Long flights life hacks

[FD1000]

We only use a carry-on and an additional item; in my case, it's a large, soft briefcase. I store both up; I've never had a problem.
Economy seats' width is equal to comfort+.
If drooling or baby noise bother you, the distance is the same.

This is another huge perk. You leave the plane 2 minutes early.

The most important thing in vacations is the experiences, but if expensive flights and hotels do it for you go ahead.
I have been using melatonin for years.

 

[5Miler]

Economy seats width are equal to comfort+.

In my opinion, Comfort+ seats are equal to economy seats with free beer.

Not for me if I can possibly avoid it.

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

In my opinion, Comfort+ seats are equal to economy seats with free beer.

I agree. I reckon I pay thousands of dollars a year for a few bottles of wine! BTD!

 

[FD1000]

I agree. I reckon I pay thousands of dollars a year for a few bottles of wine! BTD!

We also get free wine in the cheap seats on long flights.

 

[RetiredHappy]

I don't even drink alcohol and fly business class. It's not about the alcohol, it's about COMFORT.

 

[Music Lover]

I don't even drink alcohol and fly business class. It's not about the alcohol, it's about COMFORT.

We've flown both economy and premium. While the comfort is better, it's not so much better that we feel it's worth the large premium, unless the price difference is small.

 

[RetiredHappy]

We've flown both economy and premium. While the comfort is better, it's not so much better that we feel it's worth the large premium, unless the price difference is small.

It's about one's priority and tolerance. I just won't fly if I have to fly economy or economy plus or whatever the next step up is called. Neither is right or wrong.

 

[NoiseBoy]

Going back to my previous post ATL to Paris. Economy was $1000, the next level is $1900+
for extra 3-4 more inches leg space and a better padded seat.

The next level is over $3200.

I agree with your math, but I disagree with your conclusions. In my experience flying mostly from Chicago to Europe, premium economy seat are double the cost of coach, and business class is double the cost of PE, so four times the price of the cheapest seat. Check. But how to value those price differences is what the free market is all about.

Premium cabin tickets are more than just wider seats with more legroom. They nearly always include at least one checked bag which is roughly a $50 value each way. They include dedicated overhead storage so you don't have to worry about finding a place for your carryon. This is important to me as I am 6' 3" tall and let me tell you, life sucks in economy when the person in front of you puts their seat all the way back. I can hardly shift my legs, so imagine feeling trapped for hours. No thanks.

The better airlines also include priority check-in and baggage handling with their premium economy tickets. We usually have our own bathrooms and dedicated cabin attendants so we get better service. International business class tickets will include lounge access and this is a perk that I have come to really appreciate. Not so much for the free food and booze, but rather for the quiet place to wait for my flight and the clean bathrooms

There are some cons to premium economy class. The design for most of the seats means that the fixed and wide arm rests between adjacent seats can make it pretty hard for the window seat passenger to get out if the people in the row in front recline their seats all of the way. The solution to this is to try for the first row in the PE cabin, or select an aisle seat. Lately, I've noticed that some airlines are making PE passengers pay to select their seats ahead of time which I feel is pretty miserly of them.

 

[Koolau]

It's about one's priority and tolerance. I just won't fly if I have to fly economy or economy plus or whatever the next step up is called. Neither is right or wrong.

I think it's called "allocation of resources." We have just so many resources and we allocate them in a way that brings us the most pleasure and perceived utility. No "right" or "wrong" about it.

Carry on.

 

[FD1000]

Can you think of another service with millions of customers that, if you want the top tier, you pay 6 times more, and we are talking thousands more?

Last time I flew to Australia and back, we had 4-seaters and 3-seaters.
The year before
* It was New Zealand; we had only 2-seaters each.
* Europe twice, just one seat, what can you expect from a $500 ticket?
I'll take it.
The next trip is to India.

As I said before, I never had a problem finding a place for my carry-on and another smaller bag. Carry on means we never lost our luggage, always on time for connections, and very light carrying around during the vaction.

Most of what I learn about traveling, I did from the master consumer guru, Clark Howard. See his site (Clark.com). We immigrated to the US in 1991. Clark sold his travel agency for about 2 million on that years.
Then, he started talking on a local show; within several years, his show was syndicated to many stations over the USA. He also had a TV show. Travel was only a small subject. Clark has been teaching his listeners about investments, annuities, and much, much more. He was so passionate that he started a consumer center helping people. He would talk about bad companies and/or take it with their no consumer service getting clients their money or a good service.
Clark used to say. You should fly to places you want to see when the price is low. You will cover the world. Use only a carry-on, and never check luggage before. Clark used to stay in hotel like Hampton Inn and Fairfield Inn. You get it all: free parking, free good breakfast, nice rooms, and great service. During the time I worked, I stayed in better hotels. The only major difference was that these hotels had much bigger and nicer lobbies. Many of them don't supply you with breakfast. We don't care about the lobby.
Example: WOW The Icelandic airline offers $99 flights each way from several main US cities. It was one of the best countries to see.

