The speed by which you travel when you fly, cannot be compared with any other transport. But speed is not all! Flying in the air takes a whole day when going from one continent to the other. Lucky for you it not in airplane seats all the time, but mostly for the airport and red tape there before boarding… then there's the boarding itself and all the waiting before it gets going or is done, and usually there is a delay just waiting to happen. All of this makes it a lot less fun.
I’ve spent many hours on airports, usually waiting for connecting flights, and sometimes due to exaggerated security. I usually arrive a few hours before the flight and check by phone if the flight will proceed as scheduled. The worst are night and early morning flights. At Rarotonga I started waiting at midnight. I didn’t have to wake up and taxi driver, for I was staying near the airport, but it was closed when I arrived with a note on the door by the company, saying the flight will be delayed. There was nothing I could do but wait with a few hundred other people in plastic chairs outside the building with a tropical thunder. OK, the chairs were under a sort of a roof that did help when the thick drops started pouring down. First employees arrived two hours later with news we still have to wait. No explanation or apology. We left the island at 8am. If there’s a big delay you usually get a meal at the airport, but at night everything was closed, so this little airport offered us nothing.
I had a similar experience at the airport on Samoa, but this time it was my fault. I didn’t want to use the taxi and since I had a flight at 2am I took the last local bus to reach the airport, during the evening. The building was bigger and had a roof and some restaurants, but each of them started closing down. I spent the night in the company of the cleaning lady and a security guard and the night passed by rather quickly.
Free holiday
Early arrival at the airport allows you to get an early check-in, which also means the choice of a seat. But you also loose the (slight) chance of traveling business class even though you haven’t paid it. If it happens that after the check-in there are too many passengers, they give the business class seats to economy class tourists with no extra charge, after all it was their own fault. A few lucky people may even get a free hotel for a few days until the next flight. If the plane is full, there is sometimes a person there, who is prepared to pay for a ticket to get on board. A friend’s family for a whole week for four people in Jordanian that way.
But that’s not all, upon getting to the airport, they got another offer for a week, but due to work obligations they really had to return.
But such a bonus can only happen to people who check in among the last. But there’s also a down side to it, for it may happen that when you arrive, you get the notice that the plane is full, or that you should confirm the flight a day earlier. It has happened to me and that’s why I now constantly check what is happening with my ticket a day earlier.
What to do…
The hours spent at the airport are usually not fun for anybody. Even the largest airports, full of people, shops and everything are not fun. Even if open all night and day, every day. Some airports offer places to sleep and get a shower. Some companies offer lounges for frequent passengers. They are more comfortable than regular waiting rooms and also serve you drinks and a snack. And some companies take care of the regular travellers as well. They might offer free newspapers and self-service machines for hot beverages. Some airports (like Seoul) even offer computers with free internet access.
