The International Air Travel Guide

Many of us would be aspiring to work overseas or might be having close friends travelling overseas on employment. Trust me, there would be a thousand questions that would puzzle you before you travel. You can have cold feet as you near the travel date. One might feel a bit shy to bother the employer with too many questions thinking it would be a trouble for them. This is a humble attempt to address few of those questions.  This post may not address all the concerns but I am happy to respond to any particular questions you might have that is not covered below. Please take this as an attempt to help first time travelers.

Bank 

1. Convert your bank accounts to NRI/NRO. Your bank, on submission of your VISA copy should be able to convert your existing savings account to an NRO account and open a new NRE account for you. If you wish to avail yourselves of an international debit card please do it well in advance, it might take a bit of time to receive the card and PIN. Having an international debit card will help you immediately after your arrival in foreign land.
2. Activate online banking, OTP should not be mobile number based. Hardware token or an app installed in smartphone are the best options.
3. Collect from your bank all details needed to remit money to your account from overseas. This can be available online but it is better to have it with you.
4. Leave some signed cheques with someone trustworthy. You never know when it might come handy. But do this at your own risk, we never know if our trust on anyone was rightly placed till it’s broken.
5. Reschedule the date of standing instructions and EMI etc. to new NRO accounts and fix dates around the expected salary time.
6. People generally get confused about why we need NRE/NRO accounts and keep an idea that it’s to save tax on the foreign income that you have to open an NRE account. That’s not the case. Opening a non-resident account is a requirement as per Foreign Exchange Management Act. It’s a much more serious law than the tax laws. Your foreign income is tax exempt even if you receive it in your normal savings account. But failing to notify your bank within a reasonable time about change of your residential status is a serious offence under FEMA and you may end up in jail for that reason.

Baggage

1. Be sure about the hand luggage regulations, do not carry restricted items such as shaving cream scissors etc. in hand luggage.
2. Different airlines got different baggage regulations, please check it online from their respective websites. There will be limitation on overall weight of the baggage, on maximum weight of individual pieces of the baggage and on maximum weight and volume dimensions (length, height etc.) of hand baggage.
3. There is a general misconception that the weight of hand luggage does not include weight of the laptop. Trust me it is inclusive.
4. The luggage regulations are very important, and no matter how busy you would be before travel, please carefully read through it. It is not something like a software license agreement that you scroll down and just blindly click and accept. A lot of people at the check in counter will serve as testimony for this. You will see them unpacking and throwing stuff to dustbin to comply with luggage regulations.
5. Excess baggage is billed at a heavy tariff and it’s not worth paying for it unless you are smuggling diamonds. If it’s unavoidable for you to limit the luggage to the available quota, buy additional luggage allowance from the airlines in advance. This will be comparatively cheaper than paying at the check in counter. Buy a weighing scale as you prepare to travel for the first time itself. You will be using it many times in the future when you come for your annual leaves and return.
6. Make sure that all your check-in baggage is locked and the keys are kept in your hand luggage. An ideal way is to use quality number locks. If you are using number locks change the default 000 combination to another number. In all combination locks there is an option to change the combination number. Using 000 is as good as not locking it at all.
7. If you ever see how the ground handling crew handle your luggage, you may decide not to send any check in luggage at all. It is seriously thrown up and down when they load or off-load it. If you have connecting flights, it’s even worse. So as far as possible, do not pack anything fragile. If you have something fragile in the luggage, paste a big fragile sticker across the bag and also request the airline staff at check in counter to add a fragile tag to the luggage. The luggage can get exposed to rain also if there is a connecting flight or if there's heavy rain at the time of landing.
8. You might find helpless fellow travelers going to the same final destination pleading with you to accommodate in your baggage a small bag of their luggage. Please do not entertain this request even if it’s a pregnant lady asking you to help her with carrying a few month’s supply of baby food. If any illegal material is found in that baggage, you may not even get an opportunity to explain yourselves.
9. If anyone gives you a package to carry with you through friends or relatives, please open that package, make doubly sure that it will not land you in any trouble. A polite refusal may not always be practically possible in such cases, but you can always insist to open the package and carefully examine it.
10. Remember to carry basic toiletries such as tooth brush, comb, towels, soaps etc in your check-in luggage as you will need it overseas on the day of landing itself.
11. There is an option always available to add part of your hand luggage allowance to check in luggage. If you are travelling in a group, make use of this. It’s also advisable to use trolley bags for hand carry as well, but be within the dimension limits. Airports at times involve long walks and carrying the luggage on a shoulder bag would be tiresome.
12. You will be confident that you will be able to identify your bags at the destination. But what you need to consider is there can be another person bringing the same type of bag and he may just accidentally pick your bag and go with it. By the time you realise it, it would be a while. So keep some visible tags or stickers on your bag to identify it from similar bags, not only for your benefit but for others who are bit too casual about this.

