4 ms·

Top Strategies for Surviving Airports and Airplanes

18 points by avk 16y ago

petervandijck 16y ago
Take your own pillow, and not one of those wussy airline pillows either, but a real, large, proper pillow. Works for me :)
- jared314 16y ago
  And, you don't have to pay extra for the pillow.
viraptor 16y ago
My favourite trick: If you have a "print your own" check-in card, print it with low DPI so the barcode on it can't be read with the scanner. On some airports they will send you back to get another one from the check-in desks and let you come back into a priority queue. On one airport I often use this is MUCH faster than the standard queue. (<5 min. -vs- 10+ depending on the queue) Of course it doesn't work everywhere and don't try it if you're almost-late.
- gojomo 16y ago
  In what region does this work? My home-printed boarding passes only seem to be scanned at the last moment, at the gate while boarding, so there's no more lines to optimize at that point. (Or is TSA very subtly scanning it at ID check before security? If so they've got a scanner-inside-a-penlight I've not noticed in many trips...)
  - viraptor 16y ago
    That's what I do at 2 UK airports, where the flow is: check-in/luggage -> pass check -> security queue -> security check -> boarding lounge -> boarding gate check If you have the online checkin, you go straight to the pass check (where they only scan the checkin to see if they should allow you in at all - no documents check or anything else). So I'm skipping the security queue and go straight into the security check basically (after reprinting). It doesn't work in London for example, where the first pass check is done automatically on machines and there's no queue before them.
  - ben1040 16y ago
    At some airports TSA does scan boarding passes and match the name to ID cards; where they do, it's done out in the open (these airports are usually also where mobile boarding passes are supported). The barcode data on the boarding cards is supposedly encrypted to make sure someone on a watch list can't buy a ticket in a "clean" name and modify it to match the name on their photo ID.
ben1040 16y ago
1) Bring a short extension cord with multiple outlets, so you don't have to fight with people in boarding lounges to charge your gear. This will also make you a hero at conferences too... 2) If you're going to begin a long term run of traveling look into the possibility of doing airline status challenges. I had started a job that had me flying 5K miles a week -- while I still would have earned it later, getting elite status in a month using the challenge meant better seats, better treatment, and more miles earned on all those subsequent trips.
Anechoic 16y ago
So go ahead and find an aisle seat near the back. It might get you good legroom, but it might also get you proximity to a smelly lavatory with a broken door. It also puts you behind the engines of most commercial airliners which means more noise.
grandalf 16y ago
a few of mine: eat a bag of peanut m&m's as soon as you sit in your seat, then use an eyemask and drift off as the announcements are made. The sugar coma from the candy will send you off to dreamland for at least the first hour of the flight. Use earplugs and snag a window seat if you want to increase your odds of sleeping longer. Or, buy a big meal in the terminal and eat it as soon as you are seated for an even bigger food-coma-induced slumber. If the person in front of you leans their chair back when your'e trying to work, it's convenient to have a fake sneeze ready to unleash. I prefer to let my lips smack a bit and let a few droplets of saliva spray out (while making a sneeze sound). They will bring the chair back up for the rest of the flight. If they start to look ready to lean back again, start sniffling. If you're wearing a coat or blazer, be sure to ask to have it hung at the front of the plane in the special closet reserved for this purpose. There may not be seats in first class, but there is usually room for your jacket. If you want to avoid an armrest hog, the best way is to allow your body to touch theirs a bit too much at first with a subtle lean-in and leg adjustment, so they decide to withdraw to obtain more personal space. When they do, the armrest is yours. Don't relinquish it. A few sniffles sometimes help here as well. Wear a warmup suit, flip flops and socks when traveling. This is the optimal outfit, particularly a hoodie, because you can use it to get extra darkness/privacy if you need it.
icefox 16y ago
drive
binarymax 16y ago
My advice for getting over jetlag: put yourself on the local clock immediately. If you fly a red-eye, get as much sleep as you can on the plane - then when you land in the morning stay awake the whole day and don't go to sleep until after 10pm! If flying west, do the same - put yourself on the new clock and go to sleep no later than 11pm or midnight. Also in both situations - get some good exercise the first day at a hotel gym or pool. Also if you have access to one, use a sauna!

