What to do when you arrive at the airport if you are flying for the first time in your life and feel a bit awkward. Arriving at the airport you can feel a bit stressed if you are a first time Flyer. But all the processes of checking in for the flight, security, and boarding are not that complicated.

First of all you should be aware that all the airports use the same terminology so that travelers could easily find the way to the gates and be on time for the flight.

Also, most airports have approximately the same design inside, so the process of going through all the procedures will be the same.

Big airports will even offer transportation inside of the airport’s premises if the distances between the gates are too long. A traveler can take a shuttle bus or tram to get to the terminal you need as soon as possible.

All the lines, gates and direction to the gates can be found on the boards.

In big airports there are numerous boards with the most recent updates on flights’ arrival so that you know whether your flight is delayed or if arriving or may be for some reason canceled.

Also, it helps to keep track of time and if you have time between the flights, you can spend it in the shops or in a cafe.

To make sure you are following the right direction in the airport, you can take the map of the airport with you to have it always in front of our eyes.

Knowing what to do when you arrive at the airport is extremely important if you are traveling during a busy travel season when hundreds of people are willing to leave on holidays as soon as possible and some flights may turn out to be overbooked.

One of the first things you should decide on is how early to get to the airport. This is important for both domestic and international flights. If you are traveling within your country you may arrive at the airport a bit later compared to when flying internationally.

Make sure you arrive at the airport on time, check road traffic to the airport, take into account whether this is a high travel season, check the requirements for hand luggage and travel bag registration, boarding and online registration for the flight.

When you arrive at the airport you need to go to the appropriate terminal building for your flight. In the airports for the international flights and for domestic flights there will be separate buildings. But if the airport is small, you probably would have a single terminal for all.

You should follow the signs on the territory of the airport to find the terminal you need.

Make sure to find out which terminal you need before the flight, so that when you arrive at the airport you would already know what to do and will not feel stressed.

You must arrive at the airport at least 2 hours before the departure for the domestic flight and 3 hours for the international flight. This period of time should be enough for you to go through all the steps before the flight.

But if you have extra luggage and need to register it, or if you are going to the airport by a car and need to park it you would need more time.

What to do when you arrive at the airport and enter it? You need to check in unless you have done it online. In most cases you can check in online 24 hours before the flight and download your boarding pass.

You can keep your e-ticket and boarding pass on the mobile device and will not have to print it out.

In case you do not register for the flight online you would have to check in when you arrive at the airport. If you need to register your travel bag, you will also have to do that at the airport.

In some airports you will find an alternative – check in kiosks, where you will enter all the information about your flight, check bags and you can even select the seats on the plane, which will be available for the moment.

After that you need to weigh your travel bags and if all parameters are followed, leave the luggage at the drop line.

The second step after you arrive at the airport is to proceed to the security checkpoint.

When you are registered for the flight you must go to the TSA checkpoint, which will be marked by a letter – A, B, C. These letters correspond to the Gates, which you will need to find next. For example if your Gate is A2, you will have to follow Concourse A.

In some cases you may see signs “To All Gates”. In some cases there will be separate check points for individual gates.

If you are not sure what to do when you arrive at the airport, or do not know which Gate you must find, you can always double check this information with the personnel of the airport.

After you have gone through the security check you must find your Gate.

To find the latest information about the flights and Gates you need to check the monitors, which are available in all the airports and display the most current information.

The Gate will be pointed out in your boarding pass. But it may happen that for some technical reason or because of delay the Gate changes. This is why it is advisable to keep track of the latest updates about the flights on the monitors.

In some cases after the registration for the flight you may be notified about the change of the Gate by a text message.

In case your Gate is too far from your current location, you can take a tram to get to the Terminal you need as soon as possible to be on time for the flight.

What to do when you arrive at the airport at the gate? You will need to wait, depending on the flight departure. The boarding time is always specified in a boarding pass and usually it is 30 minutes – 1 hour period. You may spend this time just resting, in a cafe or in duty free shops.

But make sure to keep track of time and listen to all the updates announced in the airport. This way you will know if the flight is delayed or when the boarding starts.

Exact time when the boarding starts will be marked in your boarding pass.
If you are flying by first class or have elite status you will be invited for the flight first.

In case you are traveling with small children you can be invited among the first group for boarding.

Usually there are two lanes for boarding – for passengers with regular status and for elite groups.

You will be able to proceed to your seat on a plane after your boarding pass is scanned at the gate by an agent.

Make sure to keep your boarding pass to find your seat quickly.

After you arrive, follow the signs of the airport to pick up your travel bags.

You may spend up to 30 minutes +- waiting at the luggage carousel for your bag. Each luggage carousel is assigned to 1 flight.

In case your luggage is lost you need to proceed to the airline’s baggage office and request assistance. But hopefully your travel bags arrive safely and you can enjoy your trip!

Keep in mind that all airports differ in terms of public transport and you need to check in advance when and where you can catch a ride from the airport.

In big cities you can take a metro and arrive at the center of the city. But in most cases you can take a bus or shuttle to go to the city center.