Checking-in For Your Flight-It’s in the Bag

Checking-in For Your Flight-It’s in the Bag
Word Count:
550
Summary:
Arriving at the airport is the start of your vacation.  You can make it painful or painless.  It is all up to you.

Keywords:
bags, baggage, check, flight, flights, need, airlines, luggage, destination, go, change, change aircraft, different, sure, customs, airline

Article Body:
For domestic flights, ensure that you check in 2 hours before your flight time.  For international flights you should check in 3 hours early.  For either type of flights, make sure that you have all your documentation readily available.  You will need your ticket, proper identification, and for international flights, your passport and, if required, your visa.
Don't check in at the last minute. Even if you make the flight, your bag may not. If you miss the airline's check-in deadline, the carrier might not assume liability for your bag if it is delayed or lost. If you have a choice, select flights that minimize the potential for baggage disruption. The likelihood of a bag going astray increases from #1 to #4 below (i.e., #1 is safest): 1) nonstop flight 2) direct or 'through' flight (one or more stops, but no change of aircraft) 3) online connection (change of aircraft but not airlines) 4) interline connection (change of aircraft and airlines)
Check with the airline on luggage weight restrictions.  Different airlines and different classes of travel have different rules.  Be prepared to pay for excess weight. When you check in, remove straps and hooks from garment bags that you are sending as checked baggage. These can get caught in baggage processing machinery, causing damage to the bag. The airline will put baggage destination tags on your luggage and give you the stubs to use as claim checks.
Make sure you get a stub for every bag. Don't throw them away until after you get your bags back and you check the contents. Not only will you need them if a claim is necessary, but you may need to show them to security upon leaving the baggage-claim area. Each tag has a three-letter code and flight number that show the baggage sorters on which plane and to which airport your luggage is supposed to go. Double-check the tag before your bags go down the conveyor belt. (The airline will be glad to tell you the code for your destination when you make reservations or buy your tickets.)
Your bags may only be checked to one of your intermediate stops rather than your destination city if you must clear Customs short of your final destination, or if you are taking a connection involving two airlines that don't have an interline agreement. Be sure all of the tags from previous trips are removed from your bag, since they may confuse busy baggage handlers.
When you get off of the plane, check and see what conveyor belt your luggage will be circling on.  Ensure you pay attention and get your own bags.  Many bags look alike.  You may want to put some sort of identifying ribbon, tape, or band on your bags to make it easy to spot upon arrival.
If you have to go through immigration/customs, ensure that you do not open your suitcases until directed.  The immigration officer usually asks a few preliminary questions and determines if you get the “green line” or if you need further checking.  Cooperate with the security officer and it should only take a few minutes unless you have something illegal.  Be honest on the customs declaration form.  Telling lies can get you in some very big trouble.
Once you locate you bags and clear customs, it is time to start enjoying your vacation.

Are You A Newbie Going To Pattaya Thailand?

Are You A Newbie Going To Pattaya Thailand?
Word Count:
474
Summary:
If you are going to Pattaya, Thailand for the first time, you should learn from someone else's experience so you don’t make newbie mistakes.

Keywords:
pattaya, go, save, bars, save money, information, taxi, book, restaurants, money, questions, go pattaya-crazy, newbie, thailand

Article Body:
You have heard about Thailand for many, many years.  And your friends have gone to Pattaya and have told you stories that you just cannot imagine (even though they are true).  You have finally bolstered up the courage to travel half-way around the world to see if fantasy can be a reality.
Hopefully you have done your homework.  With the availability of the Internet, getting information is readily available.  But you have to hunt all over the place to find it.
You have to read the Bangkok Post and the Pattaya City News.  You have to hang out in the forums reading and asking questions.  You have to take the abuse from the old timers for the stupid newbie questions.  You read so many things that you head spins and you are trying to sort out what is true and what is BS.
You have enough to do with getting the plane ticket, passport, packing, and trying to remember everything.
What you need is a Newbie's Guide.  This book written specifically for you: the guy going to Pattaya for the very first time.  Even if you have been there before, you will still find some good info and save some money.
You can find out where to go and, more importantly, where not to go.  You will get recommendations on bars, go-go's, restaurants and hotels.
Find out how to get through Suvarnabhumi International Airport and to you waiting taxi with ease.  You even get a map of the airport.
You will also get trip reports.  These update the basic book with current information and day-by-day experiences of the author.
Think about it.  What would you rather do; fight through a mob of people and only to be ripped off by the taxi mafia, or have a driver waiting for you at half the price?
Do you want to waste time going to bars and restaurants that are the pits?  Do you know that you can get a hotel room for under $20 per night?  Have you decided where in Pattaya you will stay – north, central or south?
Why spend hours, days, or weeks searching all over the Internet when you can get all the information you need in one downloadable eBook.
The eBook will set you back $20 and you will save that much when you book your taxi with the email address I provide in the book.
You will save time and money knowing which bars to frequent and which restaurants to eat at.  You will save money booking your hotel online.
So, quit wasting your time surfing the 'net and pick up the eBook.  It will make your Pattaya vacation so much better.  Go crazy.  Go Pattaya Crazy.  Get the newbie's guie and save time and money.  Have a great holiday.
Be warned.  Once you go to Pattaya, you will be addicted for life.