22 best tips for making travel less painful – by experienced airline workers

BUSINESS INSIDER – We asked more than 80 airline workers including flight attendants, gate agents, ticket agents, and customer service reps for their best travel hacks.

 

 

Successfully and painlessly getting from one part of the world to another can be difficult.

Between booking the right flights, planning and packing for all contingencies, and ensuring your travels are as stress-free as possible, a lot of things can go wrong along the way.

Luckily, there are plenty of people in the airline industry who can offer extensive knowledge on the matter.

So we asked more than 80 airline workers including flight attendants, gate agents, ticket agents, and other airport customer service reps to share their best travel hacks with us, and we scoured the internet for even more.

Here are 22 things that could help make your next trip less painful:

Save space in your suitcase

“My favorite travel hack is definitely the clothes-roll technique. I am often gone from home for several days, even up to three weeks, and I save space by rolling my clothes instead of folding them.”

— A flight attendant with one year of experience

Always sleep in clean sheets

“Don’t sleep on hotel sheets that don’t have creases from being folded; someone slept on them already.”

— A flight attendant with 19 years’ experience

Get a cheaper upgrade

“Some airlines do offer reduced-price upgrades the day of the flight — there’s sometimes even first-class flights available. So be in the boarding area good and early during boarding, because this is when you’ll hear the announcements for last-minute upgrade purchases you might be able to get. It’s not for every airline, but it does happen.”

— A flight attendant with three years of experience

Don’t miss out on the first-class upgrade if you qualify for it

“I think it’s great we don’t have to travel in suits and high heels anymore. You can be comfortable. But you can also be classy and comfortable. Check your air carrier’s rules — there are still dress codes sometimes in first class and, who knows, maybe, miracle of the day, you’ll get that cheap upgrade to first class. Be comfortable, but if you can avoid wearing your pajamas, that’s great.”

— A flight attendant with three years of experience

Iron your clothes faster

“Use your flat iron to touch up your clothes when you’re in a rush and there’s no time for the ironing board.”

— A flight attendant with 30 years’ experience

Get help when you need it

“If something goes wrong, approach with a kind and humble attitude, and the agent will bend over backward to help you. This advice is worth its weight in gold.”

— A retired airline customer service agent with 30 years of experience

“When you have truly been disserviced and are understanding about it, you might get a free upgrade. Honey is sweeter, and appreciated more, than crap.”

— A retired airline customer service agent with 18 years of experience

Earn free perks

“Join an airline credit card to get free access to the airport club and extra miles just for signing up.”

— An airline customer service agent with 30 years of experience

Get your checked luggage first at baggage claim

“Your best option is to be one of the last passengers to check your bags.

“Bags will always be loaded front to back on the bag carts because more weight has to be in the forward carts for stability while driving, and if you loaded them back to front you couldn’t guarantee that the front cart would be fully loaded.

“So if you check in last, your bags will be in the last bag cart, which will make them the last on the aircraft and the first off the aircraft at your destination. If they are the first off the aircraft, they will most likely be the first on the bag carts, and then the first to be unloaded at baggage claim.”

“The best way to ensure your bag gets to you the quickest is to ask the counter agent very nicely if they will let you gate check your bag. The downside of that method is that you will not be able to pack liquids or any other items that cannot go in a carry-on bag as you will need to bring the bag with you through the security checkpoint and to the gate.”

— Ramp and gate agent Thomas Lo Sciuto via Quora

Get more attentive service from your flight attendants

“While most passengers tend to choose seats that are at the front of the aircraft so that they can disembark first and have a better chance of securing their preferred meal option, flight attendants know that if you’re sitting towards the back, you’ll receive the most attentive service.

“The reason is simple: We like to avoid responding to call bells from the front of the plane because answering one means potentially flaunting whatever item the passenger has requested to everyone else along the way. This can cause a problem since planes often don’t have enough extra vodka, pillows, earplugs, and toothbrushes, or the time on shorter flights to deviate from the service schedule.

“For passengers sitting near the back of the plane, however, it’s much easier to slip in that second mini bottle of wine.”  — A flight attendant via Oyster

Keep the hotel room dark

“Use the clips on the pants hangers in theHOTEL ROOM to clip your curtains together so there is no light coming through.”

— A flight attendant with 15 years’ experience

Get an extra day of vacation for free

“Always volunteer your seat in exchange for compensation. You get travel certificates, meal vouchers, hotel stays, and most of the time a first-class seat on the next available flight.”

—An airline customer service agent with 17 years of experience

Avoid doing damage to your hearing

“Avoid flying if you have a severe cold. It can damage your eardrums, and you may lose your hearing. It happened to me once — I couldn’t hear properly for a week, and it hurt like hell.”

— A flight attendant via Quora

Don’t pay exorbitant prices for water at the airport

“Bring a small, wide mouth bottle to fill up after security. Most restaurants will let you fill it up for free if asked nicely.”

— A retired airline customer service agent with 30 years of experience.

Avoid being seated near a baby

“While there’s no escaping (or blaming) the shrill of an upset child, you can lower your odds of sitting directly next to one by choosing a seat that’s located far from the partitions on board.

“These partitions, which go by the technical name ‘bulkheads,’ are the only places on an aircraft where a parent can safely secure a baby’s bassinet — and are, therefore, where most children under one year old will be situated.”  — A flight attendant via Oyster

In rare instances, score a free or discounted upgrade

“There are very few free or discounted upgrades. The travelers that might get a free upgrade due to rearrangement of capacity or seats are given to those travelers who pay the most or travel the most with our airline. Join the airline’s frequent flyer program — it makes a difference when a gate agent might need to move someone into a better cabin.”

— A retired airline customer service agent with 17 years of experience

Fight jet lag

“What helps me sleep is having a bedtime ritual. Stop using electronics one hour before bedtime, have a cup of tea, and read a bit. Usually that does the trick, but if I can’t sleep after an hour I just get up, do something else, and then try again.”

— A flight attendant via Quora

Get a better seat on certain flights

“A 24-hour check-in alarm is my favorite travel hack.”

— An airline customer service agent with three years of experience

On certain airlines like Southwest, checking in online as soon as you can — usually 24 hours before your flight — will get you a better position in the boarding line, according to travel blogger The Points Guy.

Pack lighter

“Before your trip, call your hotel and check to see if they have a washer/dryer available. If so, bring a couple detergent packs and dryer sheets in a Ziploc bag, and it eliminates two to four days’ worth of clothes, depending on your stay.”

— A flight attendant with one year of experience

Get through customs in a jiff

“Pay for Global Entry — it’s totally worth it.”

— An anonymous flight attendant

Never miss out on free breakfast

“If you know you’re not going to be able to attend whatever complimentary meal they’re offering because you’re leaving before it starts or you know you’re not going to be up until after it’s over, check with the hotel to see if there’s some kind of snack or sack lunch they can provide before or ahead of time. Usually it’s just a piece of fruit, a bottle of water, and a thing of string cheese, but that’s saved my growling stomach on several occasions.”

— A flight attendant with one year of experience

Avoid delays

“As a general rule, the later in the day you travel, the more likely you are to catch a delay.”

— Former airport customer service agent Travis O’Neal via Quora.

Get free stuff

“Bring your flight attendants, pilots, and gate agents something nice. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but a little gift like chocolate or candy goes along way, and I usually go a little above and beyond for passengers who bring me goodies when I can and give them free stuff.”

— A flight attendant with one year of experience