Traveling is great – we all do it (usually around this time of the year) and we look forward to it. The actual process, though, of getting yourself and your prized possessions from one place to another can be stressful – there are a handful of things that could go wrong and spoil the fun of your trip. We scoured the internet for the best tips, tricks, and travel hacks it had to offer for making traveling easier. The following list contains some of the ones we found to be most practical and imaginative.
1. Turn on “private browsing” when you’re buying your airline tickets.
Many airlines’ websites will increase the price of a ticket if the site recognizes that you’ve visited it before. It’s one way airlines can trick you into panicking and buying your ticket before you otherwise might have (when you realize the price is starting to increase before your eyes, or so it seems). If you shop in “private browsing,” the airline’s website won’t be able to detect that you’ve been there before and it won’t show you an increased price (at least, not for that reason).
Hint: For the best prices, you should also buy on a Tuesday around 3pm.
2. When you get to the airport, head for the security checkpoint that is furthest to the left.
For some reason, people tend to turn right more often than they turn left. (It’s why the more expensive products at the grocery store are on the right side of the aisle). If you turn left at security, chances are there will be a shorter wait on that side.3. Pick a morning flight.
A lot of people hate getting up early, so really early flights tend to be cheaper. Plus, if you’re prone to motion sickness, you’re more likely to avoid turbulence if you take an early bird flight. Thunderstorms and variations in air pressure tend to happen in the afternoon, as the heat from the day has a chance to rise up.
4. If you like to drink on your flights, you are allowed to bring those little bottles through security. Enough said.
5. If you’re driving in a big city or parking in a huge parking lot (like at Disney World), you can open up Google Maps on your smartphone and drop a pin at your location so that you’ll remember where you parked later on.