My First Flight Experience
Flying from Chennai to Delhi
Flying through the air has been one of my biggest dreams since childhood. I mean, who doesn’t like the thrill of being on a plane? Having traveled to many destinations on my motorcycle, I used to daydream about “one day, I will travel in a plane, and it will be legendary.” To be frank, I had no realistic plan to make that dream come true, until one day when I didn’t want to miss an opportunity to visit North India.
Uttarakhand was my destination, and to reach there, Delhi is the only place where you can find the means of transport to get there. Being a full-time working person, I couldn’t afford to spend two days traveling by train to reach Delhi. So, I was left with no other option but to book a flight. Let me share some of my experiences on my first air journey and some tips for beginners who are flying solo for the first time.
Choosing your first airline
I literally have no idea about any airlines. I was lucky choosing a good airline service provider which is Vistara. This was recommended by my friend as he has experience traveling abroad with this flight provider. So choose which flight you think is best for you. If you are in India I would really suggest Vistara, Indigo, Airasia, Airindia. I used Skyscanner for booking my first flight to Delhi, 2 months prior to the journey. The earlier you book, the cheapest it gets. But it is not true in all aspects.
I didn’t know that I will be charged based on the seats I choose. Again this is also a factor in some airlines. Whereas Vistara didn’t charge an additional fee for choosing a window seat near the wing :).
The ticket from Chennai to Delhi costs 5500 rupees. Also as stated I will also be provided with streaming media and a free meal during the journey. This differs from airline to airline. The final fare is depending upon your choice of luggage weight, food, seat, and the day of booking
Arriving at the airport
After two months, the wait is over, the time has come for me to board the flight and fly above the clouds. But wait, it is not as easy as it sounds. You have to arrive at the airport on time. You will be notified by a web check-in by your service provider 48 hrs before your flight departure. You should complete the web check-in in order to receive a digital boarding pass. After you have received your E-ticket or digital boarding pass, you should have come across a term called “Boarding time” or “Gate closing time”. This is very different from the departure time. Boarding time is the time when the gates will open for you to board the flight. I really had no idea about this and thought that it is enough for me to arrive 5 mins earlier at the airport than the boarding time. Amidst the traffic and being my home just 8 km away from the airport, I arrived at 16.00 hrs to the airport whereas my boarding time is 16.30 hrs. Now it is time for me to play with terminal numbers. I really don’t know where the correct terminal is and I ended up walking from one terminal to another in order to be sure. So ask the security or other personnel to make sure you are in the right terminal
Passing the security check
In order for you to sit in your seat inside the plane which you always dreamed of, you need to pass through three tests. Being already confused, before entering the airport to figure out what to do next, you need to prove that you actually exist by showing your government identity proof.
After entering the airport you should be collecting your physical boarding pass first. But that’s not what you’ll do, you will be distracted. There are digital signboards here and there, showing some cool advertisements. There will be food shops that literally hypnotize you to come and eat. There will be people who speak different languages. There will be security guards with arms scouting the area. While you feel proud of yourself for getting inside the airport the first time, I forget to mention that there are also digital sign boards that will show your flight number and time of departure for you to panic.
Passing the security check — version 2.0
Before proceeding for yet another security check, you’ll be visiting your airline’s check-in counter to give them your baggage which you don’t want to carry with you inside the plane. Before doing that make sure any electronic gadgets or things related to batteries and electronics should be carried with you in your hand luggage. With a gentle smile, your airline’s staff will give your physical boarding pass and will mention you about gate number.
While wondering what’s that even about, it’s time for you to check if you have any explosives. If so throw it in the garbage before stepping further. There will be plastic trays traveling on a belt and then inside a big container. Yes, that container is the sole reason, you threw your explosive in the garbage. You have to place all the items you carry in hand, I mean everything including your belt, and say goodbye to your things for a short period. The security will scan your body for handguns or any ammo and asks for your boarding pass. After you get the trust of the security you will have time to check on other people’s things. I forget to mention that your things can take a diversion which can make things a bit messy. I usually carry a hydration bladder during my travel. The security haven’t seen that in his life, questioned me about its existence, and in order to win his trust, he made me drink half of the water in it. Thinking that everyone’s attention was on me, I won his trust embarrassingly.
Waiting for the golden gate to open
The golden gate is the last thing stopping for you to enter the plane you’ve always dreamed of. The gate number mentioned in the boarding pass is where you wait with your other fellow passengers. Getting to the gate number is easy and there will be directions for you to follow. From now on you can do anything with your time, if you have time. There will be lounges for you to rest, exotic shops, food shops, and a glass window to witness many majestic flights. I lost myself over there, admiring the planes landing and taking off. You can also charge your phone with the charging deck present nearby. Whilst watching the window, your dream plane shows by but doesn’t stop by your boarding gate. This means the plane hasn’t arrived yet. After some time a plane really stops by your boarding gate and all of a sudden you will feel super excited.
Getting inside a space shuttle
The staff will call you by the seat number, so make sure that you aren’t sleeping in the lounge. I was asked to show my ticket. The staff will scan it and let you through the golden gate. Right now your mind is about to get blown out. You get to see the full view of the plane. I wish I could do that all day. This is the moment I’ve been waiting for. I couldn’t even believe that I’m doing this and I am finally there. Have you seen movies related to space? The astronauts move from one shuttle to another using a linkage. I literally felt like that when entering the plane. To your left, you could see the pilots and the sophisticated cockpit. On your right, you could see rows of seats and the cabin crew.
The ambiance inside the plane was beautiful. There were business class seats in the front and there are economy class seats behind them. I happily settled down for my window seat, watching the rest of the airport and the airport workers doing their work.
A roller coaster ride to the sky
While being zoned out wondering if I actually ended up in that moment, the pilot announced that the plane was about to be taken off. The cabin crew nicely explained the safety measures. The engine started and the plane began to move to the runway. I felt like I was leaving something behind. I wanted to record the whole thing. I took my camera outside and started recording. I feared that the stewardess will notice and won’t allow that. It happened as I guessed but it was nice of her that she allowed it. For some time the plane halted. Then suddenly the engine started to give a bit more sound. The plane started to increase its speed gradually. My heart started to tell me that.
“This is not good. This is not good”
The airport passed by soon and at that exact moment, I felt like levitating. I am literally screaming and laughing out of joy, silently, so others don’t get scared. There are moments in your life where you don’t even want to end and this is the exact moment. It was like a roller coaster ride to the sky at 500 km/hr. The entire Chennai was visible and beautiful. My mind couldn’t process anything but the view.
Snack time above the clouds
Now you should come to your senses and believe that you are far from your home and you are above those beautiful puffy clouds. The sun was about to set and it was the golden hour. The stewardess provided me with pasta and water to eat. I binge-watched the sky while eating peacefully. After that I was provided with coffee and then by the finishing touch, the ice cream. The plane, the clouds, the sky, and the dessert. What more do I want than this perfect combination? To add more goosebumps to the moments, I put on some music, watched the cloud pass by like a little boy, which I always wanted, and ended up sleeping.
After some time I woke up and found that the sun didn’t set and it was glowing beautifully. It took me some time to realize that it was the moon glowing on the sun’s light. While freaking out again I started to capture the moment and again slept later. I woke up to the sweet voice of the captain’s announcement. He said that in 30 minutes we will land in New Delhi. Sooner the entire city of New Delhi appeared. The city lights were beautiful. The city was really big. It was an eye catchy moment, while the plane circled the new Delhi to land in one of the biggest airports in Asia.
