How to Avoid Air Travel Drama

Updated: Feb 18, 2023

During the early days of the pandemic, the travel industry came to a grinding halt. Many companies, not knowing how long there would be no travel, offered some of their most valued employees early retirement. This included airlines. When travel initially resumed, airlines offered reduced schedules, and flights were not to full capacity to allow for social distancing. Fast forward to 2023: travel is back in full force and people are traveling again.

The challenge is that many airlines still have reduced schedules because they are now under staffed. Add in long TSA security lines, irate passengers, delays or cancellations due to many factors (weather or unexpected mechanical problems or flight crews that have timed out or not enough ground crew) and traveling to your destination by air can be a nightmare.

Here are some things that you can do to avoid air travel drama and make your travels more pleasant.

Before you leave home

1. If you are less than 7 hours away, consider driving!

2. When you book your flight, be sure to use your name EXACTLY AS IT APPEARS ON THE IDENTIFICATION THAT YOU WILL USE AT THE AIRPORT!

You may be a newly wed or your name may be legally changed, but unless you bring sufficient identification to prove your marriage / name change, you may not make it through security!
It is legal - and easier - to book the flight in the name that matches your current ID until your ID matches your new name.
If you are traveling internationally, make sure to book your flight in the name that appears on your passport!

3. If possible, don't check luggage. Having carryon luggage mean you ALWAYS have your bags with you. You save money because you don't have to pay to check your luggage. Think - no lost luggage, no having to wait for your luggage after the flight arrives. You just walk off your flight and on your way to your next adventure. Here is a link to a blog about packing lighter.

4. Don't over pack your carry on bag. Doing so may make it too large to fit in the overhead bins. If it won't fit in the overhead bin, it will have to be checked at the gate. Check the airline website to make sure your carry on bags will fit in the overhead compartments - this size varies by airline and airplane, so check to make sure yours will fit.

Whether you check your luggage or carry on, check with every airline on your trip for size and weight restrictions. Some airlines allow 50 lbs for a checked bag; others allow only 40 lbs and will charge you a very large fee if you go over. Also, some airlines have restrictions on the weight of your carry on bag - check with each airline. The information can be found on their websites.

5. If you absolutely need to carry your bag on the flight, and don't want to chance it being checked at the gate, do not be one of the last passengers to board the flight! Once overhead bins space is gone, it is gone, and you will be forced to check your bag at the gate.

6. Before you leave for the airport, make sure you have your money, identification and medications with you. You won't have time to go back home and get them and make your flight, and you won't get through security without your ID.

7. Download the app for the airline that you are flying and use it! The app allows you to get your boarding pass, to track your luggage, to track your incoming plane, and to change your flight. If you turn on the notifications, the app will also let you know when boarding has started. As a bonus, you will often get messages of flight delays, changes or cancellations before those who don't have the app (only if you turn on the notifications).

8. Download the Flight Aware app. FlightAware provides accurate, real-time, flight status and live maps to track any commercial flight worldwide, along with general aviation (private or charter flights) in the United States and Canada. A great tool to stay in the know!

9. Always, always, always fly the first flight in the morning. Morning flights don't cancel nearly as often, and if your flight does cancel, you have all day to be rebooked on another flight. Yes, it means getting up early, but it greatly increases your chance of getting to your destination.

10. Book early morning flights to decrease your chance of summer weather cancellations. Summer is thunderstorm season and storms build as the day gets hotter.

11. Fly much earlier than you need to if you are flying to an important event - a wedding, a funeral, a graduation, a cruise or an international flight. I recommend flying in at least a day early. If you have a choice of pulling your hair out because are stuck at the airport and you are going to miss an important event, or enjoying a relaxing evening in your hotel in destination the night before your big event, which would you choose?

12. If you want your family to sit together while you travel, buy your tickets well in advance and choose your seats as soon as you book your tickets. Also avoid buying tickets on a third party website. Flights are full, and it is difficult to move other passengers around so that your family can sit together.

Tip: Discount / bargain flights are rare - don't wait to try to get a great price. This is because so many people want to travel, and because so many airlines have reduced schedules, almost every flight is full! You may end up paying a lot more for a flight than you planned because you don't have a choice. If you think you can get a better price, purchase your ticket early and pay for a fully refundable ticket. If you find a better price, purchase the second ticket, then request a refund for the first.

13. If at all possible, choose a non-stop flight. A non-stop flight leaves your airport and lands in your destination airport with no other stops. Every time you land and have to take off again, whether on the same flight or a connecting flight, you increase the chances that you will miss your connecting flight, be delayed or have your flight cancelled.