Check in process 
Be sure of immigration procedure and documents should be taken along with copies- just in case if they want to keep a copy. Immigration requirements would differ from country to country. Be patient throughout this painful procedure, ignore trouble makers and people in rush – you will find people skipping queues and behaving very ill mannered, do not lose temper to anyone, no need to argue to anyone. If anyone needs to be explained anything, please do it with a smiling face and keep the tone as polite as possible. This is a pain everyone goes through to travel overseas. The tension and stress or waiting long hours and the process as such would get better of most people. I have seen even very seasoned travellers freak out. The normal order of check in procedure is as follows.

1. Gate – you will be asked to show passport and ticket. Keep these ready. They will check the basic details and your identity and let you inside the terminal. In some of the airports people accompanying you may be allowed to come with you to the visitors waiting area. I personally feel there is no need for anyone to accompany you beyond this point. They have been with you all these years and few more minutes are not going to make a big difference.
2. Luggage screening, tagging security to all check in baggage. There may be different screening points for different airlines. At times it may not be required, you may walk direct to check in counter. At some airports you need not put your hand luggage through for the initial screening at others you may need to screen all luggage including hand carry also.
3. There will be people offering to wrap luggage with a white plastic cover. This will look very cute with their wrapping machine and all. It is a waste of money if all your luggage is already nicely packed.
4. Check in at airlines counter. These counters open 3 hours prior to the scheduled departure time and shall remain open till its only one hour for the take off. If you don’t manage to reach this point on time you have missed the flight even though the plane is still on the ground. Reach the counter at least with two hours to departure time.
5. Drop off unaccompanied (check in) luggage, and collect boarding pass and luggage slips. They will require you to present your VISA also. Remember to collect enough security tags of your airline for each piece of your hand luggage. This will be needed at security check. Be behind the yellow line at all queues, when you are the next person to be attended.
6. If you are a first time overseas traveler option to online check in better be avoided. Check in at the counter by standing in the queue. Advantages of checking in online is that you will get to choose your seat and there can be a dedicated counter for baggage drop off for passengers checked in online but it is really meant for people experienced with air travel.
7. Some of the airline staff at the counter can be very unfriendly and reluctant to accommodate your requests. There is no point in getting upset with them. Neither they own the airline nor can they help everyone with all the requests they get (say for a window side seat). If what you are asking is possible they would do it right away, they have no favorites. All passengers are just the same for them.
8. Before immigration, fill in the form and be prepared for some mild interrogation. If you have a VISA and offer letter, overseas accommodation details and other minimum documentation you should be fine (be behind yellow line till your turn). Most cases you may get an immigration declaration form from the airline check in counter itself with the flight number stamped on it. If you don’t get it from there no need to worry, there will be plenty available on a table on the way to the immigration counter. Double check they stamped exit on the passport.
9. After immigration you can keep all the documents except the boarding pass and passport safely inside. You will only need passport and boarding pass from this point on till you reach the immigration counters of destination airport. You are now officially outside India.
10. Security check. Be very patient with them and remember to carry your boarding pass and passport with you, do not send it through the scanner. They will stamp your boarding pass (be behind the yellow line till your turn). They may need you to remove the laptop or other electronic equipment from the baggage and place it on a separate tray. It’s very important to give attention to the requirements of the security check and go through it patiently. One of the main reasons our flights seldom run into hijacking scenarios is the efficient security checks we have. For any air traveler security checks are the biggest pain on international travel. Try to travel with shoes with no laces and metallic parts, no wrist watch, no belts, no chains, minimum/no ornaments for women, avoid jackets, avoid caps etc. Before security check put wallet, etc. in hand bag and send it through the scanner. Laptop in most cases would be required to be sent separately on security check, when packing keep it in hand bag in a convenient way to be removed otherwise you may have to empty all the hand baggage to get the laptop outside.
11. Duty Free – no need to look that way.
12. Waiting area – be watchful with your luggage. If left unattended they will be removed. Use toilets at the lounge if needed. Toilets on the plane are crammed and with no water.
13. Boarding gate. Keep your boarding pass ready for cross-checking.
14. If you report about two and a half hours before the departure time, you should have enough time to complete all these process. Also note that if it’s not a rush hour you can be through in about 20 minutes also. So there is a good chance that you might reach the boarding gate with more than 2 hours to wait for the boarding to begin. But once you are at the waiting lounge you are through with the most painful part (excluding the flight) and you may just and relax.
15. Flight. The worst travel experience, be prepared. The airline crew is not as sweet as they seem to be in  movies. They are not even as beautiful. Do not plan on drinking the free foreign liquor too much if it’s your first flight. On your later flights please help yourselves and get a good sleep. In another post, another day perhaps I will share my experiences with various airlines.
16. Ears may pain for few people on flight take-off and landing, it’s usual and no need to worry about it. You will be just fine in few minutes. Ear plugs and chewing gums might help in some cases for me just enduring it is the best way to handle it.
17. Try not to put your hand baggage anywhere behind from where you are sitting. Please find a head rack to the front of your seat. As soon as the flight lands everyone will stand up for no reason. They may just keep standing for about 20 minutes till you are cleared to proceed to the doors. Then they will just move forward with their hand baggage though the narrow path between seats. You will not be able to reach your hand luggage even if it’s just one raw behind.
18. If you want to keep a book or an iPad with you to use during the flight, remove it from the hand carry and keep it with you before you put the hand bag in luggage rack. Once it is put there it is a pain to open and remove things.
19. If your plane go under a big turbulence or shake heavily when in air it’s not falling down. It is very common. Just the same as your car hitting a pot hole on the road. Unless oxygen mask come out there is no reason to worry. Just keep the seatbelt on and stay at your seat.
20. Follow the airline crew instructions with respect to seat belts, keeping the seat upright on taxi and take off, switching of communication devices etc. When food is served (mostly at odd hours) chances are high that they may not have what you like the most. If you want a particular meal (say vegetarian) you have to pre-book it. You can do it when (if) you are doing online check in with some of the airlines or else the agency that issued the ticket can do it for you at no extra cost. Pre booking a special meal will not cost anything extra and another advantage is they will serve you first. You will not have to wait for that trolley to slowly reach you.
21. Before leaving the plane check your seat pockets and make sure you have left nothing there.

