I just want to thank everyone for the great advice..I'm so Happy I found this site and asked for help...You all have made me feel so much better about my first plane trip..

Welcome to FT! :D


Relax and enjoy yourself!

As far as seat selection goes, I prefer a window. I never get tired of looking out the window! Clearly a YMMV thing. :) Whatever you choose, request a seat now, or else you might get a dreaded middle seat.:eek:

Usually you can get water and a soda of some sort on board for free. If I'm riding in the back and will be there for a couple of hours I tend to eat a meal before boarding, or bring a heavy snack for on board. (A box of chicken nuggets comes to mind as far as a heavy snack.) You will be able to buy a bottle of water once you pass security.

You may have seen threads about Kettles. Follow the advice on this thread and no one will accuse you of being one!

Request a seat now, or else you might get a dreaded middle seat.

The only toiletries I carry is a small shaving cream, razor, and deodorant. Shampoo, mouth wash and other liquids slow me down at the security line. Hotels, or in your case walmart, have everything you need at the other end. I visit my mom 4-5 times a year and I just keep a cache of hygiene items at her house!

tripit.com
 

I noticed you have a Blackberry.
If you're familiar with downloading/installing and using apps other than those originally installed, I would recommend the free service tripit.com and their smartphone app which you can get for free from here:
http://www.tripit.com/uhp/blackberry

I use tripit.com for every single flight I take.

I am pretty sure you received an electronic itinerary from Continental via email.
If you have registered with tripit.com, all you have to do is forward the itinerary email to "[email protected]". After a few seconds tripit.com has organized the whole trip itinerary for you, and it's readily available from the tripit.com Blackberry application.
It can also be extended to warn you of reschedules, gate changes (in the US), etc, for a small fee.

Oh, about the seating in the rear of the plane - there are several reasons why this might be better to avoid. Engine noise tends to increase the further back in the plane you are. The food carts might run out of stuff before they reach you. When boarding and exiting the plane, you will most of the time have a longer walk in the narrow aisle (unless you can board/exit at the rear).

These are all my personal observations/experiences, I'm no expert...

I wish you a great flight!

Regards,
Christopher

There are lots of great tips in this thread, but it doesn't look like anyone has outlined all the steps you'll go through from start to finish for your trip. I figured I'd write that up, just in case it's helpful to you or anyone else who finds this thread later.

Lots of this is obvious, so please don't take offense if it sounds like common sense - I figure it's better to be thorough for future travelers' benefit :)

• Sign up for the airline's frequent flier program and add the number to your itinerary on their web site. Doing this in advance can actually make your life easier at the airport - if you ever need to ask an airline employee to look up your flight information, knowing your frequent flier number can make that easier on them.
  
  
• Figure out how you're getting to the airport. Everyone has their favorite way of getting to the airport, and this varies from city to city. I prefer public transportation whenever it's available, but here in Seattle our light rail doesn't serve the neighborhoods I live in and the bus service is a bit spotty. (If you go this route, pay attention to make sure your flight times match the schedule, and allow lots of extra time.)
  
  If you choose to drive, carefully consider where you're going to park. If flying out of a small airport, like, say, Roanoke, VA, this is easy - just park at the airport, as the cost should be very affordable. If you're flying out of a big airport, though, onsite parking can be very expensive (again in Seattle, it's $30/day or something obscene like that). If so, you can bet there will be lots of reliable offsite parking lots like MasterPark, The Parking Spot, etc. that cost a fraction of that per day. Either way, you'll likely take a shuttle bus from the parking lot to the checkin counter, so allow time for that.
  
  A cab or a shared van service is also an option - ask around to find out if this is an affordable choice in your area.
  
  Finally, you can always bum a ride from friends. That's a good idea, too. (Which reminds me, I need to call in a favor to get a ride for my own next trip! :D)
  
  
• Arrive at the airport about 2 hours in advance. If it's your first time, you've got plenty of time, and you're nervous or curious, it won't hurt at all to get there 3 hours in advance. Once you get through security, if you have extra time you can just explore the terminal - one of my favorite pasttimes.
  
