1.
“I have downloaded several versions of ‘nature sounds’ (ocean waves, falling rain, nighttime forest sounds). As soon as it’s bedtime, I turn off my overhead light, turn off the seat-back screen, pop in the earbuds, and start the nature sounds on a continuous loop.”
—Kasey Coff
2.
“While waiting for everyone to board, I download a bunch of articles to multiple browser tabs on my phone before I have to put it in airplane mode.”
—Brandon Boyle
3.
“If you want cheap(er) first class seats, book a normal economy ticket and then check the airline’s website, and most of the time, you can get a first class upgrade for $150–$200. I do this for myself and even did it today for the flight I booked for my boss. I went back to check and compare for first class tickets, and this method was over $1,000 cheaper. Seriously. Book normal ticket first and then look for a separate upgrade. Best value you can get for great seats.”
—Molly French
4.
“Empty your water bottle before security and then refill it once you get through to save money rather than buying $5 bottles of water.”
—Joel Onyshuk
5.
“Put a photo of a baby and a dog in your wallet. People are more likely to return lost wallets with either in. Hedge your bets and put both.”
—Liam Delahunty
6.
“If your flight is delayed and you’re getting hotels and food passes, ask for a better hotel and more food passes; they will give it without a second thought.”
—Kaushal Barot
7.
“If you don’t want to pay baggage fees, but don’t mind checking a bag, take it to the gate with you and offer to gate check it. Generally, gate agents are happy to gate check bags as it opens up more overhead bin space, and they’ll gate check it for free.”
—Justin Davis
8.
“To clear security quickly, pick the checkpoint that is farthest to the left. Most people are right-handed and subconsciously choose checkpoints to their right which makes the queues on that side longer.”
—Rushali Ramteke
9.
“Fake your location to get the best deals. As many airlines are targeting certain countries, making them think you are actually somewhere else may decrease price a lot! Worked several times!”
—Anya Mary
10.
“Bring your everyday pillow from home instead of a travel pillow. Airplane policies mention that you are allowed to bring a pillow onboard, however they fail to mention which type of pillow is allowed which is to your advantage as this allows you to stuff extra clothing inside the pillow. I even had my PC keyboard stuffed in there on a couple of occasions and never had any problems.”
—Wilmer Diaz
11.
“In packing, I choose two colors of clothing to take so everything I have is mix and match.”
—Merry Smith
12.
“You can sometimes raise the aisle handlebar by finding a latch that moves back and forth on the underside of the arm, toward the connection point.”
—Diane Strutner
13.
“Ziploc bags. Lots of them in different sizes. Use them to bag your clean undies and socks, your dirty laundry, your cables and chargers, anything else that makes sense. They weigh almost nothing, but you can compress the air out of them once filled, to make packing more efficient.”
—Jon Green
14.
“Before you hand your bags over to the airlines, use you cellphone and take a couple of pictures of them. If it has an extendable handle, shoot one with handle up, and one down. If your bag is damaged in transit, you now have evidence that it was not in that condition before you gave it to the airline.”
—Colin Povey
15.
“Try to travel in the ‘shoulder’ season (that’s right before or right after the high season). Not only is travel less crowded, it’s also more affordable.”
—Siori Hojo
16.
Lastly… “If you are going to have an extended layover in an airport between flights, ask the flight attendants on a recommendation on the best place for food. Chances are we have some great suggestions.”
—Scott Colquett
Got your own air travel hack? Let me hear it! Share with the class in the comments below.
