Copyright (c) 2007 Thomas Husnik
Basically, air traveling involves transportation of passengers or travelers from one point to the other with the help of an airplane. There are various factors and parameters involved in air travel. These start from the airport, the choice of travel class and the type of airline selected.
In an airplane, travel class is usually split into either a four or a two class model. Usually, national flights have two classes. This includes business class cabin and economy class cabin. However, long haul flights comprise of four classes, namely, a premium economy cabin, an economy class cabin, a club class cabin, a first class cabin and a business class cabin.
With a substantial difference involved between economy and premium economy class tickets, the cost is not altered greatly when a premium Economy ticket is purchased. The cost of a first class ticket and an economy class ticket are completely different with first class ticket prices being 1700 $ i.e. more expensive in the least.
Any form of air traveling begins and ends at a commercial airport. Typical procedures involved are airport security check of passengers and baggage prior to entering the gate, border control check, check-in, flying, boarding, luggage pick up and also, another border control check-in in case of international flights at the border of the host country.
Airport Check-in:
Airport check-in is the service counter that is seen at commercial airports that handle commercial form of air traveling. These check-in services are normally handled by a handling agent or an airline who work on airline’s behalf. Usually, passengers hand over all their baggage which they don’t want to carry on the aircraft and, get a boarding card before they could proceed to board the aircraft.
While arriving at the airport, the first formality that the passenger has to do is to check-in. There are certain airline regulations that require their passengers to check-in at a particular time prior to the flight departure. The duration period can vary from half an hour to more than 2 hours based on the airline and the destination.
In the midst of this process, the passenger can ask for some special accommodations including preference for seating, changes in the reservations and can also pay for upgrades in flight. However, the main function of airline check-in is to take the luggage which passengers are required to or wish to place within the cargo hold of the aircraft.
Overview:
With increasing time constraints felt by most professionals and also with more importance to time, air traveling is on the rise. Every day, the number of people boarding flights is increasing at a steady rate. With the increase in competition amongst private airliners, sooner or later, the prices of commercial flights would decrease in the long run for the benefit of the passengers.