At Transit airport 

1. If you have a very long transit be prepared for some boring hours. At transit airports you have nothing much to do than just waiting.
2. After you leave the plane make sure you follow the direction arrows for the transit passengers.
3. If you can get a lounge access it might help. But these are expensive places to be at. By the time you are a frequent flier these will come free to you. Paying for a lounge entry is not worth it if you are a youngster willing to take a bit of trouble.
4. In most cases you will get boarding pass for your connecting flights also from the original departing check-in counter itself. If you haven’t gotten it please go the check in counter and collect it showing your ticket and passport.
5. In some cases, you may have to collect your luggage from the transit airport and check it in again. This will happen in two situations mainly. The first one is if one of your connecting flight is a domestic flight and the other international. For example, if you are flying from Mumbai to Cape Town, via Johannesburg. After your Mumbai Johannesburg flight you will have to go through the immigration process collect luggage and check it in again at the domestic check in counter. In this case you should not be using the transit gate also. For all practical purposes treat the two flights as two separate journeys that will save me a lot of explaining. (If you are travelling Kochi-Mumbai- Joburg- Cape town, that is a domestic connection at origin and another at destination. My prayers are with you). The second situation is if your connecting flight is after 24 hours and there is another flight with the same flight number as your connecting flight leaving earlier than that. In this case you may also be required to have a transit VISA so that you can go out and collect the baggage, stay there overnight and come back on the next day.
6. The biggest question about transit is what if I miss the connection? If the flight is missed on account of late arrival of your previous flight, it will be a very simple situation. They will send you on the next available flight. The airline will give you a VISA and accommodation at the transit place if the next flight is after a long time. They will give you food vouchers as well. You will be completely taken care of. Even in other cases the airline will get you a flight to the destination. The only difference would be if it’s your negligence that caused you to miss the flight, in some cases you may have to pay for your connecting flight and they may not give you free food, visa or accommodation.
7. If you miss the connection, hold dear your luggage tags. More often than not your luggage may not be travelling with you once you miss a connection. At destination airport you will have to show these tags to lodge a lost baggage claim. The baggage will eventually reach you provided you keep those tags safe.
8. Boarding gates can suddenly change at busy airports and they can be very far away too. You cannot check it 5 hours before and just relax at 10 minutes walking distance to gate. So please reach the boarding gate in advance. In airports like Dubai it can take more than 30 minutes to go from one gate to another far away gate. In Kochi it can take about 4 minutes.
9. In some of the transit airports they have security checks so prepare to go through that trouble too.

