Travel experience with air travel

•  Various Options for Airport Parking new
1. When travelling by car to the airport, have someone take you and drop you off, then return the car to your house.
2. Check with the airport and online for the various parking fees - i.e. short, long, economy, and off-airport parking.
3. Check with local hotels about leaving car in their parking lot and what they will charge, then use their shutttle bus to get to the airport.

•  A Little Preparation ...
- I find that a combination of several common tips goes a long way toward preventing flying problems, or at least making them more tolerable. I go with one carry-on, make sure it's a little smaller than the minimum size, bring my own food and drink onto the plane, bring at least one good book if not two, eat in the airport before the flight, and get to the airport a little early. I've never had to check a bag, and I've never had missing or damaged luggage. I've never been bored during flight delays. I've never been hungry or thirsty on flights. A little preparation goes a long way.

•  Advance Attention to Safety
- When boarding the aircraft, make a mental note of all exits, and count how many seat rows you pass from the exit to your row. This will expedite your escape route in case of an emergency landing if there is smoke and/or power loss in the cabin. And by all means, pay attention to the flight crew! No matter how boring or uninteresting it may sound, their instructions are vital ... and read the aircraft emergency procedure manual completely before takeoff. These are located in the pouch right in front of you. Do this - it pays to be prepared for flight. Knowledge is power, and armed with the basics you can sit back and enjoy your flight.

•  Advance Seat Assignment
- When buying airline tickets online, call the airline to get seat assignment immediately if no seat assignment is given. If you arrive at the ticket counter without seat assignment on an overbooked flight, you probably will get bumped off the flight and forced to take a later flight - which can be several hours or even a full day later. Due to overbooking, getting seat assignment in advance can reduce the risk of getting 'bumped'!

•  Advice for Traveling Alone
- Traveling alone can be an intimidating experience, especially for those who don't do it often. Knowing what to expect and thinking about the challenges solo air travel throws at you ahead of time can make it an easy and efficient experience.
Avoid checking a bag. This is true of any air travel really, but I find it's much easier to be a self-contained entity when alone, leaving as little responsibility to the airline as possible. There's nobody to search for the right baggage claim with you or to help you talk to the agent if a bag gets lost. By keeping everything with you, there's less chance of error.
Along those same lines, don't be afraid to gate check a bag (usually signified by yellow tags put on the bag as you board). This works differently from normal bag checking, as any gate checked bag is only given to the airline as you board the plane, and is retrieved right as you exit the plane. The bag never actually goes through the whole luggage system - that invariably ends misplacing things.
Traveling alone seems to increase the chance of you being searched at security, particularly if one is not obviously on a business trip. Just assume you will be searched and pack accordingly.
The biggest advantage of traveling alone is usually the ability to get an exit row seat. If the airline you are flying with allows online check-in (usually available 24 hours before departing time) exit row seats can usually be obtained there. If not, make sure to ask at the gate, as most of the time there will be the odd one exit row seat that nobody has taken because they want to sit with their traveling companions. They get company, you get leg room. Sometimes a book and being able to stretch is better than someone to talk to.

•  Air Pressure Solutions
- Bring gum along with you. When you are taking off, chew it. Another way to help with air pressure is to blow with your hand over your nose and mouth. Plus one more - swallow and yawn.

•  Air Quality
- The air that you breathe inside an airline cabin isn't nearly as good as what you will find most other places. The cabin is pressurized, since the air is so thin at altitude. However, they don't pressurize it to sea level; it is substantially weaker. (This is part of why air travel can be so draining; you can end up with mild altitude sickness!)
Furthermore, the air is very very dry. This can lead to dehydration, which can also make you feel lousy. I strongly advise bringing a litre or two of water with you, and guzzling that non-stop throughout the trip.
Finally, the air is filled with the exhaust products of your fellow travelers. One of these can be cigarette smoke; while smoking has been banned on domestic US flights, such rules are not followed around the globe. Although it might horrify some Americans, not all countries even mandate separate smoking sections!
Another exhaust product is germs. Because airplane tickets are so expensive, and because such effort is involved in making such a trip, people will fly sick. If your immune system is compromised in any way (HIV, chemotherapy, immunoglobulin deficiency), you may well want to wrap your face in a scarf or wear a surgical mask.

