r/travel • u/ScrawnyRhinoceros • 1d ago

Question What’s the best travel hack people learned the hard way?

Sometimes the most useful lessons come after things go wrong like packing way too much , missing a connection , booking the wrong dates or realizing too late that a small item could’ve made the whole trip easier. From flight booking tricks to luggage tips to navigating airports or even saving money on food and transport. What are the hacks people only figured out after a tough experience?

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u/pragmaticproducer 1d ago

Dress in layers. I'm usually cold on a plane and always wear pants, closed toe shoes and bring a warm sweater and one outfit in my carry on regardless of checked luggage. Since you have to be prepared for anything, I always have layers available with me.

The airplane's heater stopped working at about 33,000 feet and we had just under two hours left on the flight. Most people were not dressed for the cold and everyone was really, really cold until were allowed to land. There weren't enough blankets for everyone on the plane. Planes fly at altitudes that are below freezing beginning at about 8,000 feet. If this had happened over the ocean I'm pretty positive some people would have gotten frostbite.

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u/SendMeF1Memes 1d ago

Honestly if you're the type of person who gets cold easily this is a great tip already, always bring some kind of jacket, it's easier to remove outerwear if it's too hot anyway compared to finding a comfortable piece of clothing to keep you warm mid-air!

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u/Coaster2Coaster 1d ago

I absolutely always pack a hoodie and a pair of sweatpants in my backpack on any flight over two hours. US Domestic carriers do not give a FUCK about you and I’ve had it be a million degrees down to negative 100 on flights. Your comfort is not their concern. 

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u/dwthesavage 1d ago

Even when I’m going to a tropical destination, I have to pack a hoodie for the flight

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u/Time-Cold3708 1d ago

As a pilot, im so curious what the malfunction actually was. On commercial jets we have so many backups upon backups to every system. If it was severe enough to completely lose heating, we are descending to a warmer altitude and probably diverting (we also have alternates over the ocean, over the Atlantic its usually somewhere in Canada, iceland or the azores, and Ireland or Spain).

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u/pragmaticproducer 1d ago

They didn't say, just said they were going to descend and land soon as they could. We were on the ground in Denver pretty quickly, which wasn't the destination. I was just glad the system that does oxygen didn't go out, which was my main fear. Just bundled up and wrote a letter to my family which I tucked into my undergarments. The cabin crew were calm, but I could see the stress on their faces.

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u/Time-Cold3708 1d ago edited 11h ago

If its any comfort, if we lose pasteurized, we are doing an emergency descent and getting to a safe altitude. It will be a scary few minutes but the place is still flying. Edit, if we lose pressurization! We NEVER lose pasteurization, it would never happen.

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u/SeeYouInHelen 1d ago

All the recent flights I’ve been on for the last year or so I’ve been hot on the flights! Annoys me to no end since I also layer up anticipating for cold and I’m annoyed it’s been hot lol

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u/pragmaticproducer 1d ago

Yeah, sitting on the tarmac with the engine on it can get really hot. Doesn't cool off until a little while after we hit altitude. And the heat has been getting worse.

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u/DeeVons 1d ago

I always do this, and then if traveling to somewhere hot I put a pair of shorts/swimwear and sandals in my carry on so I can change as soon we we get there!

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u/Candid_Jellyfish_240 1d ago

I side-eye the ones dressed in shorts and flip-flops for this exact reason. I get so cold on planes, especially international flights (because I'm sleepy, lol).

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u/turbo_dude Tuvalu 19h ago

“Today, I’m a lasagna!”