24. Check a bag every time
Problem: air travel sucks. How can you make it the best possible experience?
My solution hinges on one premise: most people optimize the same aspect of air travel. Yet, that’s not the aspect they should be optimizing.
Here are goals:
My primary goal is to obtain an aisle seat where there’s no one sitting next to me. All of the other goals are far less important than this. It takes air travel from a C- to an A-.
My secondary goal is to not have my hands occupied when I’m navigating around the airport. I don’t want to juggle a backpack, a roller bag, my breakfast sandwich, a hot coffee, and my phone. It sucks. Don’t pretend it doesn’t.
I’m not trying to waste time, but I also don’t mind sitting in the airport for 10 minutes if I have to.
Here’s how I accomplish these goals:
When purchasing the ticket, select an aisle seat seat where there’s still availability next to you — it’s much more common for someone to never book a seat rather than not show up for their flight.
The aisle seat should be towards the back part of the airplane, but not the last 2-4 rows. Most people (mistakenly) optimize for sitting in the front of the plane. This is wrong unless you can get a higher class of ticket. Take advantage of this: by selecting a seat near the back, you’re increasing your chances of having no one select the seat next to you.
On the day of the flight, arrive to the airport 60-90 minutes before takeoff. When you get to the airport, check your bag every time. This should take between 5-15 minutes. Most airlines have a lane dedicated to self-tagging bags and it moves quickly.
For the remainder of your trip, you now have both hands to work with. Enjoy the feeling.
You must have TSA pre-check. Go through security. This should take between 3-30 minutes.
Once you’re through security, find the best gate (in your home airport you should know which one is best) and purchase a refreshment of your choice.
Navigate to your gate, and take a seat. Enjoy your refreshment.
Wait until the final group is ready to be called. You’re capitalizing on another idiotic behavior: rushing to get on the plane. Plane seats are cramped. Planes are stale. Airports, on the other hand, are comfortable. Stay in the gate as long as you can.
Take note that you can enjoy the extra space and time in the gate because you checked your bag. If you didn’t check a bag, you’d have to board the plane as soon as possible to find a spot in the overhead bin. But you were smart, and don’t have a large bag with you anymore.
Stroll on the plane as one of the last passengers. Find your seat near the rear of the plane. The average plane has 300 passengers, and there’s maybe a half dozen that don’t have people sitting next to them. If you are one of those lucky ones (capitalizing on luck that, by the way, you created), that puts you in the top 2% of passengers. Leg room, arm room, an extra fold down table. You get all of it.
When you land, relax. Take your time. This is the hardest part, I’ll admit. But usually checked bags take 5-15 minutes. Taking some of that time on the plane is okay.
Navigate to the baggage claim and retrieve your checked bag. Shed a tear because you no longer have full freedom over your hands.
Proceed to the rest of your travels.
This is the best way to fly, assuming you don’t have the money for business class. It goes against what most people think is optimal, but that’s because most people follow everyone else. You can do better. You can enjoy your flights and beat the system. Join me in this way of travel.