Waiting for air travel
Aug. 22nd, 2019 07:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mtbcWhile waiting to move back to the US I still try to visit when I can. Airline information still suggests the usual: for international flights arrive three hours prior to departure. (I don't know what they intend for domestic connecting to international.)
Sometimes the bag drop queue is merged with the check-in one which slows me down and I sometimes need a passport check anyway, perhaps because of the confusion that airline websites cause themselves by letting me submit details for no more than one passport. Security could be slow in the years following 9/11 but more recently it has always gone quite quickly for me. One must still allow for road traffic if driving some distance; for example, now from home we typically have to head into Edinburgh or through Glasgow to reach the airport. In the US to save money I have been flown into Detroit to head to central Ohio or into Windsor to head to central Michigan.
For my latest departure things went smoothly: I was soon airside and able to explore Detroit's McNamara terminal before my flight to Amsterdam. (I prefer to connect in Europe rather than the US to avoid having to interact with my checked baggage partway.) It is good to get some walking in before all the sitting, even if only to confirm how airport store prices range from high to outrageous. (Schiphol encourages one to make an exception for stroopwafel.) For many years my flights have been kindly funded by others; I guess airport stores cater to richer people or those with expense accounts. I was irritated that Glasgow don't want one to explore far airside before one's gate is called; I ignored that sign and did so anyway and found myself a free newspaper for my efforts.
On other occasions I have arrived early as advised, plus a margin for traffic, only to find myself waiting landside for a long time. Even at larger airports a major airline may open their departure desks only a little before the flight; one often then sees the same airline staff at the departure gate. In those cases, rather than being told to arrive three hours in advance I would rather be told when their staff are going to turn up because there is no point in my preceding them. There is rarely much to do landside while I watch the empty desks, waiting to become able to hand over my luggage and get through security so that I can relax within easy reach of the gate.
Sometimes the bag drop queue is merged with the check-in one which slows me down and I sometimes need a passport check anyway, perhaps because of the confusion that airline websites cause themselves by letting me submit details for no more than one passport. Security could be slow in the years following 9/11 but more recently it has always gone quite quickly for me. One must still allow for road traffic if driving some distance; for example, now from home we typically have to head into Edinburgh or through Glasgow to reach the airport. In the US to save money I have been flown into Detroit to head to central Ohio or into Windsor to head to central Michigan.
For my latest departure things went smoothly: I was soon airside and able to explore Detroit's McNamara terminal before my flight to Amsterdam. (I prefer to connect in Europe rather than the US to avoid having to interact with my checked baggage partway.) It is good to get some walking in before all the sitting, even if only to confirm how airport store prices range from high to outrageous. (Schiphol encourages one to make an exception for stroopwafel.) For many years my flights have been kindly funded by others; I guess airport stores cater to richer people or those with expense accounts. I was irritated that Glasgow don't want one to explore far airside before one's gate is called; I ignored that sign and did so anyway and found myself a free newspaper for my efforts.
On other occasions I have arrived early as advised, plus a margin for traffic, only to find myself waiting landside for a long time. Even at larger airports a major airline may open their departure desks only a little before the flight; one often then sees the same airline staff at the departure gate. In those cases, rather than being told to arrive three hours in advance I would rather be told when their staff are going to turn up because there is no point in my preceding them. There is rarely much to do landside while I watch the empty desks, waiting to become able to hand over my luggage and get through security so that I can relax within easy reach of the gate.
