Airport check-in

Robert Swans is arriving at the airport to fly from Sidney, Australia to Nice, France. But he must first fly to Paris and then from Paris to Nice.

DIALOGUE

Ticket agent: Next in line, please. Checking-in, sir? And what’s your destination today, sir?

Robert: Nice, France, connecting from Paris. Is departure still at 11:45?

Ticket agent: Yes, indeed. Everything is on time today. Can I have your ticket and passport, please? Are you checking any baggage?

Robert: Yes, just one suitcase. But could you tell me what the international baggage allowance is? I think I might be over the limit.

Ticket agent: Thirty five kilos.

Robert: Could you, please place your suitcase on the scale, Mr Swans?

Ticket agent: Ok, that’s just under thirty four kilos, so you’ll be fine. And I see you have one carry-on bag. Here is a list of items that are prohibited in your carry-on baggage.

Robert: Sure. Could you tell me if the flight is very busy?

Ticket agent: It’s almost full but you’ll have no problem boarding. Your reservation is confirmed. And now, do you have a seating preference, window or aisle?

Robert: Well, I’d like an aisle seat near the front, if possible, so I can get off quickly in Paris. My connection is quite tight and I want to get through Immigration and Customs as quickly as possible.

Ticket agent: I see, your luggage is checked through in Nice but you still have to take it through Customs in Paris yourself. So, being first in line to Immigration probably won’t save you any time.

Robert: Well, I’ll try it anyway. So, I’d be grateful if you could put me on an aisle seat close to the exit.

Ticket agent: We certainly can. Ok, sir, you are in aisle seat 10C on Flight 405 departing from Gate 9 at 11:45. Here is your passport and boarding pass. And the gate is over to your left.

Robert: Thank you very much.

Ticket agent: Have a nice trip, sir.

Notes to the dialogue:

The ticket agent announces –“Next in line, please” - to tell the person waiting at the front of the line or queue to come to her counter. She then asks – “Checking-in, sir?” To check-in means to register your presence for a flight, or hotel, or even an event such as a conference.

Here are some examples how we can use the word check-in:

Hi, I’d like to check-in for the Paris Flight.

Check-in for international flights is in Terminal 4.

I need to check-in to hotel before the meeting.

After check-in, please, go to passport control.

The ticket agent asks Robert – “And what’s your destination today, sir?” A destination is the place where the traveler wants to go. The place where you leave from is called your point of departure. So, we go to a destination and leave from our point of departure. For example:

I’m going to Paris next week.

We will go to Sidney on Tuesday.

I left from Frankfurt at 6:00 PM but didn’t get to Munich till 10:00.

We call the area in the airport where you wait to get on a plane - the departure lounge and the area where you go to after getting off a plane - the arrival lounge. Lounge isa synonym to room, or waiting room in this case.

It’s very common when travelling by air to have to go to another city first and then change planes before going on to your final destination. This is called connecting. To connect means to change to another airplane in another city. So, Robert is connecting in Paris and then taking another plane to Nice. This is called connecting flight. Here are the examples how to use the expression connecting:

I have to connect in Hong Kong.

I have a connecting flight through Madrid.

We connect in Brussels and then fly on to Antwerp.

I missed my connecting flight in London so I was late for the meeting.

When the plane doesn’t depart or arrive on time we say the flight is delayed.

Sometimes you might want to take some of your baggage onto the plane. This type of baggage is called carry-on baggage.

Baggage allowance is the maximum weight of luggage a passenger can take without paying any extra charges. If your luggage weighs more than your baggage allowance -you are over the limit and you have to pay excess baggage charge.

A boarding pass is a special ticket that is printed when travellers check-in and which allows them to board or to get on the aircraft.

The expression the connection is tight means that there isn’t much time.

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