Flying home for the holidays? Whether it’s overweight bags, getting groped at customs, navigating a new airport, or getting squished between two strangers who decide to get drunk and sob on your shoulder about cat custody battles at 35,000 inescapable feet up, everyone who’s been there knows airports can be a struggle. But, as my favorite guru George Clooney pointed out in “Up in the Air,” there are some easy life hacks to making it through an airport fast and trouble free. This is a list of HCK’s top suggestions.
1. Three magic words: carryon, carryon, carryon. Unless you are moving into college or a foreign country, you have no excuse. This one change will literally cut your airport struggle time in half, as well as IT’S FREE.
2. Use vacuum space saver bags if you don’t think you can fit your things in a carryon, because the other good news about a carry on is there is no weight limit and you can ALWAYS find someone desperate to prove their strength and lift it into the overhead for you if you are so inclined.
3. Shoes: slip-on or bulky. A big time waster at customs is taking off your shoes and putting them through the conveyor belt. For the quickest customs experience (and to annoy the people in line with you the least) wear comfy slip-on shoes such as boat shoes or flats. However, if you’re crunched for space in your carryon, it’s always a good idea to wear your bulkiest shoes.
4. Wear layers. The temperature in your departing city is going to be different from the airport, which is going to be different from the plane, which is going to be different from your second (or third, or fourth) airport, which is going to be different from your arrival city. Wear layers to account for this, as well as to save space in your carryon.
5. Make sure you don’t piss off TSA. No one wants to get in an argument with the TSA officer if they confiscate your razor, scissors, or makeup. You can almost always get by with razors and tweezers and sometimes with slightly oversized liquids. In my experience it depends on the officer you get—I’ve had TSA officers tell me that the liquid size ban is in contention and isn’t taken as seriously as it used to be. However, you need to always be prepared to have your liquids confiscated if they aren’t 3 oz. or less and in one clear plastic bag a quart size or less. Keep this bag handy in a front pouch of a backpack or purse for quick and easy customs.
6. Combat dehydration. Airplane air is notoriously dry, as the same stale air is being cycled throughout the same plane for hours, and there are no plants or other factors to increase humidity. Your body will become dehydrated as humans are comfortable with humidity of 40-70%, whereas on airplanes it often lands around 20%. This puts you at risk of thirst, dry skin, and catching ill. To combat this, keep your favorite moisturizer (in a 3 oz or less bottle) handy to replenish when needed, as well as bring a big water bottle. It will need to be empty when you go through customs but you can fill it up before you get on the plane.