•  Air Sickness
- If you get motion sick easily, you may be more comfortable if you take some sort of motion sickness drug before you fly. Note that you must take the drugs before you get sick; there is unfortunately nothing that I know of that will relieve motion sickness once it has started. My personal drug of choice is Dramamine, a readily-obtained over-the-counter medication. Unlike Bonine, another over-the-counter drug, it tends to make one drowsy. I feel that this is a benefit on a long plane ride! Another motion sickness treatment (usually used for boating) is Scopolamine patches. These patches go behind the ear, and usually have no noticeable side effects. I believe that in the USA, a prescription is required. Furthermore, there can be unpleasant side effects, such as dry mouth, blurry vision, and one other one that I forget. (Oh yeah - loss of memory.)
Motion sickness is caused in part by a discrepancy between what the eye sees and what the inner ear feels. (This is why the driver of a car gets sick much less frequently than a passenger: the driver is continuously watching the road, getting a good idea of what is coming next.) It may help to close your eyes the moment you start to consider thinking about getting airsick.
If you do come down with discomfort, one relatively easy but embarrassing way to feel better is to empty your stomach. 'Barf bags' are usually located in the pouch on the back of the seat in front of you. Frequently, using them reduces and/or eliminates the discomfort.

•  Airplane Temperature
- Because of the altitude, airplanes can be quite cold (especially the floor). I always take a jacket with me on the plane and take one of the blankets that the airline provides. Wool socks are not a bad idea either. On the larger planes, there is usually a little fan that blows on you. The airflow can be adjusted by twisting the unit.

•  Airport Maps
- The internet has wonderful maps of airports available. I have printed up copies and taken them along, making changing airplanes much easier. I have also looked at the lay-out of the planes to see where my seat was located.

•  Aisle Seat or Not?
- When traveling by air in high risk areas, always request a window seat. If the flight is high-jacked, terrorists tend to hit the people sitting on the aisles as well as pull out people in aisle seats for mistreatment. It pays to be harder to get to! This may sound extreme but living in South America it is something I always practice.

•  Aisle Seat, Please
- When traveling alone ask the person beside you if you can have the aisle seat. This means that you won't have to bother the person beside you if you have to get out of your seat. I would rather be bothered than to bother another.

•  Allow for Delays Between Flights
- Avoid booking flight segments close together. Major airlines consider a connection as tight as 35 minutes to be a valid connection, but this is often not enough time if there are long lines at security! If travel time is not critical, consider allowing at least 2 hours to make each connection. If you are not delayed, you can use this slack time to eat at the airport, where the food is likely many times better than what you may (or may not!) get in the air. (Most major American airports do not require a re-screening if you are merely changing flights, as long as you don't leave the secure area.)

•  Another Use for Bookmarks
- I've got a couple of plastic encased bookmarks--the paper part is inside a plastic pouch that's open at the top. You can buy these type of bookmarks at most large bookstaores. I can slip my driver's license and any tickets for gate checked bags inside it, then slip the bookmark into the pocket of the boarding pass folder.

•  Free Luggage Labels to the Rescue
- Don't put your home address on your luggage label when you are flying out. It can easily be ripped off your luggage by a thief who knows where you live (and that you are away). Use your destination address or better still, use a tracking luggage label like the ones you get free from Bags Reunited.

•  Gate Check It:
- Anything you have with you upon boarding the plan that won't fit easily in the overhead compartment and that will impede your travel through the airplane should be gate checked. It's safe, and by the time the airline lets you off its airplane your bags will generally be waiting. DO NOT put your bags under the seat. You lose valuable leg room and won't be able to move your legs around during the flight.

•  Get More Leg Room on the Plane
- Being an everyday kinda guy ... I can't really afford to fly first class on my trips overseas -but do a bit of research and while cheking in ask for the WINDOW SEAT NEAR EMERGENCY EXIT ... You will get enormous leg room.

•  Getting the Meal You Want
- On long international flights, there are usually one or more meals served and two meal choices to select from. If the flight is crowded and you are one of the last passengers served, you can bet your choice of meal won't be available. This can be a problem if you're on a long flight and the only meal selection available is something you don't like.
To ensure your choice is available, when you check in request a seat toward the back of the plane - as the meal service tends to start there. Or better yet, request a special meal such as children's or vegetarian when you book your travel. You'll get the meal of your choice and be served first.

•  Ginger for Motion Sicknes
- If I get motion sickness, I like to take ginger root. The ancients used to take it when going on a long trip on a boat. They've also done studies to prove that it really does work (and it's better than motion sickness drugs - and they are scientists).