Posted by greg on Dec 29, 2008 in
Travel 
If you ever travel, you will want to get the best seat on the airplane. Typically these are aisle seats at the exit row (sometimes) to towards the front of the airplane.  But each airline is different and each aircraft is different. Seat Guru is a website that you can go to and put in your travel information (Airline and Aircraft type) and it will show you the best possible seats.Â
The URL is http://seatguru.com.
Posted by admin on Jan 6, 2008 in
Travel 
I travel a lot for work. Usually every week. In the past year I have accumulated close to 200,000 miles. With all this travel, I have developed a few tricks to make life a little simpler.
Go to seatguru.com and look up the airline and aircraft you will be flying, normally found in your itinerary. You will be able to research very quickly which are the best rated seats, if they are equipped with a power port, if they recline, etc. Its worth its weight in gold.
Check in online as early as possible and print your boarding pass. If you have status with that airline, you will be put on the upgrade standby list. Also, more seats are available to select from, specifically if you did your research on seatguru.com and wanted a particular seat assignment. I suggest that if you have the option to select your seats, to get an aisle seat, preferably in the Exit row, unless your traveling with small children. If the exit row is not available, then choose a aisle seat closer to the front of the plane. This is especially true if you are susceptible to motion sickness. The aft of the plane tends to yaw more. I would stay away from the lavatories at all cost. If it is a early AM flight or a red eye, consider a window seat. You have control over the shades, you can rest against the window better and you don’t have to wake up every time someone needs to get up. Special note to Southwest flyers - ALWAYS check in early. Remember, you can check in online upto 24 hours in advance. Southwest is a first come first serve basis. Go to their website and have your information entered in advanced. Right at the 24 hour mark- click the check in button. Make sure your computer clock is set to sync to a time server and that it is displaying the correct time. 5 minutes in either direction could mean if you get a boarding pass A or boarding pass B. One more tip while I’m on the subject of Southwest, buy a water from one of the vendors at the airport. Get in line and wait until you board. Don’t open the water yet, or at least don’t drink it all. Once you board, select the seat you want, take the window and then pour all the water into the middle seat. This guarantees that no one will sit next to you.
Select a preferred airline and sign up for their rewards program. Now here is a trick I use, and it seems to work well for me. I live in the Denver area, so United is the largest carrier out of Denver. I fly US Airways. Why? First of all, I looked at their hubs. I fly back east a lot, such as Philly. Secondly, I usually dedicate an entire day for travel and don’t necessarily mind having a layover. This gives me time to get off the plane, make some calls and check email. Third, I am not completing with 99% of all the other people who have status above me to get upgraded. I am in the top 1% in Denver who has Platinum status with US Airways. So I am pretty much guaranteed to get upgraded.
I always carry on, I never check. If you have too much to pack, then ditch some stuff. You do not need a pair of pants for each day of the week, or drawers for that matter. One pair of underwear is generally sufficient for a five day trip. Have your liquids quickly available, on top, so that when you go through security there quickly accessible. I was speaking to a colleague of mine and he has been using a duffle bag rather than a hard roller bag. You can fit more in it, plus it is easier to pack in the overhead on the regional jets.
Proactively check the weather at both your departure and destination airports. This could be a good guide to know what you need to pack and if there are any delays. I think the best and most accurate weather website is NOAA.
Also, proactively check to see if there are any known flight delays. Check the FAA’s website.
On your travel day, especially through security, do not wear a lot of jewelry, wear slip on shows and if you do wear a belt, make sure it has a small buckle. This gets you through the process faster. Have everything out and ready when you get up to the buckets. Take your shoes off, laptop out, liquids in the bag out and boarding pass ready. Always be more prepared than the guy in front of you. Make it a game.
Buy an extra laptop battery.
Get a noise canceling headset and a dual pin headset adapter. This way you do not need to pay $5.00 for a headset from the airline.
Give your self plenty of time. Get to the airport early. This way if there are any flight changes, you have time to make other arrangements. Also, get to the gate early so you can start working the gate agents to get a better seat. I’ve even gone out of the way to buy them their lunch at McDonalds. Most importantly, always be polite to them, even in the most grim situations.
Travel on a Monday afternoon and return either on a Thursday or Saturday if you want to avoid the crowds.
However, if you want to play the game, pick a busy travel day on purpose if you have flexible travel plans so you can volunteer your seat and get a free ticket. I’ve done this a couple of times. Some flights are oversold, so work the system. Be on the other side of the bargaining table.
If your at the airport and your flight is delayed, find out the inbound flight number and go out to flightaware.com and lookup where the flight is. Unless it is a mechanical issue, and the flight is delayed
If you have status, most airports have a special security line for premier passengers. Its usually shorter.
Finally, if you have tight travel plans, try not to fly on a buddy pass. If the flight is oversold, chances are you are at the bottom of the list and you will get bumped.
