Seven Airport Hacks Every Traveler Should Know About
STORY BY RACHEL JACKSON
Heading out on holiday is super exciting, but navigating the airport can be a complete and utter drag. The standard airport experience usually involves queueing, waiting around and paying extortionate prices for pretty much everything.
Here are seven essential hacks to improve your airport experience just a little:
Save on Parking
If you’ve ever parked your car at the airport you know that it can sometimes end up costing you almost as much as your flight.
When you need to leave your car, especially if you’re looking for a long-term space, look beyond the airport website. Many local car parking spaces close to the airport can be found on sharing community sites like Spacer. This is a convenient and much cheaper option to booking with the airport direct.
Book the Best Seats
Seat Guru is a travel site that rates aircraft seats based on passenger reviews. If you want to get yourself some decent legroom or even a power outlet, search for your flight and choose the most popular seat before you book.
Stay Hydrated
We all know that liquids over 100ml are confiscated at security. This often means buying overpriced bottles of water once you’re through security checks – an expensive and environmentally unfriendly way of doing things.
Take an empty plastic bottle with you and fill it up at a drinking fountain past security to save the planet and some money.
Wear Your Heaviest Clothes
If you’re worried that your bag is going to be over the limit when it comes to weight, wear your heaviest clothes. Those chunky boots and that bulky coat won’t count towards your allowance if you’re wearing them. Also try to weigh your bags at home before you leave for the airport so you’re sure you won’t be facing any extra baggage fees.
Pay For the Priority Lounge
You can often pay a fee to access the priority lounge at an airport. This gives you a quiet place to wait, free refreshments, sometimes decent food and sometimes showers. Fancier lounges even provide spa treatments and mini cinemas.
All of this can be a godsend if you have a long layover between flights or your flight is experiencing delays.
You can also try to talk your way into the lounge for free by befriending someone passing by. Many lounges allow travelers with membership to admit one guest. You just have to have a sob story ready and hope that someone takes pity on you.
Get Quick Answers After a Cancellation
When a plane is cancelled, a seriously long line of disgruntled passengers forms waiting to learn what has happened and what to do next.
If you find yourself towards the back of this line, head online or call the airline directly.
Someone from their customer service team may be able to assist you much more quickly than the staff on the ground at the airport.
Choose the Fastest Queue
When you’re waiting to check in, choose the queue next to the First Class/Business check in.
When no one is waiting in line at that desk, staff will sometimes call over passengers waiting in the nearest queue.
You can also use a little psychology when deciding which lane to head for through security or at passport control. Studies show that, because the majority of us are right handed, when presented with two options we tend to head for the right hand queue. Joining the left hand queue could save you some serious time.
While these airport hacks won’t reduce your travel time or insure you from interminable delays, they can hopefully make your time in the airport a little cheaper and more bearable.
Happy flying everyone
Here are seven essential hacks to improve your airport experience just a little:
Save on Parking
If you’ve ever parked your car at the airport you know that it can sometimes end up costing you almost as much as your flight.
When you need to leave your car, especially if you’re looking for a long-term space, look beyond the airport website. Many local car parking spaces close to the airport can be found on sharing community sites like Spacer. This is a convenient and much cheaper option to booking with the airport direct.
Book the Best Seats
Seat Guru is a travel site that rates aircraft seats based on passenger reviews. If you want to get yourself some decent legroom or even a power outlet, search for your flight and choose the most popular seat before you book.
Stay Hydrated
We all know that liquids over 100ml are confiscated at security. This often means buying overpriced bottles of water once you’re through security checks – an expensive and environmentally unfriendly way of doing things.
Take an empty plastic bottle with you and fill it up at a drinking fountain past security to save the planet and some money.
Wear Your Heaviest Clothes
If you’re worried that your bag is going to be over the limit when it comes to weight, wear your heaviest clothes. Those chunky boots and that bulky coat won’t count towards your allowance if you’re wearing them. Also try to weigh your bags at home before you leave for the airport so you’re sure you won’t be facing any extra baggage fees.
Pay For the Priority Lounge
You can often pay a fee to access the priority lounge at an airport. This gives you a quiet place to wait, free refreshments, sometimes decent food and sometimes showers. Fancier lounges even provide spa treatments and mini cinemas.
All of this can be a godsend if you have a long layover between flights or your flight is experiencing delays.
You can also try to talk your way into the lounge for free by befriending someone passing by. Many lounges allow travelers with membership to admit one guest. You just have to have a sob story ready and hope that someone takes pity on you.
Get Quick Answers After a Cancellation
When a plane is cancelled, a seriously long line of disgruntled passengers forms waiting to learn what has happened and what to do next.
If you find yourself towards the back of this line, head online or call the airline directly.
Someone from their customer service team may be able to assist you much more quickly than the staff on the ground at the airport.
Choose the Fastest Queue
When you’re waiting to check in, choose the queue next to the First Class/Business check in.
When no one is waiting in line at that desk, staff will sometimes call over passengers waiting in the nearest queue.
You can also use a little psychology when deciding which lane to head for through security or at passport control. Studies show that, because the majority of us are right handed, when presented with two options we tend to head for the right hand queue. Joining the left hand queue could save you some serious time.
While these airport hacks won’t reduce your travel time or insure you from interminable delays, they can hopefully make your time in the airport a little cheaper and more bearable.
Happy flying everyone