Frequent Flyers Reveal Their Best And Sneakiest Airport Hacks

Frequent Flyers Reveal Their Best And Sneakiest Airport Hacks

Leaving on a jet plane...

[rebelmouse-image 18349920 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

Traveling can be an adventure, but airports aren't most people's idea of fun. How can you make getting there when you travel as painless as possible?

A Reddit user asked ""Frequent Flyers of Reddit: What are Your Airport 'Life hacks?'."

Here are the tips and tricks from the experts.

Excess Baggage

[rebelmouse-image 18349922 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

There are 2 kinds of bags: those that get destroyed in cargo bins, and those that destroy other bags in cargo bins. Get the second kind of bag. Buy an aluminum-frame Luggage Works Stealth bag, or a Travel Pro. It's what all flight crew members use for a reason.

Reunited at Last

[rebelmouse-image 18349923 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

If you have a lot of time to kill, find the area in baggage claim where pets are reunited with their owners. It's a blast watching those dogs get out of their carriers, and they all behave differently.Paste

TSA PSA

[rebelmouse-image 18349924 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

If you are traveling internationally, sign up for Global Entry. It takes about an hour to fill out all the forms and you schedule a brief interview with a TSA representative who makes sure you aren't a crazy terrorist, but after that you essentially get to skip all the customs lines after returning to the US from an international trip. Trust me - it's worth it. Use TSA Pre-Check when traveling domestically as well.

Multipurpose Storage

[rebelmouse-image 18349925 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

I carry one of those neck pillows in it's neck pillow bag clipped on to my carryon. I put everything in there I want to have quick access to in the flight. My tablet, headphones, cables, and a pen if flying international. That way I don't have to get up and try digging through my carryon after I'm already seated.

Plus I leave that stuff in there and it doesn't have to touch the inside of the seat back pocket.

Dude, Where's My Car?

[rebelmouse-image 18349926 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

Take a picture of where you park so that when you return from a long trip, you remember.

Get Organized

[rebelmouse-image 18349927 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

Screenshot your boarding pass and keep your ID in your front pocket makes security as simple as possible. EVERYTHING goes in your bag before you even get in line (wallet, keys, belt, shoes).

Turn the brightness on your phone ALL THE WAY UP when presenting your boarding pass in security lines or when you board the plane.

Lock the orientation on your phone, with the QR code open, and place your phone about a foot above the scanner. Push the phone down onto the glass scanner, and then raise it back up. This is the best way to scan that QR code... those scanners can be finicky.

Making Connections

[rebelmouse-image 18349928 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

Do a little bit of homework and research the layouts of the airports you'll be flying into, especially regarding what airline fly out of what terminals. Do this before you book tickets so you can be sure you make connecting flights. I'm LAX based, and the entire airport is divided into separate terminals. If you arrive on Frontier and need to make a connecting flight on Delta, you have to exit security, then budget about 45 minutes (if you're fast) to either walk or take a bus from the Frontier terminal to the Delta Terminal, go through security AGAIN, and walk to your gate. It's amazing how many passengers flying through LAX leave 30 minutes to make a connection when they'll have to change terminals, which essentially guarantees you'll miss your flight. Just a little planning ahead will prevent things like this from happening.

City Guide

[rebelmouse-image 18349929 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

After traveling to the same cities multiple times, I make sure to know what each airport has to offer in case I have extra time there. For instance, Portland has a great little free theater with local short films. Many airports have massage places. Midway has a free use yoga studio. Sitting around being bored is for suckers.

In the Middle

[rebelmouse-image 18349930 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

This isn't as much of a hack as it is common sense, but be a courteous passenger. If you have the window seat, you get a nice view and a wall to lean your head up against. Leave the shade open for takeoff and landing, but other than that keep it closed so people can sleep. If you're in the aisle seat, you get a little extra space for your outside leg and arm, and easy lavatory access. The guy in the middle seat gets both arm rests because middle seats f'ing suck.

Choosing the Right Line

[rebelmouse-image 18349931 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

There's a clip in the film "Up In The Air" where George Clooney basically profiles the respective people in the security line. Watch it; everything he touches on is correct. Then choose your line accordingly.

Charge It!

[rebelmouse-image 18349932 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

If you lose or forget your phone charger, go to the airport lost and found. If they have any extras lying around, they'll just give them to you if they're been there long enough (usually 90 days).