  
• Proceed to the airline's ticket counter. I recommend heading directly there as soon as you arrive at the airport.
  
  You may notice skycaps (baggage porters) at the curb who offer to help with your luggage - I usually politely decline or avoid them, since they work for tips and don't offer any services that the airline itself doesn't.
  
  
• Use the airline's kiosk to check yourself in. If you're checking bags, indicate that on the kiosk and pay the checked baggage fee; if you're not, just collect your boarding passes.
  
  This is one step you can experience at home - Delta has a really cool demo of their checkin kiosks at http://www.delta.com/traveling_check...demo/index.jsp that will walk you through the whole process. Continental's kiosks work almost identically, so this should be applicable for you.
  
  
• Or not. As an alternative to the kiosk, you can check in on the airline's web site from home. Just print your boarding pass and skip the kiosk entirely. Less of the airport experience, but you do save a few minutes :)
  
  If you're checking bags, you can still check in at home first and pay your bag fee online. Many airlines offer a discount of a few dollars if you pay before you get to the airport, in fact. If you do this, you still check your bags at the ticket counter kiosk - just log into the kiosk by scanning the boarding pass barcode you printed at home.
  
  
• Clear security. Again, I recommend doing this immediately after you've checked in at the ticket counter.
  
  Much has been written about this elsewhere, so I'll just add one tip: due to a variety of concerns (take your pick of radiation or privacy), I urge you to use your right to opt out if selected for a backscatter or millimeter wave scanner. (They're different than a metal detector - typically much larger and curvy with a video screen on the side, while metal detectors are thinner and boxy. You only need to speak up to say you opt out if they wave you towards that machine - if you're directed into a metal detector instead, you weren't selected for screening.)
  
  If you opt out, you'll get a brief patdown from the TSA - not nearly as invasive as you may have heard in the media, and in my opinion preferable to the alternative.
  
  
• Check monitors to find your gate assignment. This is the first thing I do after clearing security - flights often change gates at the last minute; just like in a parking lot, sometimes a parking space is taken when your inbound aircraft arrives :)
  
  
• Proceed to your gate. If you got to the airport early, this is a great opportunity to explore - check out the shops, grab a bite to eat, whatever you like!
  
  Whatever you do, be at the gate no later than 35 minutes before scheduled departure. The departure time on your ticket is actually the time the airplane pushes back from the gate and the door closes - to make that time, they'll close the gate 15 minutes before departure, and if you're not there by then you'll miss your flight.
  
  
• Follow the gate agent's directions to board. Usually this is as easy as listening for the zone number printed on your boarding pass and boarding when it's called.
  
  
• Have a great flight!
  
  
• When you get to your connecting airport, your first move should be to look for the information monitors again. Often, they'll even post connecting flight information right at your inbound gate - if so, you're in luck, but if not there should be monitors only a few steps away with flight listings.
  
  Find your gate number and follow the signs to get there. How rushed you are just depends on how long your layover is, but in almost all airports 45 minutes is enough time, and anything over an hour should give you plenty of breathing room.
  
  
• If something goes wrong or you miss your connection because your inbound flight was late, don't panic! Just find any airline employee and they'll be happy to point you in the right direction and get things fixed up for you.
  
  
• In the highly unlikely event you get stuck in a really bad situation, like severe weather or a cancelled flight - I recommend calling the airline while you wait in line to talk to a ticketing agent. You might get through faster and score a better route to your destination by being proactive. (This happens to me about once a year, and I fly 60+ segments - it's really not as common as you might think.)
  
  
• Board your second flight! Same as before...
  
  
• Arrive at your destination. Once you arrive, follow signs to "baggage claim and ground transportation". You'll walk past a TSA guard preventing people from walking in the exit, and you're done!
  
