It is vital to get this right, even if it means earring on the side of safety and being early. Remember that catching a flight in the nick of time may leave you with a short-lived feeling of relief as your check-in baggage may not be checked in on time!

Travel Time to the Airport

Travel time to the airport can vary greatly depending not only on the distance to be traveled, but also the time of day, traffic conditions and weather.

What should be a 35-minute trip from a downtown hotel in Bangkok to the airport can turn into a three-hour nightmare in peak-hour traffic. I once spent an enjoyable evening with a group of people at a hotel bar in Bangkok; it was their last evening in Thailand and they were to return to Europe the next morning. The following evening, I met them at the bar again, but they were not in such high spirits this time. They had spent three-and-a-half hours trying to get to the airport, not at peak hour, but in a heavy downpour that slowed traffic down so much that they missed their flight.

Traffic snarls on the way to Heathrow in London and JFK airport in New York can make for equally bad delays as can long, slow-moving immigration queues at the airport. So make sure you allow adequate time. It is actually not such a problem to arrive at an airport a little early- there is always some shopping possibility, or the opportunity to relax with a snack or drink at a restaurant or bar, free of tension.

Do not forget to have some local currency with which to pay the airport tax. It can be quite inconvenient having to wheel the trolley to a bank counter to change currencies while keeping an eye on bags, wallet and watch so that you do not miss the flight. Airport taxes vary from country to country but are usually in the range of US$5 to US$10.