Top Travel Hacks

Whether you’re a seasoned traveller or only travel a couple of times a year, you can never be too prepared. To help you be better prepared for any upcoming adventures, Send My Bag have put together some of our top travel hacks – some you may have already heard of and some you would never have thought of and you’ll wonder how you ever survived without them.

Search for flights in a private browser

When it comes to booking travel plans, it’s no secret that we all like to be a little savvy when searching for the best deals to save ourselves some money. Airlines are just as savvy, as you may already be aware that airlines can track your flight searches and put the prices up to trick you into impulse buying, as you may be familiar with thinking ‘quick, buy them now before they get any more expensive.’ To avoid being caught out by this, search for your flights in a private browser.

Bring an empty water bottle to the airport 

It’s no secret that airport prices are steep, even for water. You could save yourself a bit of money by carrying an empty water bottle in your hand luggage to fill up at a water fountain post-security.

Email yourself a scan of your passport

This one is an important safety precaution. There is always a risk of loosing your passport or having it stolen, and it will be easier to replace if you have the important details on your passport at hand.

Back-up Travel Documents

Another safety precaution is to have two copies of any important travel documents, including flight tickets, visa details, booking references for accommodation and so on. Generally, you are able to download and store them on your phone, but you could have printed copies as a backup just in case you lost your phone, or it was stolen. Or if carrying printed copies of travel documents is your preferred choice, it’s best to have them backed up on your phone.

Type 'ok maps' into the google maps app 

Sounds a bit peculiar, but this a lifesaver! You’re on holiday and planning a day of exploring, but don’t know exactly where you are going, so you get up google maps – great! Oh wait, you realise you’re not going to have any connection when you leave your hotel. Something that you can do to solve this problem is to simply type ‘ok maps’ into the search engine on the google maps app, and an option to download the map area will appear, meaning that you can use the map offline.

Use the 'measure' app on iOS to measure your suitcase

No one wants to be caught out by hefty airline fees for oversized luggage. Using the ‘measure’ app on iOS  is a useful way to check the dimensions of your suitcase before travelling, to make sure that it is within airline allowances.

Carry a pillowcase in your hand luggage

We all want to be cosy and comfy on our travel journeys, and although this can be sometimes virtually impossible, there are little things that can help! A travel pillow is a necessity if you want to get any shut eye on flights, but if you don’t want to spend money on buying one, you could just carry an empty pillowcase and fill it with clothes from your hand luggage to make an instant pillow.

Use the clip-on hanger in your hotel room to clip the rooms curtains together

It can be frustrating when you are trying to have a lie in on holiday, but it may be cut short by the early morning sunshine coming through the curtains in your hotel room. Perhaps you are used to black out curtains at home. Would you ever have thought of using a clothes hanger with clips from the hotel room to hold the curtains together? Voila – treat yourself to a well-deserved lie-in.

Portable Phone Charger

It’s always a good idea to carry a portable phone charger with you, because is there anything more frustrating than waiting for your flight at an airport, your running out of battery and there are no available charging ports close to you.

Google Translate 

Google Translate can be your best friend when you are abroad and are struggling with language barriers. Using the camera on the Google Translate app can be hugely beneficial, as it allows you to translate images in real time. It is best to download the app and choose offline translation in settings.

Create your own in-flight TV 

The frustrating thing about flight journeys that are approx. 2-4 hours is that although they may seem quite long, they aren’t considered to be a long-haul flight, meaning that are no perks like in-flight TV included. You could create your own TV by putting your phone into a small plastic bag i.e. an airplane liquid bag and hanging it from the seat in front of you. If you’re going to do this, just remember to download what you want to watch beforehand.

Try to be 2 hours early

Being early when it comes to catching your flight is a standard practice for most people. However, it can also be useful when you are doing things like sight-seeing on holiday. Sometimes long waiting times are inevitable in popular tourist spots in peak holiday season. However, you could ask around and look into what are the most popular times to visit the sights and aim to go approximately 2 hours outside of this timescale so that you have a better chance of missing crowds of tourists and therefore avoiding any annoying queues!

Travelling is an enjoyable experience for many, and with these travel hacks, you can quickly and easily avoid some common travel dilemmas.

All of our top travel hacks can be used regardless of where in the world you’re travelling to whether it be the USA, Australia  or Thailand. Remember you can also send luggage ahead with our luggage shipping service to make your travels even more stress-free.