Airport Travel hacks you should know before you book cheap international flight tickets

If you are a first-time traveler, you should arrive early at the airport check-in counter. In Indian airports, counters are typically open three hours before foreign flights for travelers who usually;y choose cheap international flight tickets and closing one hour before departure.

Because all foreign passengers must go through immigration and customs clearance before the security check, it is best to arrive at least two and a half hours before the flight to ensure that the aforementioned clearances proceed well.

Regular travelers may usually report half an hour before the counter closes since most of them will not have any big luggage or issues at the immigration desk, and most of them buy their seats in advance, which will be held until the counter closes.

You’ve packed your luggage, gathered your travel paperwork, and are ready to fly with affordable flight tickets to India. But how early should you arrive at the airport? Even the most seasoned travelers have had their fair share of difficulties rushing to catch a flight or arriving too early and being trapped in a terminal for hours.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recommends arriving two hours before a domestic flight and three hours before an international flight; “those are just general times.”

When should I arrive at the airport to catch an international flight?

There are more possible delays to making an international flight on time since there are fewer routes, a higher likelihood of needing to check a bag, and passports and visas required. According to Duncan of Hartsfield-Jackson, a traveler’s best chance is to contact the airline, “since they may have more information that affects travel” than the airport or TSA.

Check-in is required at least 60 minutes before most overseas flights on both United and American Airlines offering you cheap international flight tickets. Each airline has a list of routes, destinations, and airports that demand an earlier check-in or arrival at the gate (for example, a flight from Dublin to the United States), so be sure to check ahead of time.

When flying outside of the United States with cheap last minute flights deals, we recommend that you arrive at least 3 hours before your flight. You must arrive at least one hour before your planned departure time. In addition, we recommend arriving at the gate 45 minutes before your planned departure time and being ready to board.

With TSA precheck availability

Certain advantages, like using TSA PreCheck or checking in online, are frequently unavailable while traveling overseas. To be safe, airlines recommend arriving three hours before departure time. While you may not need a coronavirus test to leave the country, note that returning needs verification of a negative COVID test result before boarding, which may cause extra delays. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the epidemic is generating significant delays at airports across the world. “Before COVID-19, travelers spent around 1.5 hours each voyage in travel processes (check-in, security, border control, customs, and baggage claim),” the organization claims. When travel resumed this spring, peak-hour airport processing delays quadrupled to three hours.

Without TSA PreCheck

If you do not have TSA PreCheck, you should allow additional time to go through security screening and arrive at the airport 2.5-3 hours early for foreign flights. You won’t have to travel through any border controls before leaving the United States, so once you’ve cleared security, it should take you the same amount of time to get to your gate as it would for a domestic trip.

Immigration Exit

When flying on an overseas aircraft, keep in mind that most nations will need you to go through a passport check and acquire an exit stamp. This is not how it works when you leave the United States, so be prepared to go through passport control when you pass through security. This might be a lengthy procedure, depending on the flight schedule of the airport you’re traveling from and the efficiency of the employees.

Additional precautions and proof of a negative COVID-19 test

When flying to the United States from another country like India with cheap flights to USA from India, you will face additional security checks. This implies you may be needed to pass through two security checkpoints: one general checkpoint and another either at the gate or before a set of gates designated for US-bound planes. And, regardless of vaccination status, you’ll want to be at the airport at least 2.5-3 hours early to present documentation of a negative COVID-19 test done within 72 hours of your U.S.-bound flight’s departure.

Have a safe journey

Don’t make the mistake of assuming that if your plane is ready to depart, airlines or fellow passengers will always allow you to get to the head of the security queue. Not only can such assistance be flatly denied, but we’ve also received letters from readers who ran into this issue, some of whom intended to arrive at the airport moments before the check-in cutoff but were unable to do so due to hotel-shuttle snafus, insufficient airline staffing, flat tires, traffic jams, or other issues. They were denied any option to move forward in the security queue, missed their flights, and were forced to pay exorbitant change costs or, in some cases, purchase new tickets.

You should arrive at least two hours early for foreign flights when you have booked cheap international flight tickets. Depending on the airport and the circumstances of your trip, you may want to arrive up to four hours early. It’s safer to be vigilant than late, after all.

Hope you found this article informational regarding timings to reach the airport before your international flights. Keep these points in mind when you order your flight tickets to have fun and adventurous travel.