Travel hack: - While waiting in line at the immigration, I observe which booth has the nicest and most lenient or most friendly-looking immigration officer. Then I switch to that line. - I book my accommodation near subway stations. - I study the city map / subway map before I arrive. I watch travel vlogs about that city before I arrive at my destination. - I bring clothes that are similar in color or just in 1 color but different shades to easily mix and match.
A tip for solo travellers. On long haul flights on a wide body aircraft book an aisle seat in the middle row right up the back of the plane. These are not popular seats and you may not have anybody seated next to you. During the flight you can lay across the seats as the middle row usually has 4 seats and so you have a flat bed for the price of an economy seat.
As an airport check-in agent, I found hack #2 hilarious but true. We are supposed to enforce the 7kg/8kg/10kg hand carry limit (varies depending on the airline), but honestly, the problem tends to be more the size of the bag than the weight. As long as the backpack doesn't look too big, we usually won't even bother weighing it, ESPECIALLY if you're nice to us.
I bet any job at the airport is more lit than 95 percent of the jobs out there. Free tickets for working with most airlines and great benefits. Drew didnt need to say all that tbh and u dont gotta laugh. What do u do? Do u even have a job
Also a travel hack: When you try to fly with more carry-on luggage then allowed, simply printed out the boarding pass at home or download it on your phone and pass any airlines representatives asking for carry-on‘s. Once you‘re at the gate the gate manager is likely to not notice your additional bags!
Its not possible because many airlines dont allow online checkin for the international destinations. They have to check passport /visa /return tickets at the checkin counter.
In Abu Dhabi this won't work with Etihad Airways. All you are allowed is 10 kg combined for carry on + laptop. The breakup is 7 kg for bag and 3 kg for laptop, but they weigh it together. I had an issue with them once cause my bag weighed 7kg but old heavy laptop weighed 4.5 kg. They were so adamant that i had to rearrange by chucking out my night wear and slippers in the bin and placing a half kg cheese box in my jacket pocket. Seriously did they expect me to shave off 1.5 kg off my laptop? They just wouldn't see reason that my bag was within the 7kg allowable limit.
It doesn’t work with all airlines mate I’ve seen some airlines check every single hand luggage, weighs it if it’s above the average weight limit gonna ask you to get rid of few things.
@@humblebee8334 I agree straight path. Etihad and Air India do that. It gets them a few bucks to keep the airline afloat otherwise they would sink. Mind you I said "afloat and not flying"...Lol!
Thanks for the tips, Drew. It's good to talk to the check-in staff anyway, makes the whole process better, and it's saved me from hassles a couple of times, as they are often the same crew checking your boarding passes as you board. There was a mistake with mine once, and the staff remembered me from our conversation. Problem solved. Other passengers took ages to sort out. Just one thing with the bag trick...avoid doing it on light aircraft. Light aircraft have a lot less tolerance for weight issues.
I'm going to share my travel tips when travel by land within my home country: 1. You need to have your own car because you can save more money than renting a car or use public transport. 2. If you want eat cheaper, go a bit outside from tourist area. Make sure you're quite good in local language because some can speak a little English (if you're lucky). 3. If you have bigger bottle (1L and up), you can refill at any refill place for only 10 cents 1 liter. 4. Make sure you have emergency number in case your car break down. If your car break down where mobile connection is not available, try get someone to help. 5. It is recommended to have Google Maps with you. Download offline because many places don't have data connection. 6. WiFi can be found everywhere! You need to ask them for WiFi. Some refuse to give WiFi despite got WiFi name found on the WiFi settings.
I usually get someone to hold my hand bag (which is usually always over 7kg) or leave it next to the check in if it's not that busy. If it has to be checked then I take the heavy items out, get someone to hold it check the bag for the required weight, then refill it with the heavy items.
As someone who checks people into their flights, and worked on 7+ airlines, I can say that the job isn't that boring, haha. But we'll always take a chat. The nicer you are to us, the more lenient we'll be with you. The availability on the flights also changes. I found that charter flights, and a country's airlines (like Iceland air) is usually pretty full, if not fully booked.
In Germany there are except in frankfurt no water fountains at the airports, the water in the sinks is warm, but hey, they sell condoms and vibrators in the bathrooms.
As a guy who runs a small tour company with global destinations, prior to COVID I was travelling constantly and 4 of these tips I use regularly. Didn’t know about four square, thanks!! Let’s hope I can put it to test!
Excellent tips - I use Hack #2 at border crossings and customs a lot - if you strike up a rapport with the border/customs agent they won't ask you very many questions (if any at all) and stamp you through without asking to see onward tickets, proof of funds, etc. Especially if you greet them with a "Hello" in their language and a smile.
