24 Secret Flying Hacks You Didn’t Know You Needed

today I'm sharing all my favorite tips and hacks that truly feel like Travel cheat codes when it comes to Flying and air travel I promise there's at least one thing in this video that you haven't heard before I've got a bunch of random but super helpful tips everything from booking your flight to packing traveling with the carry-on getting through airport security in a breeze and how to be extra comfortable in economy seats let's start with the most important websites you need to be using to book your flights first we have Google flights if you have some flexibility with travel dates the Google flights explore feature shows you the cheapest airfare around the world if you're eyeing up a destination you can also set price alerts to be notified when the price changes it's also a great tool to show you the cheapest dates to travel as well as whether or not prices are currently high normal or low based on the flights you're looking to book but an even better way to do this and save hundreds if not thousands of dollars on flights is by setting cheap Fair alerts with fair drop so this is an app and it sends you notifications when flights drop in price from your home airport instead of searching and scouring the internet for flight deals it's basically like you have your own personal assistant doing it for you but my favorite part of fair drop is the flight deals on business class flights like this recent deal for business class seats to Edinburgh that are normally over $5,000 from my home airport they were going for $28 $100 so a savings of over $2,000 on this flight if you're interested in checking out fair drop and how it works I've got a link in the description of this video the next one is rome. travel Rome simplifies credit card rewards so it helps you find the best redemptions for your credit card points and airline miles all you do is just input your origin and destination airports as well as your date of travel and the search engine will show you how many points it will cost to fly via the different loyalty programs so in this example example I've got that you can fly from Las Vegas to New York City for $560 and 20,500 points while it is very possible to fly business class solely on credit card points not everyone wants to accumulate credit card debt or has the necessary credit score to apply for a premium credit card and depending on your home country you might have limited options for example as a Canadian I don't get access to nearly as many travel rewards programs and credit cards as my American friends so I wrote a guide on how to score cheap business class airfare like a pro without having to churn credit card points so if you're interested in this check out my blog post that I have Linked In the video description the next website is flight connections this website shows all non-stop flights from every airport to help you plan a long haul trip so if you need to figure out the best route to get somewhere in the least amount of connections this website will help you do that I also love using Flight Aware this website provides accurate real realtime flight tracking it will typically show if your flight is canceled or delayed before your airline sends you notification if you're a nervous flyer especially if it's because of turbulence then you need to check out tu.com this website gives you a turbulence forecast for your flight here's how it works you can check up to 36 hours before your flight you put in your departure and arrival points to find your flight so for example I have Toronto to Cancun and as you can see here it says we can expect episodes of modern turbulence but a smooth flight otherwise it also shows you during your flight time when you can expect the turbulence to show up as another example we have Las Vegas to New York and it shows just some light turbulence and a smooth flight overall now use your discretion for this one for some people this might cause you a little bit of extra anxiety knowing the turbulence might be coming for you but if you don't like surprises this could definitely help put you at ease let's move on to airport security tip tip number one put your possessions through the scanner in the order you need them to come out so that they can easily be repacked for example send your backpack through first so that as your items come out you can just place them right into your bag tip number two if you have a laptop or a valuable electronic place it in the middle or the second bin so for example I sandwich my valuables in between my personal item which goes in the first tray and my carry-on bag that goes in the last tray this just keeps your valuable stuff safe from getting mixxed up with all the other items and it also makes it simpler when you need to pack everything up luggage cup holders are a lifesaver if you aren't an octopus and only have two arms get yourself one of these luggage cup holders you just slip it over the handle of your suitcase and then you can travel through the airport with ease when you've got your cup of coffee your phone your passport airpods anything else you need quick access to now your hands free and not fumbling around now let's move move on to some things you need for inflight Comfort there's nothing worse on a long flight where you can't elevate your feet so for that I always pack my trusty foot hammock it simply attaches to the seat in front of you for an instant foot rest just make sure you're mindful of the person in the seat in front of you and avoid swinging or moving your feet around too much or you can also bring a beach ball these pack flat and once you're in the air all you have to do is blow it up and now you have a foot rest this is a 20-in size and I only partially inflate it so that it's a bit flat for more stability don't knock it till you try it for Long Haul flights bring a spare pair of dry socks to wear once you're settled in your flight this makes a world of a difference for feeling fresh and brushing your teeth is the quickest way to feel human again after a long flight are you someone who likes to board the plane first purchase an emergency exit row seat not only do you get more leg room but guests in these seats get priority boarding so you can be first on the the plane without having to be in first class or have some sort of extra status if you're on a plane with two rows of exit seats the first row does not recline because this could obstruct the row behind it so if you plan on reclining your seat go for the second row also try to book the left side which is the port side of the plane because the flight safety demo kit is usually in the overhead bin on the starboard side so this leaves a little less room for your carry-on luggage just a little tip have you tried the middle seat hack if you're traveling with a partner or a friend try booking an aisle seat and a