At Destination Airport

1. Many of the airlines will assist you with arrival declaration forms of the destination country when you are still in air doing nothing. Please fill it immediately after you receive it and keep it with your passport.
2. Be seated till the doors are open, no need to stand for 20 minutes till business class and first class guys are out.
3. There should be two gates, one for arrival and one for transit, use the arrival one if it’s your final destination or use the transit gate for connection flights.
4. Duty free – best be skipped if it’s your first flight. In few airports duty free can be after the immigration.
5. Immigration - If you did not get the arrival declaration form from the flight grab one and fill it quickly.
6. There will be separate queues for nationals and foreign passport holders. Find the right queue and join.
7. If you already have a visa (employment visa) questions will be minimal. But if you are entering the country with a visit visa and planning to get a work permit (visa) after you reach the country there will be difficult questions. This is one thing you must discuss openly and in detail with your prospective employer upfront. There is no need to panic if they appear to be interrogative and rude. Just keep your calm and stick to the song your employer told you sing. In this situation a sim card with roaming facility is priceless to have.
8. Baggage collection. Look for the carrousel that shows your flight number. Make sure all pieces are collected and all are yours. Many times bags can be identical.
9. Customs – usually there will be a green channel that you may use.
10. Exit gate.

Other Points

1. No need to pack so much of food, every Indian food item is plenty available at most overseas cities but medicines are not. So take with you at least 6 months’ supply of medicines you routinely take. In very rare cases these medicines could be illegal in your destination country. Get a general understanding if the use is banned or it’s only the sale is banned. Take the prescription notes along with the medicines if the use is not banned. Overseas you might find other variants of same medicine but may not exactly the same.
2. Passport should have sufficient number of blank pages and minimum 12 months remaining validity.
3. If the country of arrival needs any vaccination certificates, please carry those. Some of these vaccinations should be taken a month in advance.
4. Carry some passport photos of you to use in case of application filling. Some stamp size and some normal passport size.
5. Carry your original certificates, marriage certificates, birth certificates etc. with you but leave attested copies back at home.
6. If you want to retain your phone line, convert it to post-paid and activate international roaming. Once in a while (3 to 6 months) put it in a phone overseas to show some activity
7. Have an idea upfront how to make phone calls from your destination/transit airports. You could face challenges and get stranded.
8. Foreign currency. Ideal to buy currencies of your destination country for about one month’s use. It will be hard for you to manage without local currency in any country. Exchange agencies/banks may not be accessible easily. You may feel uncomfortable to borrow from friends also. Buy forex from your bank or Thomas cook/UAE exchange etc. At airport they will loot you with bad rates. So never plan to buy forex from airport counters. Once you have enough forex with you a lot of things become manageable.
9. Pre-arrange the meals of day of arrival at foreign country.
10. Power plug points are different in different countries so keep a multi-pin travel adapter with you for phone, laptop etc.
11. Ornaments- when you take it out from India ideal to do some documentation with the customs post at the departing airport or else you will end up paying duties when you re-import. That is only if you are taking too much gold with you. In African countries it’s not safe to use ornaments. Unless you really cannot avoid it avoid taking any ornaments abroad.
12. Modify your contacts list on phone by adding +91 as prefix (remove first zero) to all numbers that you would like to use in future. This is a painful task, but if it’s done onetime and synced to your email contacts list then for future use you have a lot of ease.
13. Try to get a SIM card overseas in advance using your local contact overseas (ideally the person who come to pick you from airport should bring it). Activate some data package also for immediate use. This will be very handy. Borrowing phone repeatedly is an odd feeling and roaming calls on you Indian line is expensive. Also remember to keep your mobile fully charged before take-off and switch it off immediately before flight take off.
14. Carry one or two pens. There will be forms to fill at departing airport and destination airport. You may not get anyone to lend you a pen easily.
15. Join for your flight loyalty program online before you fly. (frequent flier program). The airline miles can be handy in future.
16. Carrying Indian currency with you is not legal although nobody seriously would check you to see if you are in possession of currency notes.
17. Keep with you the contact details of Indian embassies or our consulates at the destination. In my experience I have not heard of them assisting anyone who gotten in to trouble abroad, unless say a war break out. On the other hand, if you have contact details of the Malayali association or Indian association committee members or chairmen, they are more likely to come to your rescue should you get in to any trouble. But this cannot be a general rule there can be exceptions.

Conclusion 
There are many other aspects you may need to worry about such as what are the key considerations you have to keep in mind while going through your offer letter, what enquiries should one conduct about the future employer, what would be the key cultural aspects that you need to be mindful of when travelling overseas etc. Let’s cover those in another post. I also request the fellow members to contribute to this post by sharing their experience and wisdom on the subject.
In a few words what can be said is, if you can manage your luggage as per the norms and go through the whole process with a lot of patience, politeness and avoid rushing for anything, the international journey is a cake walk.