*Welcome back to Africa Drew, but you already visited my country, hope you have good time in other countries while here. Africa is beautiful, thanks for letting the world know that!*
I have another travel hack. Instead of being cheap just check a bag. You’ll have a lot easier of a time packing and you won’t annoy people by fighting for overhead space
It's not always about money or being cheap, smartass. Many airports take forever to unload bags onto the luggage carousels. If it's international, you can then expect long lines at customs.
Always decline "do you want to continue with conversion" option during foreign ATM withdrawal, will save you 10-15%, most people think if you decline you will abort your withdrawal....no, you will withdraw with no conversion, your own bank will do it at much better rate(close to Forex)
If you're not staying in great hotels, carry a universal sink plug so you don't waste water or lose it before it runs out. I bought one for a trip to the Caribbean in 1995 after reading tips from travel journalists. My wife laughed about it, but the first place we stayed was in University accommodation and it was the only 'hack' that I used. These days some tips are substituted by a credit card, but the other tips that I can remember right now were: - a small bottle of Tabasco sauce or your most flavoursome favourite to spice up available, cheap, scary or boring food. - a portable washing line for drying clothes/beachwear - a collapsible hat with a brim to keep the rain off your glasses and the sun off your forehead - A nice non-iron shirt (and tie) or blouse or simple dress if there is a chance you might do something fancy - Make (one of) your main shoes and trousers plain dark ones for the same reason. - Pocket sized travel iron for the same reason - that was at a time when my laptop computer was the size of a small typewriter, had no hard drive and I carried 2 floppy disks for the program, the report and backup!
Siwon Youn we have South Korea office and since they need to file for a Mileage claim they were ask to fill the Mileage Calculator powered by Google Maps and they said it's not working for them. They can only provide maps from Naver.
Google Maps works in the air, on the airplane offline. As it's offline you won't get lots of detail but that's not why you would use it. The reason you would use it on the plane is to find out where in the world you are flying over. Many times you would use the one on your video screen on the seat, but with the giant airplane icon it's not so accurate. Google maps shows pretty much exactly where you are. Sometimes you need to just open maps and let the GPS find you for a few minutes but it always helps and I find it pretty handy. The other thing I do, is I have an ipod. It has a AM/FM Radio option. When I fly over countries it actually picks up the local radio stations as I fly over those cities. It's pretty interesting, they don't last long, but long enough to hear a few songs before switching.
Actually useful info for abroad. Much appreciated Drew. I fly a lot for work, and one thing not in my budget is the online option, because it would be $40 extra dollars i don't have 10x a month. Will have to ask for a seat in the front :) . Hope the next 26 countries come soon. Safe travels!
Another good tip is using Wikipedia to look up airports. Those pages show all the airlines and destinations of the airport. For example once I was wanting to fly from Hong Kong to Japan. I found Peach airlines this way and it was half the price of the airlines I found on Google Flights at the time which didn't seem to mention that. Or sometimes it helps plan. Like if you are country hopping and want to book direct flights it's much easier as you can see the list of direct flights available!
I used Google Maps in my last trip a few months ago and it works perfectly online, you don't have to do additional steps. The only thing is that you can't search for an address, but can move the map and keep your location live
My travel hack:- Most of the airlines charge hefty amount to pre-book the front and exit row seats. But if you check-in online 24 hours before the flight, you get the front and exit row seats for absolutely NO cost.
(Never traveled into a single country, but I'll try.) You can cross international borders but not those with danger like South Korea to North Korea. Or USA and Canada for some reason.
Hack #1 I'm doubtful would work if the flight is too full as the staff may not allow it but it doesn't hurt to ask i guess. Also hack#2 may not always work either if they are able to see your bag at your foot or if another airport official sees your bag prior to reaching the check in counter. When i was in Spain the airport a few months ago staff were checking people in line to see how many bags we had and passports while in line because the line was super slow and long so they wanted to expedite the process before we got to the counter to weigh our bags.
Here are 2 others. Pack your sweaters and heavy clothes inside your hand luggage. So you get more weight to put on your checked suitcase. Also if you need to recharge your phone by USB check the TV in your hotel room. Most TVs these days have a USB port somewhere where you can at least charge even though it takes time, but it will work overnight.
When booking flights with a friend, book the window and aisle with the middle seat in-between you, that way no one is going to pick that seat willingly and you have a good chance of having it free! If someone does sit there just say hey there's been a mistake with my ticket do you want to take the aisle seat so I can sit with my friend
If you flying out of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (Klia2) on Air Asia flight they do weigh every bag that u carry with u. Sp keep to max limit 7 kg
