5 Things I Hate About Transatlantic Travelling

Since I’ve been involved with Chris, I’ve been hopping back and forth between Canada and the UK. I think it’s now safe to say I’m a seasoned transatlantic traveller, and I thought I’d share a few travel tips. You know, in case any of you Canadians want to come visit me? Hint, hint.

1. Figuring out when to buy your ticket and with whom.

   It’s so frustrating to buy a flight only to find that one week later it’s 1/3 of the price. Or buying a cheap airline ticket only to find that your airline carrier has gone bankrupt. Here’s the method I have developed.

   • Pick a date range for your travel, but be flexible. Keep in mind that it’s more expensive to fly on weekends and queues for customs will be infinitely longer then anyways.
   • Search for flights on all of the following sites: kayak, expedia.com, Air Canada, British Airways, and Air Transat. Compare these prices daily for at least a week to see if ticket prices will go up or down
   • Before booking, check Retailmenot for coupons. This once saved me $75
   • Buy the insurance with your ticket!
   • Get travel health insurance for the dates you’ve selected. No excuses!

2. Baggage allowances (or lack thereof)

   I’ve learned that sometimes it’s better to upgrade your flight to premium economy if you have a lot of baggage rather than paying for your extra kilos at the airport.

   Also, if you are a woman with a laptop, make sure your handbag / purse can fit inside your laptop bag. Sometimes airlines that are jerks make you do this, but since you normally have to take your laptop out of the bag when it’s going through the scanner, take it out first and then shove your purse inside the laptop bag. This only happens rarely, but best to be prepared!

3. Killing time at the airport

   • Take time to walk around, because you won’t be walking at all for 8 hours on the flight.
   • Get a proper meal or some snacks to keep you going in case the airline food sucks.
   • Watch people and eavesdrop by turning your iPod off but leaving your headphones in and sit next to someone interesting.
   • Find three seats together and have a nap (use your laptop bag as a makeshift pillow).
   • Drink a glass of red wine so that you’ll be sleepy on the plane.

4. Germs

   Chris calls me a germaphobe, but I swear this is just common sense. All that recycled air makes you a bit more likely to catch a bug from the air in the cabin, so here are some precautions you can take:

   • Take a multi-vitamin and an Echinacea before you go. My mom swears by Echinacea.
   • Bring anti-bacterial hand sanitizer and hand cream.
   • Eat healthy prior to your flight and have a nap! You want your immune system in top shape

5. Delays

   It’s always unfortunate when a flight delay affects your schedule, but if you anticipate them you won’t freak out as much. Here are pre-emptive solutions you can try:

   • Travel insurance is your friend.
   • Give yourself lots of time between your flight and airport transfer. That way if you’re not delayed, you can try to sweet-talk the company into letting you on an earlier bus.
   • If someone is picking you up, make sure they have your flight number. They can track your flight on FlightStats.com

Right then. Happy travels!