Travel · Airports ·
Stuck at an airport abroad without the language: what to do
Most of the time an airport runs itself: follow the signs, show the boarding pass, sit down. The trouble starts when the plan breaks — the connection is gone, the belt stops and your suitcase is not on it, or the screen turns red next to your flight. That is when you have to talk to someone, and it helps to know the few sentences that matter.
First, read the screen yourself
Before you join a queue, find your flight on the nearest departures board. Status words are short and repeated everywhere, which makes them easy work for camera translation: hold the phone up and the gate, the terminal and the status appear in your language, in place of the original text.
If the board and the airline app say different things, trust the one updated last — and ask at the gate.
One question, one sentence
At a busy desk, the agent has a few seconds for you. Prepare one short sentence with the flight number in it: "I missed my connection to Lisbon, flight TP 1352. What is the next flight?" Short sentences translate cleanly and leave less to guess.
With face-to-face conversation translation, Dilinga says your sentence aloud in the agent's language on your own phone, then translates the reply back to you. The agent does not need any app.
When the suitcase does not come
Do not leave the baggage hall without reporting it. The desk there opens a file and gives you a reference; everything later depends on that reference. Before you walk away, make sure you have:
- the file reference on paper or in an email,
- the address and phone number where the bag should be delivered,
- how to follow it up, and who to call,
- whether you can claim the toothbrush and clean shirt you are about to buy — and keep the receipts.
Delayed or cancelled: ask for it in writing
Rebooking, a meal voucher, a hotel night: what you are offered depends on the airline and the country. Whatever the agent promises, ask to have it in writing or by email. Read vouchers and forms through the camera before you sign — the conditions are usually in the small print.
Tell the people waiting for you
Someone is probably expecting you: a host, a hotel, a driver. A short message in their language — "My flight is delayed, I land at 23:40" — saves a lot of confusion. With message translation you write in your own language and it arrives in theirs. If they would rather call, a translated call works too.
Dilinga is live on Google Play. The iPhone version is coming very soon to the App Store. Get it on Google Play →
Questions
Does the airport agent need to install anything?
No. Face-to-face conversation runs on your phone; the agent just speaks normally.
Can the camera read the departures board from far away?
Get close enough that the line for your flight fills part of the screen. Small text from across the hall is hard for any camera.