Jetsetter’s Guide: The Ultimate Pre-Travel Checklist

One of the most traumatic flight experiences you can have is when you are assigned a horrible seat and have to stay there for hours. Imagine having to deal with a child kicking your seat for 8 hours—that wouldn’t just be uncomfortable, it would be stressful too! If you get easily thrown off, then this type of experience can easily damage your entire trip.

A common misconception with travelling is that it starts only when you’re on the plane. In fact, your journey actually starts the moment you start planning your trip. Creating a pre-trip checklist will help you organise and plan your trip properly, thus leaving you with limited room for mistakes.

To help you out, here’s a checklist you can adapt to your pre-trip routine:

Turn on your seat sale notifications or plan ahead

It’s always great to be able to get a hold of really affordable tickets. A great tip for you to find the best deals is to sign up for seat sales or to plan your trip months or even a year ahead. When you buy tickets months before your actual trip, you will have more seat options available for you to choose from, aside from it being marginally cheaper than booking for an immediate flight.

You’ll find that booking a flight on the less busy days, like Tuesday or Wednesday, would be a bit cheaper than booking a Friday flight. Likewise, when travelling on these days, you’ll notice that fewer people will be on the same flight as you, meaning you’ll have more legroom and wiggle space.

Get comfortable and choose the best seats

Don’t be afraid to check for first class and business class seat availability. Sometimes airlines have promos where business class seats are more affordable. Since you’re booking your flight ahead of time, these types of seats can be way cheaper than a month before your actual trip—which is a great option if you are planning to go on red-eye flights. The Pro Trip - you can use the Seat Guru Website and find the best seat for your flight. Simply enter the Airline, Date and Flight Number and it will display the seat map with the best options to choose from. 

Pack smart for your convenience

When you travel, whether it be domestic or international, you never want to be inconvenienced. A sure way for you to experience hassle is when you’re carrying too much baggage! Make sure you pack smart and only bring the essentials—you don’t want to be dragging too much luggage everywhere you go! It’s also a good idea to label your items properly with a custom flight tag so that you’ll be able to find your luggage right away.

Be a responsible traveller

The number one rule when travelling is to never be late. You’re not really travelling alone, you’re travelling with a group of people going to the same destination. You don’t want to be the person the flight crew would be paging in the intercom system at the airport and the one other passengers are waiting for to board the plane.

It’s always a good idea to be at the airport a few hours early before your flight. This way, you’re not rushing to check-in your luggage, you’ll be able to find a place to eat, find your boarding gate, and get a comfortable place to sit down while you wait to board your flight.

Always choose kindness

Whenever you travel, you’re travelling with different personalities and cultures. It’s always best to be kind to your cabin crew, the passengers you’re with, and, most especially, to yourself. There’s nothing wrong with asking for help or helping others. When you put your mindset to kindness, you’ll notice a shift with your attitude and you’ll enjoy your trip even more. Buy that airline pilot teddy bear for the kid behind you; they love you for it and won’t kick your chair during the whole flight!

In Brief

Whether you’re going out of the country or exploring your own, it’s always better to be a smart traveller and be an example to others. By planning your trip ahead of time, you’ll be able make decisions and have more options for your convenience. Create a checklist tailored to your trip so that you will have a smoother travel experience.

If you have a great tip from your pre-trip checklist share in the comments below!

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