Frequent Flyer Miles

[rebelmouse-image 18349933 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

If you fly a lot, get a rewards credit card with that airline. After flying frequently for work for a couple years, I now have platinum memberships with different airlines. Which means I get free checked bags, priority boarding, access to the lounge in airports that has free food and booze, and best of all free upgrades to first class if there are open seats. Not to mention all the free flights I've gotten from racking up points on the card. My company reimburses my flights, so I charge them to the card but get to keep all the points for personal use.

Customer Service Call

[rebelmouse-image 18349934 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

If weather/maintenance/delays/whatever is screwing you, and the airline sends you to the impossibly long customer service line where 600 people wait in line to be helped by a single poor Customer Service Associate, call the airline's customer support line while waiting in line - they'll do the same thing the CSA can do and it's probably quicker. Calling while waiting in line ensures you get helped ASAP.

Skymiles

[rebelmouse-image 18349935 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

If it takes more than twenty minutes for you to get your bag when you fly with delta you can get 2500 Skymiles by putting in a request here: www.delta.com/bagsontime

Catching Some Zs

[rebelmouse-image 18349936 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

Airport chapels are a great place to get some sleep.

Lounge Lizard Life

[rebelmouse-image 18349938 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

If you've got a long layover -- especially if you're on your own -- book yourself into the lounge. The time absolutely flies by, there are drinks and food, and you can chill out on the WiFi in a comfortable seat. Most places will give you three hours, but I've never been anywhere that actually checks (unless you're really taking the piss) and it costs about $50, but it makes an arduous journey a lot less of a pain in the ass.

Wi-Fi Makes Everything Better

[rebelmouse-image 18349939 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

This website lists the airport and airline lounge Wi-Fi passwords for most airports around the world. Enjoy the free Wi-Fi.

Flight School

[rebelmouse-image 18349941 is_animated_gif= dam=1 expand=1]

Top tip: be the pilot so that you have a solid door between you and the general public.

Companies That Shamelessly Make Terrible Products

Reddit user ricinonthecake asked: 'what companies shamelessly make sh*t products, year after year?'

Be it for clothes, household appliances, or food, sometimes you know you can be one hundred percent confident with certain brands or companies when shopping that you will be getting a quality product.

Unfortunately, this goes both ways.

Some companies have a reputation for exclusively selling and manufacturing low-quality products.

One would think that these companies might reflect on poor sales and bad customer feedback, and attempt to improve their brand with each passing year.

Unfortunately, even if they still get items on the shelf, reviews on Amazon and elsewhere still seem to remain at two stars or less.

Keep reading...Show less

The paranormal is among us at all times.

The ghosts, the spirits, they "live" in their death.

Sometimes a coincidence or a phenomenon is something more.

Leftover essences have been seen and recorded.

Now not everybody is cool with every encounter.

I still have shivers depending on the mood.

But when will we all be on the same page and start living 'Beetlejuice?'

Day-OH!

That could help with the spookiness of it all.

Keep reading...Show less
white police car in wall
Photo by Conor Samuel on Unsplash

Everyone does stupid things, and it's not limited to when you're young either.

When I was 10, my best friend and I snuck out of her house in the middle of the night and hitchhiked to Tukery Hill for ice cream. I can't even count all the ways that could've gone wrong.

Eight years later, my friend and I drove his new car on the sheets of ice on our college campus, trying to see how fast we could go.

The tires skidded on the ice several times, and back then, we thought it was fun.

The stupidity spurred on by impulsivity doesn't ever truly go away.

Redditors can attest to that, as they are sharing what may be the stupidest things they've ever done.

Keep reading...Show less

Customer service jobs are not for the faint of heart.

Dealing with people at their angriest and rudest does not breed a positive work environment.

Customer service can be a downright toxic job.

And if it's not the customers setting your spirit on fire, it's the companies themselves.

Some companies seem to revel in creating discontent.

That's why these types of jobs have such high turnover.

Redditor Psychological-Name15 wanted the customer service reps out there to give us some truths, so they asked:

"Customer service workers of Reddit, what secret can you reveal from your former company?"

I want to know about the inner workings of Comcast!!

I loathe them!

Oh Dear

Jennifer Lopez Smh GIF by American IdolGiphy

I used to work in tech support for Citi Bank. The people working there are not intelligent. My favorite interaction went like this..."

"Banker - How do I type the upside down I?"

"Me - Ma'am, that's an exclamation point."

slappy_mcslapenstein

The Crappy People

"In every CS job I’ve ever had: we will bend over backward to help a nice person. We will expedite any complaint, give maximum compensation, and harass other areas of the business for you."

