假期来啦，你都准备去哪里旅行呢?想出国玩一圈是不是又担心自己的词汇量不够呢?没关系，简单一篇文章教会你最基本的那些词汇。

Flying Off on Holiday Soon? You Might Find this Preparation Vocabulary Useful.

David and I are flying off on holiday on Sunday for two weeks. We’re so excited especially as we will be seeing my sister and her family. I haven’t seen them for nearly two years as they live in USA. My brother in law is from Barbados and that’s where we will be meeting up!!! We’ve never been to Barbados so our excitement is increasing by the day.

A few days before

I don’t know about you but the few days leading up to a holiday are always hectic. There’s so much to think about and remember.

What to pack? Will the clothes all fit?

What luggage 行李 to take – a large or medium-sized suitcase 大型或中型行李箱?

What is the maximum weight 最大重量we can take for each passenger 乘客?

Are we both going to carry cabin/hand luggage 舱内/手提行李on board the aircraft 飞机?

Should we order a taxi or drive to the airport and use the long stay car park 长期停车?

Can we/ should we check in online 网上办理登机手续?

Do we need to print off our boarding passes 登机牌 beforehand?

Should we change our money to the local currency 目的地本国货币before getting to our destination or could we simply withdraw money when we’re there from the ATMs (Automatic Teller Machines)?

On the day of departure

There is always the mad rush to the airport as we close the house up while the taxi waits for us. Most airlines require you to arrive at the airport 2 hours before departure time 起飞时间. If you have an early flight like 0650 and you need to check in at 0450, that is no fun at all. Luckily our flight is at 1040 so our check-in time is at a civilised hour.

A lot of airlines now have e-tickets 电子客票 rather than paper tickets 纸质客票 so all you need is to show the booking reference 电子客票订单号 when you arrive at the check- in desk 登记服务台. In a lot of cases you can check in online which means that when you get to the airport you simply check in your hold luggage 托运行李 (not to be confused with hand luggage 随身行李).

You have to ensure that your hand or cabin luggage fits the size requirements of the airline, otherwise the airline will not allow you to take the luggage on board 登机. You will have to check it in as hold luggage 托运行李 instead which can be a nuisance especially if you don’t have a lock for the bag.

Many airlines now allow you to select your seats from their website. You can choose an aisle, window or middle 靠通道、靠窗或中间seat. My husband prefers an aisle seat which always means that I end up in the middle seat. This is always the case with the long-haul flights 长途航班where the aircraft seating is divided in rows of three – four – three. I prefer the window seat as it allows me to curl up against the window and sleep. Alas, he always wins because he is very tall and needs to get up to stretch his legs during the flight.

My husband would prefer it even more if we could secure the emergency exit 紧急出口seats where the legroom 放脚空间is much more generous. However, in order to get those seats we need to arrive at the airport extra early and book them at the check- in counter 登机手续办理柜台.

After the check- in clerk has gone through the necessary security questions 安全问题 about who packed your bag and if you have any dangerous objects in your luggage, he or she prints off a boarding pass which will give you the boarding time and gate 登机时间及登机口 from which to board.

If you’re leaving from a UK airport, going through security can be a long process particularly in the summer. However once you’re through security, Duty Free Shopping 机场免税店 awaits you!!!! That’s always my favourite part of the day of departure (other than arriving at my destination of course!). I love trying out the different fragrances on offer.

David, in the meantime, will stand in front of the Departures Board 出发时刻显示屏waiting for our flight to be called 等待我们的航班开始登机. As soon as it is, he insists that we head for the boarding gate 登机口 immediately. Once at the gate and passports and boarding passes have been checked 检查过护照及登机牌, he waits impatiently for us to board the plane 登机. Once on board and the hand luggage is safely stowed away in the overhead locker 手提行李安全放入头顶的行李箱, he is happy and ready to enjoy his flight!

That’s it!

Even though I will be on holiday, I plan to continue writing my blog so don’t go away!!!!

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Ciao for now

Shanthi