I saw a passing reference in Rick's Back Door book (a graffiti secion) about checking in in Europe..something about you don't look for your airline counter like we do here...what are we looking for? Any clues would be appreciated.
Posted by
St. Louis, MO (formerly, Windermere, FL)
340 posts
Grant,
I'm not sure what the posting you read was in reference to. In all of the airports we have been in (France, Italy, Germany, England, Austria) you would look for a airline counter as you do here. In most airports it is usually easy to find your airline and there are English speaking people everywhere to point you in the right direction if you get confused. Charles DeGaulle in Paris is a bit of a nightmare if you don't get the right terminal, though. So try to find out which terminal ahead of time if you are going through there. Hope this helps.
Lise
Posted by
Salem, Oregon, USA
2611 posts
When I left Rome, there was one long line for all international departures, no matter (apparently) what airline. From what I could tell, the lines queued based on departure time for each airline. Passports were checked upon entry to the airline counters; the airline staff came down the line collecting them, then returned them to you when you got to the entry point. Then you lined up to check in at the specific airline counter. After that you lined up for security. I was very glad I had left more than enough time before my flight (3 hours) because it took more than an hour to just get to the security checkpoint. I had a similar situation in Paris but it was more chaotic. When in doubt, ask someone official looking and DO NOT stand in any line unless you know you're supposed to be there (many people in front of me found this out too late).