The actual air travel part of air travel is fast and cheap (i.e. the bit on the plane). But there’s all that waiting around at the airport for hours before any flight. You will be tempted to look around to pass the time – but care must be taken, because airports get busy and accidents can happen, especially where kids are involved. From trips, slips and falls in the waiting lounge, or the chaos of the baggage carousel, airports are more dangerous than you think – contact a PI lawyer (from Chicago) if you have been affected. So, how else can we pass the time?
Face fewer delays by flying at night or early morning
If you have the option to travel at night or in the very early morning, you can not only usually save money on your ticket, but you will typically also see a reduction in the delay time for your flight. For larger airports, peak travel means a stack of planes will be queuing to land, and a full runway of planes will be waiting to take off. These inbound planes come from all over the world, leaving at different times, facing different flying conditions, and could have been traveling for eight hours or more. The chances of them all being on time are slim. Likewise, with take-offs. Sometimes, passengers don’t show up and bags have to be removed, or there are medical emergencies onboard that prevent a plane from moving.
All of this adds to delay times. Instead, travel at night where fewer planes not only means fewer opportunities for things to cause slowdowns, but there will be more time on either side of flights to soak up any delays should they occur. Where your plane takes off on time, your airport boredom will be minimized.
Don’t rely on airport Wi-Fi for your entertainment
All around the world, right now, there are people in coffee shops, museums, and other public places, who are asking the staff why they can’t access the Wi-Fi. They’ve selected the correct Wi-Fi network, they’ve put in the correct case-sensitive password, and yet they remain unable to connect to the internet. It’s a scenario with which we’re all far too familiar. That’s why you shouldn’t rely on public Wi-Fi when it really matters.
Instead, fill your preferred device with music, TV shows, and movies. Take along a fully charged portable charger and headphones. When you think about it, three average movies might help you to pass somewhere in the region of 4.5 – 6 hours. That’s a hefty slice of boredom taken care of!
Take along some light reading about your destination
The internet is full of information, but books are usually where the original research is presented (meaning you’re more likely to get more in-depth material from a book than online). This is an opportunity to add interest and intrigue to our itinerary. Travel books will point out some of the lesser-known local intrigues. Things like the hidden room at the top of the Eiffel Tower and the Egyptian Hieroglyphs found just north of Sydney in Australia may be hard to find out about without access to a travel book. Looking up things like this should beat anybody’s boredom!
Thanks for the great suggestions. Now only for the Covid to go away for good!