WE'RE due to land in Bangkok's Don Mueang International Airport in a few minutes, having just left Yangon.
Two years ago, we had our most traumatic airport check-in experience at a similar airport hub. We arrived three hours before our flight, expecting a smooth and easy time.
It was literal chaos when we got there. Long, long lines at all the counters, so many people everywhere.
I went to ask for assistance from personnel, but was dismayed. A Chinese couple was in tears; they missed their flight because they didn't get their boarding passes in time. Another passenger was quarreling with uniformed staff, there was no help there.
I tried to speak to the passengers to let us get ahead, but most of them were catching flights, too.
Our faces grim, I stayed in one line, let Chiara stand in another, Byren in another, and Divya in still another one, and I regularly checked whose queue was moving quickest.
Finally, 10 minutes before check-in closed, we had our boarding passes.
The stress of waiting taught me a very valuable lesson. 3 hours is not enough.
Now we try to arrive as much as 5 hours early at the airport. You'd think this would guarantee we'll make it to our flight. Right?
Actually, wrong.
We had another close call on the way to Bali just this June. We checked in early, arrived at the gate early, but most of us were paying attention to our mobile devices.
Aa was tasked to watch for when the passengers started lining up for boarding, but he got distracted.
Chiara said she was going to wait for the last call before standing up, but none of us heard any announcements.
Imagine my shock when I accidentally turned around and noticed most of the passengers had left already!
Reminds me of that time we did miss a connecting flight and our luggage was off boarded. We had 4 hours layover between flights and decided to take a quick lunch before heading for our boarding gate.
We made it to boarding, relieved we had more than a few minutes to spare. Unfortunately, we were at the wrong gate! We had wrongly assumed that ours was the only one from the same airline leaving for Bangkok within that time frame!
Experience is a nasty teacher, but my, we've learned.
Of course, the golden rule is to be hours early, allow enough time to clear immigration and take that long hike to your gate, but sometimes, even this is no guarantee you won't get left behind.
Here are some tips to make sure you do make it to your flights.
1. Always double check your flight details. I know of a couple who mistakenly thought their flight left at 1 p.m., not 1 a.m.
2. Make sure you have your passports with you when you travel. Again, I know of 2 groups who were lucky enough to have someone travel from Baguio to Manila to bring their passports for them. In one instance, someone had to break down a door to get to the passports.
3. On time: 20:22 is 8:22 p.m., not 10:22 p.m. Someone close to me had to find alternate ways to travel to her next destination when she made this mistake.
Again on time: Be aware of time differences. Don't assume that 9 p.m. Philippine time is also 9 p.m. Indonesia time. And don't assume too that countries to the west of us are always an hour later. We have the same time zone as Singapore, for example.
4. Make sure you are at the right boarding gate. Never think that yours is the only flight out, particularly if you are at an airline hub.
Be vigilant. Listen to announcements. Sometimes boarding gates are changed at the last minute. Always wear comfortable shoes so you could run if you need to.
5. On the way to the airport, use WAZE to make sure you get to the airport using the route with the least traffic. And don't use unfamiliar ones if you're in a rush.
Several years back, we needed to get to Manila from Dagupan the quickest way and well meaning friends told us to take the Sta Barbara route. We did. Turned out it was the "Balut" festival at that time, and there were so many detours. The long and short of it, we arrived in Manila at rush hour. By the time we got to the airport, our flight had left already.
6. Allow ample time between connecting flights. 4 hours layover will not be enough if a flight is delayed, or worse, cancelled.
7. Don't be distracted by the duty free shops or selfie opportunities.
Reminds me of Yogyakarta with friends. We were taking pictures at the airport when a harried personnel carrying a sign called for us to board already. Good thing she found us, else we'd have been left behind!
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