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Is it exhilarating for your first flight, yet someone may be afraid of heights or stepping on a plane? You do not have to be concerned because we are here to assist you! For your first time flying, reviewing these Thailand travel guide before takeoff will enhance your confidence, making your flight easier and less stressful with our guidance below step by step.
1. Booking Your Flight
- Research and booking tips
At first, you may not fly if you cannot get an online ticket or booking first, so you need to do your own research on where you want to go. Definitely, you need to plan what date you want to go to the destination and what day you want to go back home. After that, you can explore cheaper rates by sorting the travel apps or airline websites at your convenience, and sometimes cheap flights are not always on the weekends, holidays, or festivals.
- Choosing your destination and airport
To select a destination or airport for landing, you must choose the airport closest to your lodging, which may result in getting lost or encountering unforeseen conditions. If you choose the right airport near a hotel, you will undoubtedly save money on travel costs. You must have a purpose why you are going and where you are going to plan your way.
- Booking a one-way or round-trip ticket
There are two types of bookings: one-way and round-trip. One-way tickets may be more expensive than round-trip tickets, although this is not always the case. If you intend to stay for an extended amount of time without returning, a one-way ticket may be preferable; but, if you expect to return, a round-trip ticket is the better option.
- Selecting the right class of service
There is economy, business, and first class, with prices ranging from low to high ones. However, it also depends on the airline. Luxury seats and services are more pleasant, but if not, it is not bad, simply nothing remarkable like others.
2. Necessary Documentation
Here is the documentation you will require before entering the gate.
- Passport and visa requirements (for international travel)
- Boarding pass and e-tickets.
- Identification and travel insurance.
3. Packing for Your Journey
You can manage and pack your baggage effectively with space that stay in size and weight limits identified by these airlines for both carry on and checked baggage.
- To reduce travel-size products at the airport, use packing cubes or choose various wrinkle-proof, lightweight fabrics.
- Rolling your garments in your bag saves space for squeezing out the air.
- Pack your liquids in tiny containers no larger than 100 ml, and place them in the clear plastic.
- Heavy and bulky things should be placed at the bottom, followed by lighter and more fragile objects on top.
- Choose a pair of shoes that are both adaptable and functional.
- After measuring the dimensions, weigh your luggage that complying with the regulation.
At the point of carry-on items and restrictions, there are prohibited to bring to the plane, such as sharp objects, firearms and ammunition, explosives and flammable materials, self-defense items, liquids in containers over 100 ml, and power bank.
Finally, you should get to the airport on time. For check-in procedures, officials at the counter will verify your identity by inspecting the necessary documentation. Following verification, you will be given a boarding pass with all of your travel information, such as your flight number, seat number, and scheduled departure time to confirm your information.
When it’s time to return, you need to go to the airport to not miss your flight and look for your flight number on the monitors to identify which rows or counters you need to go to for check-in, but it’s easier to check-in online or through kiosks so you don’t lose time waiting in line.
When it comes to customs, passengers with goods to declare must submit their passports together with invoices or receipts (if any), and customs officers at the “Goods to Declare” channel scrutinize the passengers’ passports and physically inspect their baggage on a case-by-case basis at Thailand airport Bangkok.
5. Security Checkpoint Guidelines
That is not complicated to pass the security screening and inspection if you follow our mentioned instructions for your carry-on baggage. After you got boarding pass from check-in, you need to go for passport control, and after you walking to the gate, you need to pass a security point to let them check your belongings through X-Ray.
- If you have any phone, laptop, or power bank, you need to put it on a tart first.
- Remove your accessories like watch, jacket, belt, shoes and more.
- Put your luggage in a tart.
- Prohibited items that may be harmful to passengers and plane are as mentioned above, and there are other things that are not allowed, such as sharp objects, firearms and ammunition, explosives and flammable materials, self-defense items, liquids in containers over 100 ml, and power bank.
6. Immigration and Customs (International Travel)
Upon arrival in Thailand, foreign citizens must have a valid passport with at least six months validity, a valid Thai visa, and proof of onward travel, and non-immigrant visa holders must pay for the fine at least 20,000 Baht per person.
According to customs regulations, the term “passengers with nothing to declare” refers to passengers who arrive in Thailand without any liable items for duty and taxes, as well as prohibited or restricted commodities, as listed on the website, which you should read before flying.
For this case, they should use the Nothing to Declare Lane, and the following items are exempted from duty:
- A fair amount of personal things worth no more than 20,000 baht in total that are not forbidden or restricted goods or food
- A maximum of 200 cigarettes, 250g of tobacco, or 250g of all varieties combined.
- A maximum of 1 liter of alcoholic beverage
- Excess cigarettes, tobacco, or alcoholic beverages must be dropped in the Customs-provided box; otherwise, prosecution will be carried out.
- To the greatest extent practicable, the Customs Department has embraced Risk Management practices to inspect passengers’ baggage.
7. Boarding the Plane
- When you get the ticket, you need to go to the gate identified on the boarding pass on time.
- After that, airline staff will announce the elite passengers to go on board, followed by other passengers with seats from the back, middle, and front. You need to check your seat number and show your passport and the ticket to the staff at the gate for scanning the boarding pass.
- Then, you need to show your boarding pass and passport to staff again and look for your number in rows A, B, C, D, E, and F. After you find your seat, you need to keep your carry-on baggage on the overhead bin wheel and shut down or open airplane mode for your phone. If your baggage is not big, you can put it under your front seat. Then, fasten your belt and listen to the staff instructions.
8. In-Flight Etiquette and Comfort
You may have had a wonderful flight, right? In-flight etiquette and comfort are necessary, so let’s take a look at what you can do to have a good experience for flying for the first time.
- You should go to the toilet and do your own business before boarding because it may be a little bit messy in the toilet among passengers.
- If you fly with some airlines that provide entertainment options for you, like a screen and headphones with a blanket, you can enjoy and waste that time.
- Stay in the comfortable clothes that you prepared, but do not forget to check the temperature and get some layers as well.
9. Arrival and Collecting Your Baggage
When you reach at your destination for flying for the first time what to expect, you must sit in your seat and wait for your bags to be carried, and if you have checked baggage, you must proceed to the baggage claim to determine which one is from your airline by screens. Then, depending on your destination, you can leave the airport via taxi, airport rail link, or limousine as you need.
10. Currency exchange and local information
You might be wondering where you can exchange your currency to buy something or pay for your travel fares or food to stop your starving. Leaving the airport, several Thai and foreign banks await you to exchange your money for Thai baht, including Thai Military Bank (TMB) Currency Exchange, Bangkok Bank Cash Exchange, Kasikorn Bank Currency Exchange, SuperRich Currency Exchange, Western Union ATM, and others.
Next, the information you require is not far away; airport personnel and information counters can be found practically anywhere, such as SIM cards, car rentals, transportation, restaurants and food courts, banks, coffee shops, and so on.
Conclusion
We hope this information will be useful for you to go to the Thailand Airport, and so do plan and prepare yourself properly for the coming flight. Do not be too excited and calm down. We ensure that you will enjoy the view above. Good luck flying for the first time by yourself!