6 Hacks and Tips that You Need to Know for Flights

Travel can be difficult and grueling, but it does not have to be. If you learn a few tips and tricks as you go, you will find that it becomes much easier. There is an old expression, getting there is half the fun. We don’t think they were talking about airports, but we can at least make it as easy as possible.

TSA Pre-Check

Doing a little bit of work up front, and paying a little bit of money, can save you a lot of time when you travel. If you travel a lot in the United States then this is definitely a thing you must do. TSA Pre-Check is a program that pre-clears you, and lets you use a special line, often bypassing the long busy lines that you would normally wait in. You have to be a USA Citizen and have no crimes on your record. Once you are in the program you can usually bypass having to take your shoes off, your belt off, or even removing your laptop.

Global Entry

If you travel a lot internationally than Global Entry is the way to go. Once you are approved and have Global Entry status, you automatically get TSA Pre-Check as well. You can apply online, but you still need to do an in-person interview. It can take a little bit of time to get Global Entry status but once you do it makes life so much easier. When you enter the country, customs and immigration are so much faster. This is for the USA, but many countries have their own similar version.

Round trip or one way

When you are booking flights, always check both round-trip and one-way prices. Very often there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to which is more expensive and which is cheaper. We have seen many times, that a round trip ticket is less than a one-way ticket. We have also seen that two one-way tickets can be less money than a round-trip ticket. So it’s a good idea to check both. If the round trip ticket is less than the one-way ticket, you can just cancel the return trip portion. I know that seems hard to believe, but it’s true.

Mileage

Make sure to maximize the mileage that you get. Try and book an airline within the same Alliance as the airlines that you have mileage cards for. You should make a point never to travel unless you are a member of their mileage club. You may never use it, but then again you may be surprised that you can afford a trip when they have a mileage sale.

Direct flights

Although this seems like common sense, always book a direct flight when you can. A layover might be a little bit cheaper, but the stress you can suffer from a delayed flight or a missed connection is not worth it. Spending 4 hours in an airport waiting for your next flight and saving $20 doesn’t make sense. Unless you value your time at $5 an hour, just take the direct flight when you can.

Travel insurance

Although this rarely gets used, if you travel a lot it is worth doing. You can also check online sites that will tell you what flights are usually chronically late or canceled. We have had many free flights from flights that have been delayed a few hours. Overall, in all our years of flying, we are well ahead by taking Flight insurance. If you just take direct domestic flights and have carry-on, it’s probably not worth it, but for international travel with connecting flights, travel insurance is a must

There are many more tips and tricks for when you travel, and a little bit of research online will open up your eyes. The tips we have given you today will help reduce your stress and make travel a much more pleasant experience. We wish you stress-free travel.