Your holiday begins at the airport; this can be a very stressful place for the traveller that only goes on holiday once a year. Plan your start to the holiday well and this will help alleviate your apprehension in the “den of lions”. You should check in 2 to 3 hours in advance. Many airports will have as many people going through them as in many busy city centres, so take the same precautions with your bags and kids as you would in any city centre.
The first point of call will be check in – This can be daunting as you look for the correct board with your flight. Once you find this you will stand in line until you finally reach the check in desk. Here you will be asked for your tickets and passport / ID. The check in clerk will allocate you a seat on the plane, if you are lucky enough you may get one of the extra leg room seats, but these are limited so if you are looking this it is best to arrive early in the queue.
Next you will move through the airport to the security check. Depending on the time of day this can have lots of people going through this. You will be required to remove your belt, coat and take coins from your pocket and place them in a plastic container. If you have this done before your arrive at your check point it will speed everything along. The check will only take a matter of seconds and consists of walking through a metal detector and putting hand luggage through an x-ray machine. All in order you now have time to relax and browse through the airport shops.
Keep a check on the screens for your flight; it will appear beside your flight number. Once it appears proceed to the gate number that is displayed. Your holiday is getting closer; the air host will call your seat section. Here again you will have to show your boarding card and ID, make your way to the instructed entrance on the plane. Once up the steps the air host will direct you to your seat. Luggage goes either in the overhead locker or under the seat in front. Fasten your seat belt and relax, next stop is your holiday location.