Improving your next flight can be as easy as remembering these next 6 tips.  You may have forgotten some of them if you haven’t been flying for some time because of the pandemic.  This advice holds true no matter if you are in coach or first-class

1. Bring Your Own Blankie and Sanitizing Supplies

Yes, cleaning crews tidy up a plane at the end of each flight but with quick turn around times there is no deep cleaning.  Your tray table may have served as a changing table for the poopy infant on the last leg.  Wipe down all surfaces your hands will contact while onboard with antibacterial wipes. Blanket and pillows are periodically cleaned but usually just repackaged at other times.  Use a large scarf, jacket or sweater as a cover or head rest.  Snuggling up to someone else’s germs would definitely keep me from getting some shut eye.

2. No Bare Feet

Drinks get split.  A pet or kids poop or pee on the carpet.  A passenger gets a bloody nose and christens the floor with their bodily fluids.  Just the sheer number of feet that traverse this carpeted fuselage and have walked through who knows what is enough to want you to wear hip waders.  The petri dish that is the floor of the lavatory should never touch naked skin.  Always wear footwear with a solid sole.

3. Dress the Part and Be Kind

You don’t need to look like you are strutting the cat walk during Fashion Week in Paris when you stroll down the jetway but looking like you just rolled out of bed is not going to gain you points with the flight crew.  Subliminally first impressions count.  Want an extra snack, need some assistance from the flight attendant?  You are more likely to receive better service if you dress nicely.  Take the time to greet them when you board and when speaking to them, do so respectfully.  Being rude and treating them like they are your wait staff won’t bode well your trip.  They have a tough job and showing a bit of kindness can go a long way.  Bestow a $5 Starbucks’ gift card on your cabin crew and you will be a standout passenger.

4. Follow the Leader

I know.  You’ve heard the safety announcements so many times you can recite it in your sleep.  Why do they insist on repeating them?  We often hear the words but don’t listen to the meaning.  If an emergency did arise, do you really know how to open the emergency exit?  Which lights on the floor lead to the way out of the plane?  Do you pull down on the cord connecting the oxygen mask or just slip it on????  Show some respect.  Stow your tray so if you needed to exit quickly you won’t be encumbered.  Put your phone down.  The flight attendants are concerned with your safety.  It is their job and they take it seriously.

5. Bring Your Own Food and Drink

Remember the old days when you actually got food on a flight rather than just skimpy snacks?  If you do happen to be offered a meal, it would be better for your health to decline it and pack your own.  The fat, sugar, salt and carb content would make a nutritionist cringe.  Don’t have time to pack a lunch?  Grab some fruit, a sandwich, cheese/crackers, a bottle of water at a concession stand before lifting off.  Go ahead, splurge a little once in awhile with a small candy bar or bag of cookies.  And don’t drink the coffee or hot tea.  The water used to brew these beverages come from onboard storage tanks that are rarely cleaned.  Opt for bottled water or decaffeinated drinks…. who needs to be jittery on a plane?

6. Upgrade Your Seat

Your budget dictates that you sit in economy where you are doing your best imitation of a human pretzel.  You long to stretch out your legs like the lucky few in business and first class.  Now with a modest investment in an ‘ULTI’ travel bag by CONMIGO you can improve your personal space on every flight or wherever you need to take a seat while traveling.  Sitting on the built in padded multi purpose cushion of the ULTI bag positions the bag behind your legs allowing you to relax into more leg room.  The cushion improves circulation in your bottom and legs and decreases the discomfort many flyers experience in their lower backs.  Need to grab something from your bag?  Simply reach down into your bag nested behind your legs and retrieve your belongings.  First class comfort at economy prices…ahhhhh.

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