Laying down on the beach, with the wind fiddling your hair while gazing upon the gorgeous view from your sunglasses is one of the amazing moments when you are on a holiday. However, there is a tiny hurdle between you and this amazing moment, “Traveling”. For some people traveling from one place to another is a fun adventure, but for some it’s a headache they just have to deal with. Well, traveling can get a little hectic, especially air travel but if you do things the right way, it can be really fun and pleasing.
Air travels involve lots of things to deal with, like booking the right flight, packing appropriate luggage, dealing with security and other checkups on the airport, and of course taking the right seat in the plane. A bad set up could mean you may have to stay in the air for 18 hours without proper sleep and with little to no entertainment. To help you keep your traveling experience sane, we are listing down 25 air travel tips to help you from booking the flight to reaching your destination:
1. Book Flights Smartly
Just booking whatever flight comes in your schedule will never help you save time or money. If you are a little flexible, you can save hundreds of dollars and hours of time. There are many websites and apps that can help you find a cheap flight at the right time, but my personal favorite is Google Flights. You just need to provide your travel time, your location and your destination, and Google Flights will show all the flights available with the best one highlighted in green.
2. Book Red-eye Flights
If you want to reach your destination in daytime and sleep through the night on the plane, then Red-eye flights are perfect. They are cheaper than regular flights and less crowded as well. CheapOair can help you find red-eye flights if you are looking for one.
3. Pack Smartly
When you are flying, there is a strict limit on the amount of luggage you can carry and you also need to be smart about packing the right way, so that you don’t end up with 7 bags instead of 4. PackPoint is an amazing packing list organizer app for Android and iOS, that makes sure you pack the right items according to the need of your trip (nothing more; nothing less). All you have to do is provide your trip details, like location, stay duration, trip type, activities and few other factors, and PackPoint will list all the required items.
4. Roll Clothes
While you are using PackPoint to manage items, make sure you roll your clothes instead of folding them. It is much faster to roll than fold and rolled clothes also take less space. Handy, right?
5. Make it Easy to Identify Your Luggage
It can be really hectic to find your luggage, as it is randomly loaded on the plane. You can tie ribbons (not too long) on your bags, or even put some stickers to make them appear different from others. I personally like writing my complete home address and phone number on a sticker paper and pasting it on all the bags, in case anything goes wrong. When the bags are in final state, take out your smartphone and take 1-2 pictures of them, to make them even easier to identify.
6. Take an All-in-one Charger
If you have multiple digital devices, then it is better to take an All-in-one charger instead of separately packing chargers of each device. It might be a little heavier than a regular charger, but it will save you a lot of space and make it easier to manage all the devices. Many cheap all-in-one chargers can be found on Amazon.
7. Keep a Battery Pack with you
While your phone might have great battery life (it’s usually not the case), it is important to have a battery pack with you while traveling. You never know when your device may die on you and you may not have access to a charging dock. You can find a good battery pack for as low as $10 on Amazon, Yoobao YB6012 is a good one.
8. Get a Portable Weight Checker
It is a pain to deal with overweight luggage, as it can be very expensive and getting rid of things at the airport can be very difficult or even impossible. If you travel a lot, then it is wise to get a portable weight checker to weigh your luggage anywhere. Heys Xscale is a good weight checker for this purpose and it’s also pretty affordable as well as functional.
9. Track Destination Weather
You should know the current weather and weather forecast for your destination location. You never know when you may need an umbrella or resistant shoes. You can use Accuweather app for Android and iOS to see weather forecast of almost any area or use any of the awesome weather apps.
10. Use Trakdot
Trakdot is a tiny device that you can attach to your luggage and then, easily track your luggage with your phone. The device brings you specific location information of your luggage, so that you always know where exactly your bag is.
11. Track Your Flight and Reach the Airport Early
FlightAware is a handy website to keep track of your flight and manage your schedule easily. You should reach the airport at least 1 hour (preferably 2 hours) early to make sure you handle everything without running around at the airport. There are many checkups you need to go through before entering the flight and a single mistake could mean wasting half an hour (especially with security checkups).
12. Use FLIO
FLIO is an Android and iOS app that has data on over 850 airports and uses that data to guide you. It can find places like washrooms, charging docks, amusements and other routes. Also, it can help you save money on shopping, food and even find free WiFi.
13. Choose the right Seat
Seat Guru is a handy website to get insights on seats of almost all the planes of popular airlines. The website shows you the the maps of the seats, so that you can get your preferred seat and manage your seat according to it.
14. Choose the Seat Near the Wings
Try to choose a seat near the wings of the plane, as that is an area closer to the center of the plane’s gravity. This means that even if there’s turbulence, you or anyone else sitting at the seat near the wings will feel less turbulence. This should come in handy if you are not well and want to travel in peace.
15. Get Noise Blocking Headphones
An airplane can be really noisy with so many people cluttered together and other general noise (like the engine). A noise cancellation earphone or headphones will help keep these annoying sounds out and help you relax relax.
16. Save Content To Read Later
A long plane journey can be quite boring, however, if you are someone who loves reading, you can add content on your device to pass some time. A good way to do this is using an app like Pocket, which lets you save articles for later. With the app, you can create an archive to read it offline when you are on the plane.
17. Switch to eBooks
If you are thinking of reading a book to kill time in the flight, then eBooks are a better choice than a hard copy book. It is lighter and with an eBook reader, you can easily carry all of your favorite books with ease.
18. Candy is Your Friend
Kids can create quite a problem in a flight, like kicking your seat or crying. A candy should be able to pacify or bribe a child.
19. Listen to White Noise
If you are someone who has a hard time sleeping on a flight, you can use an app like White Noise Free to listen to white noise. White noise consists of random audio signals that can help a person sleep better.
20. Say No to Coffee
Caffeine is good when you need to work hard and stay awake, but doesn’t do you any good when it comes to relax. It will keep you awake and also dehydrate you, so be sure to avoid coffee on a flight journey.
21. Don’t Overeat
The food might be free in the plane, but that does not mean you should overeat. Many researches prove that it is hard to digest food while in flight, which might result in things getting uncomfortable.
22. Know What You Are Eating
Specific types of food can also affect your flight experience, like you should avoid gassy food, as they will make things very uncomfortable for you (and the person next to you). On the other hand, carb-rich food may help reduce jet lag. You should use the Nutrition Facts app to know what you are eating and make the right decision.
23. Take a Selfie
Yes, you may take a selfie to showcase your travel journey on social media but you can use a selfie for some good use too. You can take a selfie of yourself and use it as your phone’s wallpaper. In case, your phone gets lost and is then found by the officials, all you have to do, is go their and pick up your phone with your picture in front, so there’s no need to prove anything.
24. Completely Destroy the flight Tickets
When you arrive at your destination, don’t throw away your ticket. There is a barcode on it, containing basic information about you, and anyone can with a smartphone can scan that code to extract the information. Thus, it’s important to make sure you properly rip the tickets, especially the barcode print.
25. Get rid of Jet Lag
Chances are, you will be suffering from jet lag after a long flight but instead of resting, try going for a quick walk or stop by at a gym. Workout helps you recover from jet lag faster than resting.
SEE ALSO: 15 Online Banking Safety Tips to Keep Your Account and Money Secure
Make your journey comfortable with these Air travel tips
Above are some simple air travel tips to make your journey along with the inception of it, easier and more comfortable. Traveling isn’t that difficult if you know what to do and have access to the right tools. There are many travel apps available as well that will let you take complete control over your traveling experience. Well, that all from my side? What do you do to make your air travel easier? Let us know in the comments section below.
