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Ok I haven't been on a airplane yet, but my question is when heading back from a trip to home for an example. Do you have to check out similar to how you have to check in? If so how? I'm just trying to how the whole process works when heading back, would I have to see a travel agent? I know how the process works getting to the final destination, just trying to see how it works heading back.
Most people buy their tickets online. That is an "E-ticket". 24 hrs before your flight, go online to the airlines website and check in, print your boarding pass, or send it to your phone. If you send it to your phone, make sure you save it, because one time my husband didn't have service for some reason when he was boarding. He finally got it to show on his phone, but what a nervous moment.
This is the same procedure for returning flights. You have to have a boarding pass coming and going.
Under most circumstances, you will have purchased a round trip ticket, so you've already taken care of getting the ticket for the return home as well as the way out of town. (Round trip tickets have historically been cheaper than buying two one way tickets for assorted reasons probably a bit boring to go into.)
How much contact you have with airline employees depends on several things- are you checking a bag? Are you checking in for your flight at the customer service counter, or are you doing so online and then either sending your boarding pass to a cell phone or printing out the boarding pass at an automated kiosk? Unless it's an airline that charges me to print out a boarding pass at the airport (a few very low cost airlines do this) I always like to have a paper one printed out at the kiosk because phones and phone scanners can have technical problems, and if your original scheduled flight has problems and requires the airline to rebook you, there are times when you have a paper record of what the original flight was supposed to be can be helpful. (Once the customer service person aka Gate Agent starts tapping on their keyboard, information on your original route gets overwritten and it takes one of their supervisors to access your original flight routing)
If you are flying to an international destination, expect to have to show your passport and any travel visas to multiple airline employees. An airline can face a large fine if they fly a passenger to a country and that passenger is refused entry at immigration, so they're pretty careful about making sure you're going to be allowed into a destination country.
There is not "check out" when flying. You check in up to 24 hours before your flight in order to get your boarding pass. You use your boarding pass to go through security and to board the flight. Once your flight lands, all you have to do is get off the plane and go about your way.
You haven't flown before, so it's important to know ... the departure time of your flight is the time that it is scheduled to take off. That means boarding begins around 30 minutes before that departure time. You need to be sure to be at the gate no less than 15 minutes prior to the departure time, or else you may lose your seat if the plane has been over sold.
For a first time flyer going out of Atlanta, I'd plan on arriving 90-120 minutes before scheduled departure in order to get through security and find your correct departure gate. Atlanta's airport actually has a very logical and straightforward layout, but it's huge and some gates require a long walk from the central 'plane train' area.
If you have any questions at the airport, say it's your first time flying as you talk to the airline employee/tsa screener. There is an assumption that everyone's gone through the process ten times before, everyone knows what steps they're supposed to be doing, and someone who doesn't follow the rules is doing so out of arrogance rather than ignorance. People get nicer when you plead ignorance.
Why the bump? I believe your question has been answered. Are you looking for more?
Yea some good answers, if I'm going inbound flight what's the first that I do? I know I would have to give my bags to an agent what do I do after that?
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