14. Avoid connecting in Newark, any New York airport, and a whole list of other airports. Google 'worst airports for layovers, delays and cancellations' or Google 'best airports for layovers, delays and cancellations' to get information that can help make your travels much smoother.

15. No matter what the airline schedule allows, a 1 hour layover is not long enough. 30 minutes is impossible, because most airlines require you to be in your seat on the plane 30 minutes before departure! Allow yourself 2 to 3 hours minimum for your layover.

16. If you are making an international connection, a 3 to 4 hour layover is a must! This allows time to go through customs before you board your next flight. This sometimes includes getting your checked baggage from your first flight, taking it through customs and then checking it again before you can board your connecting flight. Doing so at an airport where everything is in a foreign language to you increases the chances of a problem.

On your travel day

17. This may seem funny, but it's not. Brush your teeth, keep mints or gum with you, shower, wear deodorant, don't wear perfume, don't eat stinky foods (anything with onions, tuna fish, Caesar salad to name a few) and bring your headphones. If you are stuck on the tarmac for a few hours after a five hour flight waiting on a gate, you will be so glad that you and your fellow passengers did these things.

18. Dress in layers. The temperature on flights vary, and can change throughout the flight. Dressing in layers makes it easy for you to adjust to whatever the temperature is on the plane instead of suffering.

19. Allow extra time if you driving yourself to the airport and parking there, or are renting a car and need to return it to the airport before your flight. Traffic jams getting into the airport, and getting from the car return lot to the airport, can cause you to miss your flight. And you still need two hours to clear security and make it to your gate on time.

20. Arrive at the airport at least two hours before your flight is scheduled to take off. Gone are the days of running through the airport to get to your flight. Security lines can be extremely long. (Read this blog to learn how to shorten your time in the TSA lines). I have heard too many stories of people arriving at the gate 28 minute before the flight was scheduled to leave, only to find the doors to the plane were closed, secured and would not be opened to let them on. Save yourself the headache and arrive early. There is absolutely nothing worse than seeing your plane leave the airport without you on it!

21. Even if your flight is delayed, arrive to the airport as if it wasn't delayed if you can do so safely (not in severe weather, etc.). Why would you do that?

Sometimes the problem that caused the delay is fixed in a very short time, and they will start boarding the plane. You need to be at the airport to get on the flight.
If your plane ends up being delayed longer than you can wait, or is cancelled, you can get help from a live person standing right in front of you to get another flight, and if that flight leaves soon, you will be able to hustle to the new gate and get on your new flight.

22. If you arrive at the airport, get through security and have extra time, feel free to grab a meal. Any food or beverage that you purchase after security can be carried on the flight with you. However...

23. Make sure you are at the gate at least 45 minutes before your flight is scheduled to depart. If you are not at the gate when they finish boarding, even if you are in the airport, they will close the doors to the plane, secure them and will not open them for you!

Important other things to think about

24. Flight crews cannot fly longer than 16 hours - it is illegal!!! When flight crews get delayed, they time out. When they reach 16 hours, they are done, and your flight may be cancelled. This is another reason to be on the first flight of the day.

25. Airlines are under staffed and this includes ground crews. Ground crews direct the planes to the gate, drive jetways, get your luggage on and off the planes and screen boarding passes. When ground crews are short staffed, it causes many delays that build up through the day. Sometimes planes sit on the tarmac for HOURS waiting for a gate. These delays can cause you to miss your connecting flight or the event you are trying to get to. First flight of the day and flying a day early are the best way to avoid possible mishaps.

26. No matter what the situation, be nice! Being mean and nasty won't make things better. And those staff that you are being mean to can choose to help someone who is being nice instead of someone who is being nasty.

27. Being drunk on a plane is a federal offense. If you drink too much while waiting on a delayed flight, there is a chance that you won't be allowed to fly at all. If you want to fly, don't over do it.

Two final things

28. Get trip insurance. Why? You have invested a lot of money on your trip. You hate the idea of losing your money. You don't want to pay for a hotel and food or to rebook to a flight on a different airline if your flight is cancelled. You don't want to pay for the things in your luggage if it is lost. What if you arrive to your destination and your luggage doesn't - what will you wear? Did you budget for having to pay for replacement items? You don't want to have to pay out of pocket if someone has a medical emergency on the trip (hello - most health insurance plans don't work outside of the state that you live in, and they are not accepted in foreign countries). Please, please, please save yourself a headache and get trip insurance!

29. Use a travel agent! They have experience booking trips and connections that you don't, they take care of the details of your trip, and most importantly, they can help make your travel dreams come true!