 

[CO-guy]

Can you think of another service with millions of customers that, if you want the top tier, you pay 6 times more, and we are talking thousands more?

Last time I flew to Australia and back, we had 4-seaters and 3-seaters.
The year before
* It was New Zealand; we had only 2-seaters each.
* Europe twice, just one seat, what can you expect from a $500 ticket?
I'll take it.
The next trip is to India.

Um, sure.

• How about hotels? The cost of an ocean view (or other view) suite is typically multiples of a basic hotel room with a poor view at the same property.
• Rental cars? I prefer a small "economy" vehicle, but renting a convertible or some other specialty vehicle is multiples of that cost. Sometimes 10-15% times the cost.
• Cruises? A balcony suite is again multiples of an interior cabin.
• Restaurants? The difference between black and white truffles alone.

If there's a point, I'm missing it, but good luck on your travels!

 

[FD1000]

Um, sure.

• How about hotels? The cost of an ocean view (or other view) suite is typically multiples of a basic hotel room with a poor view at the same property.
• Rental cars? I prefer a small "economy" vehicle, but renting a convertible or some other specialty vehicle is multiples of that cost. Sometimes 10-15% times the cost.
• Cruises? A balcony suite is again multiples of an interior cabin.
• Restaurants? The difference between black and white truffles alone.

If there's a point, I'm missing it, but good luck on your travels!

Here is the big difference. A flight is one day, less than 24 hours. Flights have been used by millions around the world every day. I still can't find anything so expensive for such a short service.
The airlines have been pushing premium pricing up.
Delta used to charge just 30% more for comfort+ now they charge 60-80% more and this is where the difference in revenue is the highest

 

[brett]

The very best tip that we could give anyone doing travel, especially extended independent travel,is to travel with international carry on size/weight bags if you plan on some in country domestic travel by any means.

We have been doing this for months at a time over the past 14 years of retirement. At departure my spouse complains. At our arrival airport she looks at me and says thank goodness we pack light with carry on. Without fail.

It means we can get our fav. small Fiat rental in Europe and easily hide our luggage in the back. Or travel by bus, rail, walk on ferry, or mini van without having to drag overweight suitcases or lift them into overheads.

Challenging at first. But when you come to realize that you cannot pack for three weeks or three months of clean clothes it becomes obvious that you will need a lavenderia or laundry service. So we only pack for six or seven days. Do you really need four pairs of shoes, piles of makeup, jewelry,etc.

After years of suits and ties it is a relief not to pack dress up clothing, 'sunday beads', fancy jewelry, or even attempt to fool ourselves by attempting to 'dress like the locals' Believe me....they know we are out of towners by our clothing, hair styles, and of course when we open our mouths and speak.

So why bother because there is not way we can fool ourselves that we will 'fit in' with the locals. Euope, SE Asia, Africa, S/C America. Perhaps OZ or the UK but that is about it.

 

[CO-guy]

The very best tip that we could give anyone doing travel, especially extended independent travel,is to travel with international carry on size/weight bags if you plan on some in country domestic travel by any means.

We have been doing this for months at a time over the past 14 years of retirement. At departure my spouse complains. At our arrival airport she looks at me any says thank goodness we pack light with carry on. Without fail.

It means we can get our fav. small Fiat rental in Europe and easily hide our luggage in the back. Or travel by bus, rail, walk on ferry, or mini van without having to drag overweight suitcases or lift them into overheads.

Challenging at first. But when you come to realize that you cannot pack for three weeks or three months of clean clothes it becomes obvious that you will need a lavenderia or laundry service. So we only pack for six or seven days. Do you really need four pairs of shoes, piles of makeup, jewelry,etc.

After years of suits and ties it is a relief not to pack dress up clothing, 'sunday beads', fancy jewelry, or even attempt to fool ourselves by attempting to 'dress like the locals' Believe me....they know we are out of towners by our clothing, hair styles, and of course when we open our mouths and speak. So why bother because there is not way we can fool ourselves that we will 'fit in' with the locals. Euope, SE Asia, Africa, S/C America. Perhaps OZ or the UK but that is about it.