18 points by avk 16y ago

Take your own pillow, and not one of those wussy airline pillows either, but a real, large, proper pillow. Works for me :)

jared314 16y ago
And, you don't have to pay extra for the pillow.

viraptor 16y ago

My favourite trick: If you have a "print your own" check-in card, print it with low DPI so the barcode on it can't be read with the scanner. On some airports they will send you back to get another one from the check-in desks and let you come back into a priority queue. On one airport I often use this is MUCH faster than the standard queue. (<5 min. -vs- 10+ depending on the queue) Of course it doesn't work everywhere and don't try it if you're almost-late.

gojomo 16y ago
In what region does this work? My home-printed boarding passes only seem to be scanned at the last moment, at the gate while boarding, so there's no more lines to optimize at that point. (Or is TSA very subtly scanning it at ID check before security? If so they've got a scanner-inside-a-penlight I've not noticed in many trips...)
- viraptor 16y ago
  That's what I do at 2 UK airports, where the flow is: check-in/luggage -> pass check -> security queue -> security check -> boarding lounge -> boarding gate check If you have the online checkin, you go straight to the pass check (where they only scan the checkin to see if they should allow you in at all - no documents check or anything else). So I'm skipping the security queue and go straight into the security check basically (after reprinting). It doesn't work in London for example, where the first pass check is done automatically on machines and there's no queue before them.
- ben1040 16y ago
  At some airports TSA does scan boarding passes and match the name to ID cards; where they do, it's done out in the open (these airports are usually also where mobile boarding passes are supported). The barcode data on the boarding cards is supposedly encrypted to make sure someone on a watch list can't buy a ticket in a "clean" name and modify it to match the name on their photo ID.

ben1040 16y ago

1) Bring a short extension cord with multiple outlets, so you don't have to fight with people in boarding lounges to charge your gear. This will also make you a hero at conferences too... 2) If you're going to begin a long term run of traveling look into the possibility of doing airline status challenges. I had started a job that had me flying 5K miles a week -- while I still would have earned it later, getting elite status in a month using the challenge meant better seats, better treatment, and more miles earned on all those subsequent trips.

Anechoic 16y ago

So go ahead and find an aisle seat near the back. It might get you good legroom, but it might also get you proximity to a smelly lavatory with a broken door. It also puts you behind the engines of most commercial airliners which means more noise.

grandalf 16y ago

a few of mine: eat a bag of peanut m&m's as soon as you sit in your seat, then use an eyemask and drift off as the announcements are made. The sugar coma from the candy will send you off to dreamland for at least the first hour of the flight. Use earplugs and snag a window seat if you want to increase your odds of sleeping longer. Or, buy a big meal in the terminal and eat it as soon as you are seated for an even bigger food-coma-induced slumber. If the person in front of you leans their chair back when your'e trying to work, it's convenient to have a fake sneeze ready to unleash. I prefer to let my lips smack a bit and let a few droplets of saliva spray out (while making a sneeze sound). They will bring the chair back up for the rest of the flight. If they start to look ready to lean back again, start sniffling. If you're wearing a coat or blazer, be sure to ask to have it hung at the front of the plane in the special closet reserved for this purpose. There may not be seats in first class, but there is usually room for your jacket. If you want to avoid an armrest hog, the best way is to allow your body to touch theirs a bit too much at first with a subtle lean-in and leg adjustment, so they decide to withdraw to obtain more personal space. When they do, the armrest is yours. Don't relinquish it. A few sniffles sometimes help here as well. Wear a warmup suit, flip flops and socks when traveling. This is the optimal outfit, particularly a hoodie, because you can use it to get extra darkness/privacy if you need it.

icefox 16y ago

drive

binarymax 16y ago

My advice for getting over jetlag: put yourself on the local clock immediately. If you fly a red-eye, get as much sleep as you can on the plane - then when you land in the morning stay awake the whole day and don't go to sleep until after 10pm! If flying west, do the same - put yourself on the new clock and go to sleep no later than 11pm or midnight. Also in both situations - get some good exercise the first day at a hotel gym or pool. Also if you have access to one, use a sauna!