plane it is, but usually they ask you to check your boarding pass for the seat number, and have a bunch of people with seats at the back of the plane to get on first, so that you don’t get in each other’s way too much. It’s no big issue if you queue at the wrong time – the worst that can happen is that they ask you to wait a bit for other people to go first. When they get to you, join the queue. They’ll rip off part of your boarding pass, and let you through the gate.
Step eight is finding your seat. There’ll be a steward or stewardess at the front of the plane to look at your boarding pass and tell you roughly where to find your seat. Most people just say hello and go past because it’s not too hard. Rows are numbered, and seats have letters across the plane.
Before you get in your seat, you can put your carry-on bag in the locker above you, or under the seat in front of you. I usually put it under the seat, so that I can open it during the flight if I need anything, but some people prefer to get out their book or whatever they want and put the bag in the locker so that they have more leg room.
Step nine is taking off. You are not responsible for this. A professional pilot will handle it all.
Step ten is a refreshing beverage. You might also get a tiny meal, depending on the airline and the time of day.
Step eleven is landing. Again, not your problem.
Step twelve is getting off the plane. This always seems to take ages, as everyone gets in each other’s way getting bags out of the lockers.
Step thirteen is finding your bag. Once you’re out of the plane, follow the signs to the baggage claim area. You’ll have to wait around for a while here while they unload the plane, but eventually your bag will turn up on the conveyor. In the very unlikely event that it doesn’t, they’ll have a little office you can enquire at. They also look after big things like surfboards and bicycles that won’t fit on the conveyor.
Step fourteen is getting from the airport to where you want to be. If you have someone to pick you up, no problem. Otherwise, you’ll probably want an airport shuttle, which is basically a guy with van who hangs around outside the airport to pick people up, only not as dodgy as that sounds. In Wellington they’ll charge you somewhere around $15 to take you to the central city, and they’ll drop you off wherever you ask. Essentially, they’re like a taxi but cheaper and slower because you have to travel with other people who aren’t all going to the same place. The drivers usually know the central city pretty well, but you’ll want to have the address you’re going to written down just in case.