We've reserved a small Fiat for part of our European adventures this summer, so it's good to know there's space to hide two small bags.

We'll be traveling for a month and both carry just a small (30L) bag that fits under the seat if needed. We only carry 4-5 days of clothing and a second pair of footwear. Having only merino wool socks and underwear has made a huge difference. This has definitely been my biggest overall travel hack, including merino wool compression socks that I wear on long flights as well as on other long travel days.

 

[brett]

We've reserved a small Fiat for part of our European adventures this summer, so it's good to know there's space to hide two small bags.

We'll be traveling for a month and both carry just a small (30L) bag that fits under the seat if needed. We only carry 4-5 days of clothing and a second pair of footwear. Having only merino wool socks and underwear has made a huge difference. This has definitely been my biggest overall travel hack, including merino wool compression socks that I wear on long flights as well as on other long travel days.

Dito...this exactly. The other thing for us is an international carry on sze that that has high quality in line rollers that can be serviced or replaced in about ten minutes flat if need be. And a good, sturdy pull handle.

 

[brett]

We've reserved a small Fiat for part of our European adventures this summer, so it's good to know there's space to hide two small bags.

We'll be traveling for a month and both carry just a small (30L) bag that fits under the seat if needed. We only carry 4-5 days of clothing and a second pair of footwear. Having only merino wool socks and underwear has made a huge difference. This has definitely been my biggest overall travel hack, including merino wool compression socks that I wear on long flights as well as on other long travel days.

Dito...this exactly. The other thing for us is an international carry on sze that that has high quality in line rollers that can be serviced or replaced in about ten minutes flat if need be.

Our very first choice, always, is a Fiat Panda, std transmission. Easy to drive, easy to park, and the covered liftback area exactly covers two carry on rollers!

 

[rodi]

Can you think of another service with millions of customers that, if you want the top tier, you pay 6 times more, and we are talking thousands more?

I can think of a lot.
- high end iphone with an expensive plan vs a prepaid flip tracphone.
- cable or satellite with lots of premium movie and sport channels vs OTA antenna.

.,. If you want this be specific to travel:
-renting a car or only using taxis, vs using buses/Metro
- renting 5 Star hotels vs a private room in a hostel. Renting a villa vs a studio Apt on Airbnb.

My point is that every one makes choices based on their own preferences, priorities, and budget.

 

[FD1000]

Fiat. Never liked the brand. I prefer Japanese or Korean because I know where everything is, but I can find most things pretty quickly with other brands. The worst are French or English vehicles; they are different.
I usually get a hatch. The Corolla and the Yaris are both excellent, as Toyota is my favorite company. We get in and start the car, and our phones work right away.
In the US I never liked small cars and refused to drive in them with others because of the safety issues. In other countries where most vehicles are smaller, it is OK, and they are easier to drive in the city.
We pack mostly athletic clothes that you can wash and are ready within several hours. These clothes are great for walking and hiking in temperatures as cold as 30 to 90 degrees. Merino socks are the answer for 20 to 100 degrees. We also pack a light coat and a heavier coat, which are great in the rain. The secret is layers. We also use hiking pants even if we mostly do cities. They are very light, good for the sun and wind, rain-resistant, and washable, with many pockets.
Most times we prefer 50-80 but sometimes you can't avoid it. When we were in NZ in March of 2023 and climbed Aoraki / Mount Cook(link), it was around 40 degrees, windy, rainy, and freezing, but the views were world-class amazing.
After the first time, my wife got used to one carry-on + another item, and loves it.

============

Rodi, none of the things you mentioned cost $6K more per day and are used by millions. We never slept in hostels or camping. Our cheapest hotels were Motel 6 when we were young and traveled 2 months in the US and Canada in 1983.
The airline figured out there are people who would pay that additional money. I bet if they raise it another $1K, they would still sell these seats. The unspoken secret is the economy seats in the back, where most times we find empty seats on long flights.

 

[dixonge]

Our 16-day South American cruise this coming December has now ballooned into a 5-week, 4-day adventure. TONS of connecting flights in every which direction. Everything from economy to Business Class. No car rentals. On top of the Cruise shore excursions we'll visit Iguazu Falls, Easter Island and Machu Picchu. But only four new countries for us. Huh. Three different airlines (so far). Still juggling schedule, nothing booked but the Cruise and excursions bought from the Cruise line.

 

[rodi]

Rodi, none of the things you mentioned cost $6K more per day and are used by millions. We never slept in hostels or camping. Our cheapest hotels were Motel 6 when we were young and traveled 2 months in the US and Canada in 1983.