window seat there's a big chance no one will book the middle seat and you'll get the whole row to yourselves this is my overhead bin tip put your carry-on in the bin or the rack across from your seat it's much easier to grab at the end of your trip or it helps you keep an eye on it if you're a bit of a nervous traveler moving on to packing tips for your flight my number one tip is to fly carryon only there are so many benefits to this but I think the biggest benefit is just just the freedom that you get even if you're checking a bag make sure you still bring a bag as a carry-on and pack a complete outfit in this bag delayed baggage is extremely common and it's best to ensure you have backup clothes so that you can at least have a fresh outfit while you wait for your bag now when it comes to carryon what bag do you use well this bag is my newest favorite this is the aluminum carryon that looks like a 15 $0000 luxury raoa but it's nowhere near that price it's from the Brand level 8 which I have featured in past videos they actually sent me this bag as a thank you for getting over 1 million views on my previous video about carry-on travel hacks so thank you so much you guys for watching that video but they sent me this bag to test it out and try it out and if I liked it feature it in a video and I have used it a couple of times and I really do actually love it and as always level eight has no input or anything about what I say about this bag in this video so rest assured these are all my own opinions now this bag is what I call a buy once cry once item it seems a little expensive at first but you will literally have it forever and you won't need to buy another bag over the years I've spent 80 bucks here and then a couple years later I've dropped another 100 bucks on another bag and over the last 10 years I've probably bought three or four different carry-ons and if I had just bought one bag I would have saved money by now here's a few things I think you will love about this bag the first thing you'll notice is it doesn't have any zippers just these two buckles which are also TSA locks so it's really easy to get in and out of for instance this was actually super handy when I needed to grab something mid-flight from the overhead bin I didn't have to unzip the entire thing just two clicks of the Buckle and it was open this also adds to safety no zippers means it's a lot harder to break into anyone can use a ballpoint pen to bust through the zipper if they really wanted to so this bag just adds that extra layer protection it's got soft clo handles and the telescopic handles work for all Heights whether you're 5'1 or 6'9 it also comes with a bonus of packing cubes and a good set is going to run you about $50 to $70 anyways so that's a nice added feature and they have something I've never seen before these little interchangeable tags to label what's inside the packing cubes and if you're notorious for overpacking like I used to be having a hard shell suitcase you literally cannot overpack so I think this is actually a really good thing because it teaches you how to not overpack and once you learn how to travel light and super minimalist your life will change overall I think it's a super classy and elegant bag it kind of reminds me of a briefcase filled with money like you would see in a heist movie or something now it is about 10 lb so it's a little on the heavier side if you do need something that's lighter I have a list of the best lightweight carryon bags that are under 6 lb or 3 Kg that is is up on my blog you can check the link in the description or you can visit my Amazon storefront where I have the best ones listed there but if you're planning a few trips coming up and you want to invest in a bag I think this is a great choice if you want to check it out head to the level 8 website I've got the link in the description there's also a code for 20% off right now and I also recommend checking prices on Amazon because I have noticed they do fluctuate a lot over there okay let's get back to a few more tips about choosing your seats on the plane if you're not planning to sit in the exit row there are a few seats you do want to avoid on any plane so don't choose the seats that are directly in front of the exit row seats as these don't recline either also the very back seats don't recline however there are some advantages to sitting at the very back you'll be closest to the washroom and this is the highest chance of getting a row all to yourself because most people don't like sitting back there you can also use the free website called seat Guru to help you choose the best seat for your flight all you do is type in your flight number and it'll show you the seating chart for the plane that you'll be on it's really helpful because it also shows you the seats that might not be as desirable like seats that have no window if you plan to bring a personal bag that can be stored under the seat in front of you where it should go not in the overhead bin choose your seat carefully so the aisle seats have the least amount of room and the window seats have the most room almost double the size of the aisle seat and much bigger than the middle seat if you're flying with a pet in the cabin I recommend sitting by the window because you've got the most space under the seat in front of you and you won't be able to fly in the emergency exit rows if you have a pet with you if you want more information about what it's like flying with a pet in the cabin with you I have a full video which covers everything you need to know about that and to make the most of your carry-on luggage buy the biggest bag that you can fit under the seat in front of you this is the bag that I use and it fits perfectly under the seat and it holds enough items for a two-day or a weekend trip so if you're only traveling for a couple of days at a time you can get away with just a personal item and not have to pay for any luggage at all if you need help with packing and flying carryon only I have a few videos on my channel I've got a video that shows you exactly what I pack for a two-e trip and I also have a video about how to pack your liquids for carry-on luggage so please check those out if you need more specific details on what to pack and how to pack and if you want even more tips like this I actually just published an ebook that covers 87 of my biggest and best travel tips and you can get that for free on my website I hope you enjoyed this video I hope you learned something from it if you have a favorite flying tip that I didn't cover in this video drop it in the comments below I would love to hear it thank you so much for watching and I'll see you in the next one

Channel: Aly Smalls

Views: 666,540

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Id: DqVaSdxMQj8

Length: 12min 49sec (769 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 18 2023