Today’s primary Tip for Travelers regards traveling on planes from foreign countries to other foreign countries if you are an American because, well, that’s what happened to me. “Write what you know”, they say (who are “they”, anyway?) and, boy, I now know a LOT about this subject. Also, our panel today (consisting of me) will discuss how to get out of the USA if you don’t have an easy round trip ticket.

I’ll start with the second, since it happened first. Had to leave America before I could deal solely with destinations and departure points that didn’t match my passport, right? Right.

1) Be prepared to show every ticket every time

I went to SFO International and discovered that you can’t just walk up to the counter anymore and show them your ticket and passport to get a boarding pass. In this post 9/11 world there is a uniformed guard at the start of the line maze that examines all your documents before you even approach the counter. Mostly he just waves people through after a quick glance, because he only checks a couple things on the ticket and matches the name to the passport. He’s just one of many layers of security, after all. So I thought I would sail through too. My ticket raised some read flags for him, though, and he brought me up short.

He wanted to know, first off, why I wasn’t coming home. They become suspicious if you don’t have a return flight booked. I said I was returning, just from the other side of the planet, and he asked for the proof. At first I just took out the one that brought me home from NZ, but that wasn’t enough for him, so I took out all 7 or so (one for every leg of the journey) and he examined each in detail. That satisfied him that I wasn’t fleeing.

It makes me wonder, though, what they would do if you were planning on moving to another country and so didn’t have return plans? Would you have to show some kind of residency visa? What if you’re like some young people who just hop on a plane and travel as long as the money lasts, and then return home from whichever country they may be in at the time? I don’t know anyone personally who did that but I know it happens. How do they get past mister uniform? Does he just decide if he believes them? Maybe if they have one of those frame backpacks they get some slack. I met this guy on a plane who had been roughing it in south east Asia since before the tsunami (though he was actually in China when it hit as I recall, so he wasn’t directly involved, but he did see the devastation later) and he told me that being a young cute college guy (he didn’t say cute, but he was, and that is bound to help) with a frame backpack eased entry into and out of lots of countries. Maybe it works for the US too. I had an actual suitcase, which was fairly small, so perhaps the ticket inspector thought I couldn’t go around the whole world with just that.

Back to the uniformed guy - he still gave me the impression that he felt I could be a security risk, though. When I asked why he said it was because I had paid for the ticket by check. This surprised me, because I had worked with the travel agent by the ‘net, phone and fax, so I had given them a credit card. I guess terrorists don’t have credit cards and are more likely to pay with cash.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but the ticket actually had been paid with by check. My credit card payment was a lump sum for all the tickets. The agency worked with its partners all over the world to get the best deals and paid them by check. Since I didn’t know this and was not yet the savvy round the world traveler, it took some discussion to get past him. After a bit though he seemed satisfied, and even explained what his concerns had been so I would be prepared in the future. So it all worked out OK. Made me a bit nervous, though.

2) Get your bags checked all the way through

This is the greatest invention since peanut butter. I found out that, even if you are switching airlines (like jumping on a separate commuter airline to get from London to Dublin after flying from SFO), the original airline can check your bags all the way to your final destination of the day.

Is this common knowledge? Because I certainly didn’t know. I knew if you were making a connecting flight with one airline they could take care of your bags. I just didn’t realize that all the airlines and airports worked together and could handle your bag till the end. Even if you sit in an airport in Taiwan for 4 hours (as I did. Nice place, Taipei. Has a meditation room. It’s in the business center, across form the conference room and near the kid’s playground) and get on a completely unconnected flight, you still don’t have to touch your bags. It’s great! Such a time saver!

As I understand it, this is possible because the baggage handlers work for the airport, not specific airlines. So it is just a matter of directing your bag to the right chute as it comes off the plane. Excellent service, especially if you have to make a connection at Heathrow, which is practically its own town. Gigantic! Take the bus between terminals, and then walk forever, and this is even if you already have a boarding pass for your next flight! If you don’t it takes even longer. So the less you have to do, the better. Always remember to tell the ticket lady where you plan to sleep that night, not where the ticket says you land.

3) Tell them you are American so you can keep your bag

I found this out in Japan. I mentioned in the “News Bulletin” entry how the airlines flying out of Narita Airport, Tokyo, allow US citizens to have heavier bags. Well, this is true in New Zealand too. There, though, the rule is if the plane land in North America, each suitcase for everyone on the flight can be a full 12 kilograms above the usual limit. On all other flights they charge at least 10 NZ dollars for each kilogram over the weight limit. On certain routes they charge 20. They must work it in to the ticket price for North America.

What does this say about America and the international perception of us? Is everything bigger in America, not just our cars and houses but our clothes and suitcases, so we get to slide through? Are we compulsive consumers and need to cart all our stuff along with us? Or do they just think we are fat and so need bigger clothes? Does the FAA (or whoever) negotiate more lenient terms with the international flying community than other countries? Are we just a big bully and somehow require everyone in the world to let us have heavy bags? When I left the US they just popped my bag on the plane as is, but in every other airport it got a big red “HEAVY BAG” tag. And it was not even the biggest suitcase we own! It can’t be because the rest of the world is on the metric system, while we are still on the…ok just did a cursory search of the web to confirm my suspicion that the system used in America is officially called the English system, after where it originated. Found out that UK web sites (they not only have the ending uk.co but also use the word “whilst” so you know they are British) are quick to point out that the systems have diverged over time and the UK has tried to adopt the metric system, though as is noted, beer is still sold in pints. They call what we use the US system, because we (meaning the US and assorted territories) are the only people who still use it. So as I was saying, it is not because they use kilograms and we use pounds, because a pound is actually almost twice as heavy as a kilogram, so the number for a given suitcase is smaller in kilograms. I would think “Oh, 23. How small!” but to them “23” was a big number, not being used to pounds like I am. Anyway, food for thought. Oh, while we are speaking of measurement, did you know that 3 scruples make a dram? So when Romeo buys a dram of poison on his way to Juliet, that is a specific measurement. 8 fluid drams make one fluid ounce, though in the case of scruples to drams that is a dry measurement and 20 grains make one scruple. So when someone says, “He has no scruples!” you can say “Well, he must have at least a couple of grains.” And in Scotland they measure their weight in “stone”. They will say, “I weigh 9 stone and 4 pounds. I lost an entire stone in the last 2 months!” So you see Britain isn’t entirely on the metric system. Did you guess how much a stone is? It is slightly less than 14 pounds.

Well it is getting late and as you can see I am not sticking to the topic anymore. Someday I’ll write an entry that is just a pastiche of random trivia I learned on my trip. Won’t that be fun? I have more travel tips for some day too. Stay warm and dry till we meet again!