"We will do the absolute bare minimum to help a shi**y person and if you’re really bad, we will do everything in our power to make sure you get nothing but what you’re legally entitled to and it will be a process to get that."

11catsinahumansuit

"I don’t work in CS but 100% the same for us in IT a nice person will get new stuff while a shi**y person will get questionable secondhand crap that will take 12 months to fix! I will make sure that you wait as long as humanely possible to have anything fixed!"

Sharp-Demand-6614

Go to Holiday Inn

"If you ask for a supervisor calling Marriott you will just get another person who is not a supervisor, but say they are."

cryptnificent

"Yep. I've seen this done numerous times across multiple industries. Usually, it only involves an actual sup if it's a genuine problem or if they want to make a point."

"The last job I had was in towing junk cars. Two of the inside buyers, one male, and one female, would bounce that sup card around constantly. Idk how no one ever put it together. We'd get repeat callers and repeat sellers so I don't know."

ItsBobFromLumbridge

Heartless

"Worked at a contracted call center for Centrelink. The manager told us to deny as many emergency payments as possible and they would back us no matter what. They were actively working towards a culture that despised the callers and churned staff to get heartless right-wingers who hated the poor."

Rizza1122

"I feel ya. My best mate is a quadriplegic. Centrelink denied his disability pension because he wasn’t disabled enough."

Less-Storage

Go to Home Depot

You Are Dumb Patrick Star GIF by SpongeBob SquarePantsGiphy

"I worked at Lowes. I didn't know anything about anything in the electrical department yet that's where they put me without any training."

Eattherich187

Not training people is not just a Lowes thing.

There are too many unqualified people doing too many things.

Switcharoo

Drag Race What GIF by TAZOGiphy

"Can confirm it's an unwritten policy for deli departments in Coles Supermarkets to change the written expiry dates on their tickets so they can sell out-of-code products at full price."

REDDIT

A Little Sunshine

"I worked at a call center for the billing department of a major internet and cable service provider. We were authorized to give up to $90 credit per customer on their bill but only as a last resort. Always remember to be nice to all customer service workers. You never know just how much they can help with a friendly attitude."

Axel_Dunce

"Former call center employee here. Highly accurate. Use your manners, and well fix your issue. Anything else, just makes us want to take longer, and you won't get a credit. Just because we are authorized, doesn't mean you'll get the credit for being an a**hat. haha. I've been verbally abused a few times for asking them not to swear at me. Lol."

Ok-Ad-7247

LELU

"I worked for a major telco company for many years in something called a ‘LELU’ which stands for Law Enforcement Liaison Unit. This 'unit' is pretty self-explanatory, but it essentially is a team who worked directly with the police/FEDS to monitor people's information for things such as obtaining communications history of call logs, SMS loss, etc."

"However, most importantly, the software we used, we as agents could directly see all your SMS texts, including MMS and their explicit imagery of whatever you were sending. This would include sexting, naked images, family photos, and everything. There were instances where people abused this position by stalking or 'monitoring' their SO’s comings and going’s."

MidniteMischief

Cookies!!

"I worked at a cafe chain called 'The Cookie Man,' 95% of their cookies arrived in cardboard boxes layered with bubble wrap. The last 5% arrived as pre-made dough that we would bake on-site to make the place smell like fresh cookies."

"I also worked at a cupcake shop. It's literally just packet mix that you add eggs and oil to before baking/piping pre-made icing onto. Don't waste your money on these places, 90% of these chain shops are the same and most are severely underpaying their workers (this is for Australia btw). Just purchase some packet mix from the supermarket and call it a day."

Frequent-Selection91

Look in the Back

"I was a Store Manager for a very large grocery chain and I can tell you that 95% of the time when customers complain to the manager, we may be professional and show empathy, and even resolve the problem."

"But then we usually just make fun of or talk crap about the person who complained to the other employees. And when a customer is really rude when we go 'look in the back' for something, we legit just stand around and talk to other employees, and make zero effort to look for the item."

A_Womans_Thoughts

From the Box

Kaitlin Olson Brunch GIF by The MickGiphy

"I once worked at 'the area's premiere day spa'; the mimosas were made with Sunny D and not real orange juice, and the wines came out of a box."

SailorVenus23

Sunny D and champagne?!?!

What in the name of Lucifer?

Who does that?!

Do you have anything to add? Let us know in the comments below.