“Flying is hours of boredom, punctuated by moments of stark terror.” ~ Unknown
Air travel is one of the greatest inventions of our age. Looking back on eras where it took days of travel to see the marvelous sights we can see in hours, to visit family face-to-face after being on opposite sides of the world and not having to wait for a ship to dock is a wonderful thing. That being said, modern air travel is also a great source of frustration, boredom, and rage to both frequent and infrequent fliers. Fortunately, there are some tips and tricks I’d like to share with you to help you out!
- Buy smart tickets. No, I don’t mean ones that update automatically. I mean ones that aren’t flying during peak periods (flying in the morning reduces your chances of getting delayed), ones that leave you with more than 45 minutes of connection time, and ones that don’t take you through Denver or Chicago in the dead of winter. Do your homework and research your travel, and try to head off potential problems before you get on the plane!
- Get those miles. They add up. My Thanksgiving ticket to California last year was free because I keep up on and track my miles, and we’re going to be able to get a couple freebies this year thanks to all our travel. Know whose miles are good with which airlines {with all the alliances, one plan may cover several airlines}, know your blackout dates, know which airlines give you the best stuff, and track them! I use awardwallet.com to track most of my reward points, although I’m currently annoyed with Delta and United – both airlines pulled their points from Award Wallet, so you have to use the airlines’ sites to track your points.
- Charge your stuff. Not with your charge card, with your electric chargers. I’m talking about your iPhone, iPad, iWhatever, all those things you might need to use to track your flights, communicate with whoever you’re meeting or who’s picking you up from the airport, or call a hotel in case of getting stranded. More and more airports are offering charging stations these days, but don’t take your chances. For my fellow iPhone users, if you don’t have a Mophie case, you need one.
- Stay updated. Don’t trust the gates and times printed on your ticket, or even the signs. Gate changes can happen at any time, usually when you think it’s safe to do some shopping or stop in a watering hole for a calming brew. My personal favorite is FlightTrack Pro, available on iTunes and in the Android store.
- Plan for the worst case. What’s your back-up plan for getting that connecting flight if your first flight is delayed? I’m serious, don’t book your flights right on top of each other. No one likes having to sprint to their next flight, or missing it and having to haggle with the airline for a connection. Think about all the things that could go wrong with your flight – missing connections, rescheduling, cancellations, lost luggage – and have a contingency plan. For example…
- Research alternate flights. This saved me when a tornado watch and a freak thunderstorm almost made me miss my anniversary weekend. I was jumping back and forth between three separate flights, and luckily, I got on the one that made it out and made it to Florida. If I hadn’t known my options, I would have been delayed and stranded with everyone on my original flight, and probably would have not made it in until the next morning.
- Buy the damn travel insurance. You just spent a couple hundred dollars on a flight and you can’t afford the $24 for flight insurance? This might be the difference between being able to jump between flights, reschedule a missed or dropped connection, or get on an earlier flight without change fees. Otherwise, try to make all of these changes and you could be out a bundle. This is one of those things that are worth buying just for the peace of mind.
- Bring a snack. Airport food is expensive and bad for you. Tuck a few healthy treats into your purse or backpack, and if they’re packaged and the seal isn’t broken, TSA shouldn’t give you any grief over them. Okay, so they did try to steal my mom’s applesauce container one time, bless their little hearts. If you need some suggestions on things to bring, check out my friend Jeannette’s guest blog post on healthy airplane snacks.
- Carry emergency supplies. If your luggage gets lost in the travel process, you’re going to want a toothbrush at least. Tuck away some travel-sized {3 oz.} toiletries into your tote or backpack, and maybe even a change of clothes, in case your stuff doesn’t make it where you do. I’m good at hoarding hotel soaps and shampoos just for this purpose.
- If you get stuck…don’t sleep in the airport. You’ll be tired and cranky and if you’re not feeling your happy self, you won’t be able to charm the airline agents, who are probably tired and cranky and fed up with having cranky passengers yell at them, into putting you on the first thing smoking out of there the next day. It helps to know a few good hotels in the immediate area, and make sure you have a reward card. Sometimes that makes it easier to get into a room.
The bottom line with air travel is that if you take some time to prep and plan, it’s a heck of a lot easier to navigate some of the pitfalls. You want to arrive at your destination ready to take on the world, not looking like the world just took you on and won. Travel smart, budget your time, don’t try to multitask, and smile. You’ll feel better, and it’s a heck of a lot easier to get someone to help you, to refill your drink on the flight, or to find that extra bit of space you need to shove your carryon into that overhead compartment.
If you have any tips and tricks that have helped you navigate frequent flights to share, please do! You can help me make these next couple months of air travel go even more smoothly!
