Want to go on a plane for the first time - where to go?

[amazinf]

I have never been on a plane before, but with my job it's looking like international travel is going to be on the horizon and I'd rather not have my first nervous flight be with my work colleagues lol.

I've got a passport and been on the Eurostar, just never flown. I was hoping to do a last minute trip at the end of August during the bank holiday so Friday-Monday. I was thinking of Edinburgh or Dublin? Or alternatively trying to go a bit further afield (maybe Paris or Rome?) but I'm aware that trying to navigate an airport as an inexperienced flyer in a foreign country may not be the best idea, so maybe it would be better to stick to an English-speaking country?

Does anyone have any advice or suggestions? I feel totally clueless

I wouldn’t worry about navigating an airport. They’re really just like bigger train stations in terms of finding check in and departure gates and everything is really well signposted, usually also in English in many European countries.

Where do you live? If you wanted to begin small, London City Airport is possibly my favourite airport to fly from ever. Easy to get to and small, plus queues generally short. I’d go for a weekend in Dublin if you’ve never been, I went recently and was charmed.

And make your first airline experience relatively decent: pick BA or anyone but Ryanair. The scrum of trying to board my last Ryanair flight almost out me off for life and I’m a seasoned flyer.

Airports in Europe all have signs in English and it’s designed to be intuitive.

So I’d go where you want to go - of the destinations you suggest my pick would be Rome. It’s fantastic. Have fun!

If you don't mind where and happy to fly anywhere relatively cheap, use something like skyscanner.com, put in your preferred airport to fly from, your rough dates/month and then add Everywhere for the destination.

You can then see all the destinations in price order.

Maybe first time just do hand luggage only - then you can avoid the bag drop and bag collection queues.

Tbh I don't think it really matters which airline. BA have been just as bad as the likes of RyanAir this summer from my experience.

I think navigating airports is easier than train stations, so if you can do the latter, you'll be fine.
All the big european airports have their signage in English too, so no worries on that front.

If you're going to the hassle of taking a flight, then I'd go abroad for sure - maybe Amsterdam (although the plane taxiing from landing to terminal can take as long as the flight - it's a massive airport) - loads of flights there, so likely to be competitively priced, or Nice/Marseille for some lovely French weather and food, or somewhere in Germany/Austria for a bit of a change - Hamburg is lovely, as is Berlin or Salzburg (maybe hard to get summer flights there perhaps).

But I wouldn't worry about your colleagues knowing you haven't flown before. I once travelled with a colleague who'd never flown - we went to Germany for a work thing - and it was all fine. She'd never been to London before I took her for a meeting too, so I had the pleasure of showing her how to use the tube too!

Yes, any short flight would be fine. Amsterdam would be another option (and everyone speaks excellent English there).

It's really not that complicated, but here's a few tips to make it smoother:

Allow plenty of time (obviously!)
Bag up your liquids in advance (100ml max per item, 1 litre max in total)
Wear shoes rather than boots so you don't have to take them off to go through security
Double check your luggage is within the size requirements
Have your passport easily accessible and check its validity before booking
Download the appropriate airline app and check in on line in advance
Work out your route to the airport
Pack any medication in hand luggage

Here are the stages you will have to go through once you get to the airport:
Check in (if you haven't done it in advance)
Bag-drop (if you are putting luggage in the hold)
Security (can take a while)
Passport control (actually your passport will probably be checked several times while in the airport)
Go to departure gate (can be quite a long walk)
Board plane

It's really that simple! Good luck!

I'd go abroad rather than domestically, so you get the customs experience.

I've always fancied Berlin.

Edinburgh will be towards the end of the Fringe festival, so very busy and hotels £££.

I had a weekend in Malta. It was wonderful and not too expensive. I will definitely go again, when I can get some time off.

Definitely not Edinburgh at the end of august, it’s madness due to the festival fringe. I’d just have a look at flight options and what’s cheap and go for it.