In April 2021, just when some of the borders were starting to open up again after the lockdown, I traveled solo to Istanbul.
I was about to be unemployed (after tendering my resignation), and going off on an adventure, but the immigration officials at the airport did not see it that way.
As far as they were concerned, I had all the red flags and the immigration officer had to call his superior.
It took about 10 minutes before I was finally let in.
The experience made me a hundred times wiser and I have traveled to over a dozen countries since then.
If you’re still having second thoughts about traveling abroad for the first time, it might help to know what to expect beforehand.
Here are 7 Things that Every First Time Traveler Should Know
1. Learn the airport procedures.
When I traveled for the first time, I struggled to understand everything that was going on at the airport and watched how everybody seemed to know what they were doing.
But believe me, many of those you will meet at the airport have no clue as well and this is ok. You don’t have to know everything, you just need to know how to read signs and be comfortable approaching strangers for directions.
Any international trip abroad will involve the steps below at the airport:
Pass through security checks.
You will see people putting their luggage on a conveyor belt to be scanned
by an x-ray machine. You may be asked to take off items like jewelry and watches to be placed on a tray and scanned as well.
Pay the travel tax.
I don’t really care to memorize where the kiosk for the travel tax payments
is at NAIA terminal 3. I just ask for directions or pay for this online ahead. There will be a fee when you pay online.
Check in at the airline counter.
I usually check-in online ahead before going to the check-in counter. You will still have to go to the check-in counter for international flights even if you already have a soft copy of your boarding pass.
Be ready with your ticket, passport and travel tax payment receipt, then look for the logo of your airline at the check-in counters. There will be screens on top of the check-in counters to give you information about the flight they’re serving.
Fill out the Departure form or do it online 72 hours before your flight.
This now takes the place of the Departure card which had to be filled out by hand.
By filling out the eTravel form online, a QR code will be generated which you can then present at the counters.
Go through passport check at the Immigration gate.
Immigration officials are stationed just before you enter the boarding gates. They will check your passport and determine the validity of your purpose for travelling.
2. There is no need to be anxious about immigration checks at the airport.
Would you believe there is an entire Facebook group dedicated to sharing horror stories about immigration checks at NAIA 3.
Immigration officials will ask why you're traveling, where you’re going, when you’re coming back and if you’re currently employed.
There is nothing strange or scary about these questions and obviously, they want to know that you will not be working abroad if you only carry a tourist visa.
Know that traveling solo, traveling while unemployed or traveling with no hotel booking are red flags.
To save you the trouble, always carry a Certificate of Employment or proof that you have a steady source of income in the Phils., roundtrip tickets, hotel booking, travel insurance that covers the duration of the trip, vacation leave approval if you can secure this, your company ID and your recent bank certification.
Of course, not everyone who travels is employed or has a business registration to show. If you’re traveling while unemployed, make sure to bring proof of funds such as bank certification and bank statements. If someone else is sponsoring you, bring an invitation letter stating your sponsor is shouldering the cost of your trip plus his proof of financial means.
Immigration officials are less suspicious if you travel as a family or booked your trip with a travel agency.
3. Flight schedules can change at any time.
So, check your flight schedule the day before your flight, on the day of your flight and even while you’re at the boarding gate.
This seems like common sense but you cannot believe how flight schedules can change abruptly at the last minute. I learned this lesson too late after we missed our flight to Japan while we were at the boarding gates.
The boarding gates seemed unusually quiet and we were literally the only ones there. That should have made us suspicious but it was an hour later when we realized that our flight time had changed and our plane had left without us.
We arrived at the airport 3 hours before the scheduled flight time but failed to listen to announcements and did not bother to check the flight monitors.
4. You need to buy a sim card or mobile data upon arriving at the airport abroad.
Unless you’re prepared to pay a huge phone bill, make sure to turn data roaming off from your phone and get a local sim card instead.
When you use your Philippine sim abroad, there are charges for both receiving and taking calls and texts.
In many cases, I usually buy the sim online ahead and just pick it up at the airport. Even if I would only be traveling for a few days, mobile data is one of the essentials I cannot do without when traveling abroad. I would literally be blind without it.
A lot of my confidence in traveling solo is because I know I will always find a way to navigate for as long as I have internet on my phone.
5. There is a transit hotel in NAIA terminal 3 just above the Immigration checkpoint.
I wanted to highlight this particular bit for travelers who don’t reside in Metro Manila but have to pass through NAIA for their trip abroad.
Instead of leaving the airport to stay at nearby hotels, you can just book a transit hotel within the airport itself.
The transit hotel is located just above the check-in counters and immigration gates at NAIA terminal 3, which means you don’t have to worry about arriving late at the airport. It’s also in the mall area so there are some lovely cafes and a spa just around the corner.
Wings Transit Hotel has lounges, rooms for two or a pod. I prefer the pod for sleeping and I stayed in this hotel on several of my trips.
6. Inside the plane and in a standard economy class layout, window seats are usually labeled A and F, while aisle seats are labeled C and D.
My sister and I used to fight over who gets the window seat on a flight.
A dozen flights later, we now prefer aisle seats and sometimes do not mind sitting apart for as long as we get aisle seats.
You won't believe how incredibly important it is to be seated in the aisle section if you're on an 8-13 hour flight.
If you choose your seat ahead when buying your ticket online, you will be asked to pay for it. But you could choose your seat for free when you physically check in with the airline staff at the airport. The exit row has the most leg room.
What I like to do is check in online first without choosing a seat, then just choose my seat when I’m at the airport.
7. You can use your Philippine ATM to withdraw cash from an atm abroad.
In many cases, this is also a cheaper option than buying foreign currency.
I have done them all, mostly buying foreign currency from NAIA when I was just starting to travel a few years back.
Later on, I realized it was actually cheaper to just use my debit card/credit or withdraw cash directly from the local atm of the foreign country I’m in.
My BPI card allows me to enable international withdrawal options via the app. I can easily turn this off too if I wanted to.
Whatever your bank is, you do need to confirm with them first that your ATM can be used abroad.
I like to have a bit of cash on me, even if I can just swipe my ATM for all transactions. There are some places that do not have POS machines, like small stalls in Kyoto, Japan or making payments for drivers in Bali.
In conclusion, there are obviously more things that you need to know about traveling for the first time.
Among others, you should check the weather of the country you’re visiting to make sure you pack the right kind of clothes; when carrying laptops,you will be asked to take this out of the bag and it will be placed in a tray separate from your other items, you might even be asked to turn the laptop on and off; getting to your terminal and boarding gates can involve 10 minutes of walking or more, etc…
To fully enjoy your trip, it helps to do a bit of research especially if you’re visiting a new country for the first time.
But, as a true traveler and explorer, the small accidents along the way are part of the adventure and it is ok not to be overly meticulous about the preparation.
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