But that's not what you said. You said six times more, not $6k more

My point remains, everyone has things they find important and are willing to pay more for, and things that are not important to them.

I should mention that hubby is 6'4" and I'm 5'9" but "wide". Longer trips in economy are literally painful.

I stalk airline prices from 330 days out looking for dips in premium economy or. Biz classes. I have the time, I'm retired.

 

[brett]

Our 16-day South American cruise this coming December has now ballooned into a 5-week, 4-day adventure. TONS of connecting flights in every which direction. Everything from economy to Business Class. No car rentals. On top of the Cruise shore excursions we'll visit Iguazu Falls, Easter Island and Machu Picchu. But only four new countries for us. Huh. Three different airlines (so far). Still juggling schedule, nothing booked but the Cruise and excursions bought from the Cruise line.

Iguazu Falls was one of the highlights of our cruise/independent South America snowbird trip.

The other very nice surprise (to us) was our 12 days in Uruguay. We only got there because the flight from Santiago to BA was going to be $350 each. We demurred in favor of $75 dollar flight to Montevideo. So...we added Uruguay to our plans. A few days in Montevideo, then a rental car to Punta D'este area, etc Brilliant. Dropped the car back in Montevideo, than a short bus ride Colonia. A full day there there and a short ferry ride across the bay to BA.

We did the Iguazu booking on our own. It was a snap. Ended up calling the 1-800 NA Aerolineas line. They suggested I could book by calling their in country BA call center direct. That we would have more choices of flight. Gave me the number, their business hours, said English is no issue. The only glitch...we had to pay for each ticket seperately because the cost exceeded some FX rule at that time.

We followed that advice and had our return flights booked in 15 minutes. Better flight times and lower prices than showed up on the web! You defininely do not need a guide for Iguaz

 

[FD1000]

But that's not what you said. You said six times more, not $6k more

My point remains, everyone has things they find important and are willing to pay more for, and things that are not important to them.

I should mention that hubby is 6'4" and I'm 5'9" but "wide". Longer trips in economy are literally painful.

I stalk airline prices from 330 days out looking for dips in premium economy or. Biz classes. I have the time, I'm retired.

I already said many times, your money, your choice.
But I also discussed the rediculous price difference for flights lasting 7 to 15-20 hours.
I posted the prices and calculated how many times more you have to pay.
At least when you pay double for a vehicle, you use it for years.

 

[CO-guy]

Dito...this exactly. The other thing for us is an international carry on sze that that has high quality in line rollers that can be serviced or replaced in about ten minutes flat if need be.

Our very first choice, always, is a Fiat Panda, std transmission. Easy to drive, easy to park, and the covered liftback area exactly covers two carry on rollers!

That's wonderful! Would you mind sharing what brand of roll-aboard luggage has replaceable wheels that can be field serviced? That's a huge travel hack.

We rarely travel with anything more than our small backpacks, but our roll-aboard bags are nearing 20 years old, and starting to show their age on those rare occasions we pull them out.

From what I recall, we reserved a Fiat 500 for this trip, but have driven Pandas in the past. Always a manual, especially for hills, traffic circles, etc.

 

[Koolau]

But that's not what you said. You said six times more, not $6k more

My point remains, everyone has things they find important and are willing to pay more for, and things that are not important to them.

I should mention that hubby is 6'4" and I'm 5'9" but "wide". Longer trips in economy are literally painful.

I stalk airline prices from 330 days out looking for dips in premium economy or. Biz classes. I have the time, I'm retired.

How do you prevent the airlines/bookers from tracking your queries (to raise your prices if you seem interested)?

 

[FD1000]

Panda up to 2024 is a low rating car with terrible crash tests and low horsepower.
Yaris is a much better car. Although I drove gearshift for many years I only rent automatic because it's easier to maneuver and park in tight spaces, especially in new cities.

Fiat Panda (2012-2024) - Reliability and safety | Auto Express

The ageing Panda’s Euro NCAP safety ratings leave a lot to be desired

www.autoexpress.co.uk

How safe is the 2024 Toyota Yaris Cross?

howsafeisyourcar.com.au is an easy way to view and compare the safety ratings of cars, take a look and try it yourself.

howsafeisyourcar.com.au

Last time when we were in Italy I rented Benz c2000 for another $300 for 2 weeks because all the small cars were crappy. This is where I go Large.
There are always deals, you just have to find them.
Use Skyscanner.
I don't drive in unsafe vehicles, 2 friends died. One is a Miata and another one in Fiesta. I pleaded with both. I used to play Bridge with my neighbor, the Miata guy and I always drove.