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Check-in counter: “May I see your ticket and your passport or some kind of picture ID?”
Passenger hands ticket and passport or picture ID (often a driver’s license in the US) to check-in counter clerk.
C: “Has anyone, other than you, packed your bags or helped you pack?”
P: “No. I packed everything myself.”
C: “Have your bags always been in your possession or within you sight since you packed them?” (or 'since packing them’?)
P: “Yes.”
C: “How many bags are you checking in and how many pieces of hand luggage will you carry on board?”
P: “I’m checking in two bags and have two carry-on pieces of hand luggage.”
C: “Will your hand luggage fit into the overhead compartment or under your seat?”
P: “Yes.” (If they don’t, you’ll have to check them in and may have to pay extra for going over
the limit of two allowable pieces of luggage pieces to check-in luggage.”
C: “Please fill out these tags and put them on your hand luggage (counter attendant puts tape tags on the checked-in bags (with destination anagrams and ID numbers, then tears off the ID number tags and attaches them to your airline ticket. Check-in clerk attendant asks, “Would you like a window seat or an aisle seat?”
P: “I would like (prefer) and aisle seat, please.”
C: (Fills out boarding pass and puts it with ticket, passport, and ticket folder). “This is your boarding pass with your seat number. You will need to show your boarding pass to security and to the attendant at the gate before boarding your flight (plane). Your seat assignment is 32-C (row 32, seat C). This is a long flight and about halfway through the flight, you will be served dinner. About two hours before landing, you will be served breakfast.”
P: “Do they sell duty free items on the plane?” (They do this on international flight)
C: “Yes. The flight attendants (stewardesses/stewards) will come around to take orders from passengers about two hours after dinner is served.”
P: “Do they sell duty free perfumes, cameras, or watches on this flight?”
C: “No. Not on this flight. They sell only cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, liqueurs, and wines, but no FRA perfumes, Swiss watches, German or Japanese cameras. You will be boarding at Gate B-13. Please go through security over there (points in direction of security) and follow the signs to Gate B. Have a nice flight.”
P: “Thank you.” (You walk to security, places carry-on luggage on its side on the conveyor belt going through the scanning device. Hand your cameras to the security guard (who examines it to see if this is a real camera or a weapon). Take out all metal objects from pockets or handbag, put them in a basket (that is used for that purpose) then pass through metal detector. If the metal detector alarm goes off, not panic. Just go back through the metal detector and make sure all keys, coins, or anything metal has been removed from your pockets. After passing through the metal detector, be sure you pick up all your things up from the basket.
Warning: Watch your hand luggage coming out of the scanning device on the conveyor belt. Many times thieves steal luggage at this point as there are thieves traveling one the airlines as well. Also, airline security is not to be trusted either.
Proceed (follow signs) to Gate B. Gate B will be a long corridor with gate numbers 1 to 60 or more. Gate numbers on one side are odd and even numbers on the other side. There will also be restaurants, stores with clothing, books, toys, souvenirs, toilets, and duty free stores. The duty free stores often charge more than you would pay in most stores in the United States.
If you go to the toilet, be sure to take your hand luggage with you.
At Gate B 13, there will be a counter showing all the flights leaving from that gate. Be sure your flight number is listed they can switch (change) your gate without notifying the check-in counter. If the flight is delayed, the board will show: “flight delayed” with a new time.
You may ask, “What’s the hold-up?” (Hold-up means 'delay’).
When the plane arrives, the jet way will be extended and connected to the plane. After passengers arriving on this plane have left, a cleaning crew will clean the plane before you board. About twenty minutes before departure, the personnel at the counter will announce, “Flight 845 for Los Angeles is now ready to board. Passengers with children or needing assistance will board first.” After that, “Passengers in first ?class may board now. In a few minutes we will be calling for passengers in rows 60 to 90 to board.”
This is to get these passengers sitting in the back seats to get on the plane first so that the forward seated passengers putting up luggage into the overhead compartments will not block the aisle of the plane. Then the gate personnel will announce, “Passengers in rows 30 to 59 will board now,” and finally passengers sitting in just back of first class will board.
Gate personnel (in the US and Europe may announce) stand-by passengers please wait. We do have some last-minute cancellations and 'no-shows’, so there may a seat fir you.”
Vocabulary:
seat assignment aisle visa passport exit window boarding pass
flight attendant steward stewardess emergency duty free goods first class
ticket counter clerk tags metal detector toilet stand-by carry-on luggage
overhead compartment jet way boarding pass assistance proceed to security
conveyor belt check-in picture ID halfway passengers scanner devic
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