3 Flight Hacks That Will Make your Long Flight 10 Times More Enjoyable

In this article we have provided three flight hacks that are going to make a long flight 10 times more enjoyable. The third tip is a little sketchy.

Always order a special meal

If a meal is included in the flight as it is with many long-haul international flights, always order a special meal which is completely free and can usually be done online at the time of booking your flight or by calling the airline at least 48 hours in advance of takeoff.

Ordering a special meal makes a massive difference, specially if you actually do have a dietary restriction and need it. These are many benefits of ordering a special meal:

It is one of the best flight hacks since you can choose something that you would like and there are a ton of options.

There is also a second massive benefit to ordering a special meal that you may now know about- You are going to be served first– and this has many benefits.

Not only are you going to get your meal while it’s still actually hoy you also don’t end up stuck with whatever meal is left over by the time a flight attendant gets to you in your economy seat.

By being served first you also have the opportunity to finish first. Which means you get to beat the after meal bathroom rush.

Not only can you go to the bathroom without having to wait in a long lineup but you’ll usually also get a more cleanly experience by not going after everyone else does.

And as a side note another time the passengers would be rushing for the washroom is going to be when the cabin lights come about two hours before landing.

Consider setting an alarm on your phone for 2.5 hours before the estimated landing time so you can sneak in there and use the washroom just before all the other passengers are woken up and the rush for the bathroom begins.

It is also good to know that absolutely anyone can order a special meal and you do not need to prove that you have any dietary restriction. And since everyone needs to order their special meal in advance by ordering one you are not taking a meal away from someone who may actually need it.

Let us know down in the comments if you would try ordering a special meal on your next flight.

Always chose a seat in the middle row

The second of the three flight hacks that you could do before your flight that is going to make the flight so much better would be strategically choosing your seats.

Seat selection at the time of booking your flight, even in economy class often costs money. However, if you wait until the online check-in window opens which is sometime between 24 -48 hours before your flight’s departure, you can usually choose your seats online for free.

But knowing that you can chose your seats for free during the online check-in window is not the hack here.

The hack here is that you should be choosing a seat that’s in the middle row of seats as opposed to the three seats on the one side of the plane or the three seats on the other side.

Choosing to sit in an aisle seat gives you the freedom to get up and move during a long flight. I used to completely avoid the row of seats in the middle of the plane until one flight where I ended up sitting on an a side of a middle row of three seats and realize the benefit of having two exit points.

If you are on the aisle seat on a row of seats that is not having two exit points that means that you have to get up every single time that one of the two people sitting beside you wants to get out of their seat.

However, if you happen to be in the middle row on the airplane when you are on the aisle seat that person in the middle has two exit points so they won’t need to be bothering you every single time that they want to get out of their seat.

Also if you happen to be in an unfortunate situation where you are sitting in the middle seat you also have two exit points

Always pack a small in-flight bag inside the personal item backpack

Something you must always done to make your flight experience as comfortable as possible is to pack a small in-flight bag inside your personal item backpack.

A personal item like a backpack or a purse or laptop case is meant to fit under the seat in front of you while the overhead bin space is meant for larger carry-ons as well as carry-on suitcases.

But assuming there is enough space in the overhead bins what you should do is, put your rolling carry on suitcase and the backpack that’s your personal item into the overhead bin and then just keep a small bag of essentials with you.

You can keep things like headphones, eye mask, lip balm, a water bottle, your kindle, charging cord etc. in this small bag. This small in-flight bag allows you to have everything that you need for the flight at your seat with you without having to have a backpack at your feet taking up all of the legroom.

It also keeps you from having to get up and go into the overhead bin every time you need to grab something. There would only be a handful of times when the bin space above you is completely full and you would not be able to use this trick.

If you do plan to use it on one of your flights do be respectful and make sure that everyone can fit their carry-on suitcases up in the overhead bin before you try to put your personal item up there and then keep a small bag with you.

Best of luck on your next long-haul flight and don’t forget to subscribe to join us back here for more travel tips and hacks.

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