& Transit
Airports
Airports & Transit
Check in with the airline flying the plane, not the one that sold the ticket.
The operating carrier's app holds your mobile boarding pass and flags gate changes faster than the airport screens. If your outbound and return carriers differ, download both before you leave home.
The operating carrier often changes by direction. You might fly out on Delta and home on KLM, all on one ticket. Check the “operated by” line on your homebound segments before you head to the airport.
Each airline in a codeshare assigns its own confirmation code. If yours won't pull up the booking, try your 13-digit ticket number instead, or email me and I'll send the right code.
Each segment in your itinerary reads something like “Air France 3623, operated by Delta.” The airline after “operated by” is the one you check in with. Download its app and go to its desk.
Download the app first
Check your return separately
If your code doesn't work
Find your operating carrier
If any of this is unclear for your specific flights, email me. I'd rather answer the question now than have you sort it out at a check-in counter.
a note from rachel
Many international flights are sold by one airline and flown by another. Your ticket might say Air France while the plane, crew, and check-in desk all belong to Delta. Nothing is wrong with your booking. This is how airline partnerships work.
Check in with the airline flying the plane, not the one that sold the ticket.
Checking in on codeshare flights.
01 — the day before
Before departure, when most gates are posted
Before an intercontinental departure
3 hours
45–60 min
Gate assignments are typically posted 45 to 60 minutes before departure, and the walk can be considerable. The central departure board is the most reliable source. Trust it over your boarding pass.
Security often moves faster than it does at home. Passport control is where the time goes, particularly at your first Schengen entry and in summer, and it has been less predictable since the EU's biometric border system came fully online in April 2026. Keep your passport and documents in reach rather than packed away.
They run on their own schedule, and the gate may be a long walk away.
International Airports
02 — at the airport
The whole journey, protected end to end
My minimum at any hub
2 hours
1 ticket
When your entire journey is on one ticket, a late inbound flight is the airline's responsibility, and they're obligated to rebook you at no cost. Book two separate tickets to save a little and the problem becomes yours. The second airline has no idea you exist, no obligation to wait, and no sympathy at the rebooking desk. I book my clients on protected itineraries for exactly this reason.
Published minimum connection times are what the name says: minimums, calculated for someone who knows the terminal and travels with a carry-on. Through a major European hub where you're entering Europe, I plan for at least two hours, because that's where passport control and your first biometric registration happen.
One ticket means the airline owns the problem.
Connections & missed flights
03 — connections
Use bank ATMs rather than the standalone machines in tourist areas. Carry modest cash for markets, taxis, and the occasional place with opinions about cards, and keep a second card somewhere other than your wallet.
When a terminal offers to charge you in dollars, that's dynamic currency conversion, a worse rate dressed up as a convenience. Decline it on every machine, in every country.
Cash and a backup card
Pay in local currency
Expect a few questions from the officer: why you're visiting, how long you're staying, where you're going next. Officers can also ask for proof of onward travel and accommodation. Your digital itinerary holds every confirmation, so the answer to anything asked at the booth is already in your hand.
Passport stamps ended across the Schengen countries in April 2026. Your first entry now means biometric registration under the Entry/Exit System: four fingerprints and a facial image, held on file for three years. Later entries verify against that record and move faster, though queues at the busiest airports are still settling down. The UK runs a separate system and needs its own ETA, including for a night in London between flights.
A brief, practical exchange, and the answers are already on your phone.
At the border
04 — Arrival
you have my number.
They wait in line.
if something goes wrong
Start with your digital itinerary. Every confirmation number, hotel phone number, and driver contact is in there, and most travel-day problems are solved by calling the person you were already supposed to meet.
If that doesn't settle it, text or call me. While everyone else on the flight is waiting at the service desk, I'm working the rebooking with my air partners.
That's not a perk. It's the job.
Official rank, meter on.
Put the app on your phone and connect your payment prior to leaving.
Watch the board, not the ticket.
Your driver is waiting.
Know the rules
know the rules
easiest
City by city
Often best
easiest
Taxis
Rideshare
Train travel
Private transfers
Use the official taxi rank, never anyone who approaches you in the terminal. Confirm the fare is metered or a fixed airport rate before you set off.
Many cabs prefer or require cash, so keep some local currency for this leg.
Uber, Bolt, and FREENOW all work well in most destinations.
High-speed platforms for the TGV, Frecciarossa, Eurostar, and ICE can post just minutes before boarding. Arrive 15 to 20 minutes early for regional trains and 30 or more for high-speed. Eurostar has airport-style security and passport control, so treat it like a flight.
In some countries, Italy above all, regional paper tickets must be validated in a platform machine before boarding, or you can be fined while holding a perfectly valid ticket. Reserved high-speed and most digital tickets don't need it.
When a private transfer is part of your itinerary, the driver's name, pickup point, vehicle, and contact number are confirmed before you depart.
You won't arrange anything on arrival. Follow your itinerary and your driver will be at a marked meeting point in arrivals.
Four ways to cover the ground between arrivals and your hotel, and between one city and the next. Your itinerary names the right one for each leg.
your door.
Getting to
05 - The last leg
Driving in Europe is different in ways that might not realize until you're in the car. Historic centers are closed to traffic and enforced by camera, with fines arriving by mail months later. Most rentals are manual. Some countries require a pass bought before you use the motorway, and some cities require a permit to enter at all. In several countries your U.S. license isn't enough on its own.
None of it is hard. It's a list of small rules with penalties, and a rental car in a country where the train is faster is usually more trouble than it's worth.
Some itineraries do call for a car. When that's the right answer, I handle the requirements and tell you what you need to get yourself.
Usually, no.
Should you drive?
Driving in Europe