  
• If you checked bags, you'll reclaim them at a baggage carousel. There are usually signs assigning a carousel to a particular airline or flight, but in some small airports there may be only one or two carousels shared by everyone.

Hope this helps! If you have any more questions about the process, I'll be happy to revisit this post and fill in the gaps for you - just ask!

Enjoy your flight :)

This. So true - that's my favorite travel tip and I can't stress it enough. Some of my favorite travel memories have come from buying necessities I forgot, in fact.

I think the best example of this was my second trip to Tokyo. I flew there once in April, which is the most beautiful time of the year there - cherry blossoms in full bloom and beautiful, temperate weather. I loved it so much I went back a few months later, and I accidentally landed myself right in the middle of a humid, sticky summer day. With only jeans and long sleeve shirts.

Being a fairly tall guy (6'3+ish), finding shorts and a polo shirt that fit in Tokyo: not the easiest task :) But I loved wandering the city, ducking in and out of back alleys and multistory shopping complexes trying to track down something that worked. And now I have a favorite pair of cargo shorts and a great story to show for it as a souvenir.

Separately, I also own about five pairs of $8.99 Target sunglasses I've bought on trips. Never seem to remember to pack those when flying somewhere sunny... I've bought separate pairs in Texas, Virginia, Hawaii, and North Carolina, at -least-. (Fun fact - Seattleites buy more sunglasses per capita than anywhere else in the US. Sounds bizarre, until you realize that we lose them constantly because we rarely need them!)

I forgot to mention: If you are female, wear a comfy bra and carry supplies in case you-know-what shows up while you are on the plane.

You guys are the BEST! I'm so happy I found this site..you have helped me more than you know...I have my travel clothes all ready to go..wearing something comfy...no underwire..lol...slip on shoes...and the count down has begun..one week from today I'll be taking that first flight...I'm excited but still a little nervous..lol..I'm sure everything will be fine and you all have given me the best advice I could have gotten..

And last but not least, remember to write us a trip report on the proper subforum.

Keep Flyer Talk.. your reference.. close to access. Any questions look us all up.^

But, I'm sure you'll be fine.;)

To add my 2 cents to this, there is a lot of good advice in this thread, but I would specifically highlight two aspects that other posters mentioned.

1. Get to the airport early. There are many things that you need to do once you get there, but none of it is difficult if you have the time to do everything in a relaxed manner. People tend to make mistakes when they are rushed. And if you have a lot of extra time, don't worry, airports are interesting, particularly if you have never flown before.

2. Don't worry about forgetting anything. The only real essentials are your wallet and (if travelling somewhere where it will be required) your passport. Anything else that you forget can be purchased at your destination.

Those two factors are, in my view, the most important for keeping the stress levels down.

Have a great trip!

I want to thank everyone for all of the advice...tomorrow I will be taking this first flight and without all of your great advice I would truely be freaking out..I'm so glad I found this site and decided to ask questions...I think I'm ready and well prepared..I'll be sure and let you all know how everything goes...

Good luck, btw, if you post from your blackberry, can you work your formatting a little bit. It's kind of hard to read your post.

In case this comes up in a future search for someone, I would add one thing for a new flyer - go with a paper boarding pass. The intricacies of downloading the barcode and having it ready to go can add stress to the security process and/or hold up the line. The paper version is straightforward.

x2 for the don't hang out in front of the boarding area until your row/zone is called. Those people who do and block the way for those boarding are called "gate lice".

This is the only one I disagree with. I'm relatively tall for a woman (5'10") and look healthy and strong. I get asked all the time to help with people's bags. I'm not there to work for you. I make darn sure to only travel with luggage that I can lift by myself without asking for help. If you can't life the bag into the overhead, check it.

Now, the only exception is if you are a row or two ahead of me and when we land you bag is near my row. I will happily hand your bag up to you so you don't have to either swim against the tide or wait until the plane is empty to get your bag and I appreciate when others do the same. But that's because I was able to lift it myself originally