I travel a lot. You would be amazed at what I’ve seen on my travels. People trying to bring their entire bathrooms in their carry on suitcase, people just don’t seem to think things through when they get on a plane. So I thought I would make it dead simple for you and give you some of my best little travel tip nuggets I’ve learned along the way. Follow these rules, and you will be the travelling rock star, and save yourself a ton of time at the airport.

Before Even Getting to the Airport

Make sure you buy the right ticket. If you want a direct ticket, buy a direct flight. So many people don’t check this and end up on a flight that stops in multiple cities.

Next, make sure you check-in to your flight before you head to the airport, 24 hours before your flight. This way, you can pick your best seats if you want to move, and make sure you have a spot saved for you on the plane.

When you pack, try and fit everything in your carry-on bag. Make sure your carry-on bag can actually fit everything in it and is regulation size for a carry-on bag. If you need more space, then you will have to check your bag.

I’ve gotten really good at fitting everything in my carry-on for up to a 5 day business trip. I have an amazing bag that is just amazing and worth every single penny. Carrying-on will save you a ton of time because you can check in at home, and when you get to the airport, you can just go right to security! Also, when you leave the airport, you don’t need to get your bag at the luggage carousel! You can just head right to the cab or person picking you up.

Get Ready for Security before Security

You are going to need to either go through a metal detector, or a scanner. Either way, when you go through security, you can’t have any metal on you or you will set off the machine and slow everything down. Instead of waiting until it’s your turn to put items into the bins, get ready before hand while you’re standing in that huge line! Take off your belt, jewellery, and any change or wallet you have and put it in your carry on. Do you have a jacket, laptop, or other items like toiletries? Everything has to go in bins. Are you wearing shoes? Take them off.

Before Boarding the Plane

This varies depending on the airline you use, but these tips will work generally speaking. Make sure you have your boarding pass out and have your ID handy just in case you need it. If it’s an international flight, you will need your passport. Make sure it’s open to the picture portion, and have your boarding pass inserted into the document on that page. Makes it very easy.

You should have a boarding group number as well. Find that make sure you listen to the instructions so everyone can board quickly. There is a reason why certain people board before others, and it’s mostly to make sure the plane leaves as fast as possible, which is what everyone wants.

If you have a carry-on bag with you that’s fairly large, make sure the plane you are getting on isn’t too small for the bag. If you think it might be an issue, make sure you get a green gate check tag for your bag.

Boarding the Plane

If you have a roller bag or suitcase, close the handle and carry it when you are getting on the plane. Almost every flight I see at least one person attempt to roll the bag down the aisle of the plane, banging every single seat back and forth as they make their way to their seat. You are slowing everything down, and hitting people with your bag. If it is too heavy to carry down the aisle, your bag is likely too heavy and you should have checked the bag!

Make sure you know where you are sitting before you get onto the plane. Chances are you have been sitting for a while waiting to board, so there is no excuse for you not to know where you are sitting. If you have a carry-on bag, try and find an open bin and place your bag in the bin.

Once you’re seated, be polite to your neighbour! A nice “Hi there I will be your neighbour!” seems to work really well if you don’t know what to say. You’d be amazed at how many people you will meet on the plane that could be lasting connections for you in the future.

Take-Off

When the door shuts, you need to turn off your electronics. Cell phone, smart phones, iPads, laptops, anything with power needs to be off. And let’s all be honest with something, none of that stuff can actually interfere with the plane, BUT they do want you to pay attention for the first 10 to 15 minutes in case something goes wrong. If the plane happens to have audio jacks for your ear bud headphones, you can plug into that if you want to drown out some noise.

Make sure you have your seatbelt on, and also make sure your tray table is up, and your seat is not reclining back.

During Flight

Once you have been in the air for 10 to 15 minutes, you will hear two beeps, this tells the flight attendant it is safe to start regular service of the plane, and tells her she can let everyone use their tech geeky toys. Keep your seat belt on while you’re seated, unless you need to head to the bathroom or stretch your legs or something.

Also, if you don’t need to recline your chair, don’t do it. It’s crowded enough on planes now, and you reclining your chair basically sticks your head into the person behind you. It’s not very nice to do. Also, let’s talk about the reading light. If it’s a red eye flight and the lights are off, don’t be the person that turns their reading light on. Seriously, it can wait.

Just before you are ready to land, take some time to put away anything you took out during the flight. Have your carry-on bag ready to go. I always do a double check of the seat back pocket to ensure I didn’t accidentally leave something there that I might forget. Do you remember what bin your roller bag or jacket is in? Now is a good time to think back and be ready.

Landing and Taxi

Stay seated. Once you land and you are off the runway, you can turn on your cell phones and smart phones. You have to keep your seatbelt on until you are at the gate and you hear the beep and the seatbelt light comes off. Once the seatbelts on light is off, if you are in the aisle, make sure you stand up, grab you bag and your overhead bin items, and let the person by the window or middle seats to get ready as well.

Once In the Terminal

Ok so you are in the Terminal again. First thing you should do is double check your gate if you have a connection and make sure you have enough time to make it to your next flight. There should be monitors everywhere for you to check this. Don’t ever rely on the boarding pass to tell you what your gate is, as they move quite frequently.

If you are at your final destination, just make your way to the baggage claim. Follow the signs, and if you don’t know where to go, generally speaking most of the crowd from your flight is going to the baggage claim.