For many travelers, however, the landing and deplaning process can be just as confusing and challenging as the boarding process.

Here’s the scoop on how the landing process works and some tips that will make it easy for you to get off the plane.  Frequently flyers – pay attention, because you should take some of the suggestions to heart.

• Once the aircraft is on the ground and taxiing into the gate, most airlines allow you to use your cell phone.  What you cannot do, however, is stand up and get it out of the overhead, or unbuckle your seat belt and get it out from beneath your set.  If you’ll want to use it on taxi in, keep the phone handy.  And stay buckled up and in your seat.
• Even though the aircraft is on the ground, it takes awhile to get to a jet way.  The taxi time can change with inclement weather, so a short taxi last time does not necessarily mean a short taxi this time.  Stay in your seat, keep your seatbelt buckled, and leave all your carry on items where they are – which should be properly stowed.  If there’s a wait to get to the jet way Flight Attendants will be making this announcement again, and sometimes  it will come from the Flight Deck as well.  When we can see the end of your seatbelt hanging in the aisle, we know you’re not buckled in.
• Even though the plane stops, you might not be at the gate.  There can be lots of stops and stops before you get to the gate, so just stay in your seat, keep your seatbelt buckled, and leave all your carry on items where they are – which should be properly stowed.  (Are you noticing the theme yet?)
• When the seatbelt sign is finally turned off, it’s okay to unbuckle and start putting on your coat and gathering your items.  Stand up if you’d like to, but know that you’re not going anywhere for a little while longer.  As you move around and get your things, be careful not to bump and bang into other passengers.
• The jet way has to be attached to the plane, or stairs rolled up to the door if there are no jet ways, and that still takes a bit of time.  The front door doesn’t get opened until these are in place, so it’s going to be another couple of minutes before anything more happens.

Finally, though, the door WILL open.  There may be an exchange of arrival paperwork, and then passengers can deplane.  Here’s where it can get a little tricky once again.  Remember the process for boarding – well, think of the deplaning as the same process in reverse.

• Be very careful when taking your bags out of the overhead bins.  You may have heads below the bins and you don’t want to conk someone on the head. 
• First off the plane will be the first class passengers, because they are sitting up front and closest to the door.
• After that, proceeding in an orderly fashion, row by row starting with the row closest to the door, will make things move most quickly.  Let the people in front of you get off rather than trying to climb over them.  This seems like common sense to me, but every day I see people at the back of the plane try to make it off first!
• If you’re going to need a little extra time to gather your stuff and get off, let people behind you go by and wait for a break in traffic.  If you have kids that need longer, this will help them take the time they need and reduce stress for you, them, and the people behind you.
• As you slowly walk forward and off the plane, take a moment and thank your flight crew.  It’s a simple thing, but it will make our day.

You have finally arrived at your destination.  Let go of all your travel stress and forget about all the headaches involved in getting there.  Put on a new attitude, even though you may not feel like it, and be a fun, happy person to be around.

Happy Holidays everyone, and may all your travels be on time!

Photo credit:  SXC

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Post from: Fly Away Cafe

While most of the time I carry on my bags, when I’m traveling for an extended stay, I usually check my bags.  I don’t want to lug them through the airport, carrying them up and down stairs, and I don’t want to have to worry about the 3-1-1 liquid and gel rule.

If you are traveling with small children or lots of bags or other stuff, checking your bags is the way to go.

The resistance to checking bags seem to center on two issues. 

People don’t want to wait in baggage claim for a long time.  I used to think this, too.  And then I looked at my watch and really timed how long it took for my bags to arrive.  It’s really only 5-10 minutes.  And that time is more than worth it to me to not have to drag everything around through the countless airports.

The other complaint is that no one wants their bags lost.  Despite lots of hair raising tales about bags going missing, and the horrible statistics on lost bags, I have never had a bag get lost.  I’m not saying that it doesn’t happen; I’m saying that you can take precautions to make sure that it doesn’t happen to YOU.

So today I share with you my 10 tips for making sure that your checked bags arrive when where you do:

1. It starts with packing — make sure that your bag is in good shape, no rips or broken zippers, and that it is sturdy enough to withstand the journey.  It doesn’t do any good for your bag to arrive in a timely, only to be split apart because a small tear became a large one.
2. Put a bag tag on the outside of your suitcase.  I use something brightly colored, to make my standard issue black bag a little more noticeable on the luggage carousel.  In fact, I usually use two bag tags, although I’m not really certain why I do that.  On the bag tags, I list a home, business, and cell phone, so there are lots of ways to find me.  Another option is brightly colored tape or decals placed on the bag.  And, there are more and more bright fashion colored luggage, so you don’t have to join the traveling crowd with boring black luggage.
3. Put a copy of your itinerary, along with your name, address, home phone, cell phone, and email, on the inside of the bag.  I usually place everything into an envelope and pin the envelope to a pocket of the bag.  I tape an additional business card on the outside.  If my bag goes missing, along with the exterior bag tags, the airlines can still find me.
4. If you check your bag with a curbside porter, make sure that the city code on the tag is the city code of your final destination.  (Which means that you need to know your airport codes.)  If you’re on a non-stop flight, this usually isn’t a problem, but occasionally, if you’re making a connecting flight, your connecting airport can inadvertently be tagged as your final destination.  Double check!
5. If you are checking your bags with a porter, tip them.  I know that you shouldn’t have to, especially now that there is a charge for curbside check in, but I do it and chalk it up to putting good travel-karma out into the world.
6. If you are checking your bags with a ticket agent at the airline counter, make sure that the tags match up, and make sure that in the crush of people in line, that the tags get on your bags rather than the person’s bag in the line next to you.  At peak travel times there can be lots of pushing and jostling, so don’t lose sight of your bags till they are correctly tagged.
7. Upon arrival at your destination, head off to baggage claim in an orderly fashion.  If you need to stop by and use the restroom, do so.  There’s nothing worse than people in the baggage claim area being grouchy because they have to go to the bathroom. 
8. Find the carousel where you bags will be arriving.  Don’t push your way to the front of the offloading area.  If you don’t know where the offloading area is, just look around.  It’s the area where everyone is pushing and shoving.  Why put yourself through that stress?  Just find a spot somewhere along the carousel, and let everyone else get stressed out over being first.  I usually pick a spot where no one is standing, and let the bags come to me.
9. When the bags start rolling by, you’ll be able to quickly spot yours because you put that brightly colored bag tag on it.  Lift it off the carousel and check to make sure that it is really yours.  If you are waiting for another bag, make sure that you don’t block access to the carousel area with your already claimed bag.
10. Keep your bag claim checks handy as you leave the baggage claim area.  Some airports still match them up.

That’s all there is to it.  Do what you can do, make sure that the people you can influence do what they’re supposed to do, and add in some good manners along the way.  Maybe you’ll find that checking your bags isn’t so horrible after all!

Do you have a tip for checking your bag and making sure it goes where you do?  Share it in the comments!

Image credit:  SXC

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Post from: Fly Away Cafe