Brent and Michael's Secret Travel Hacks, Part 20!

Gauge passenger loads on flights and cruise ships, store your stuff in someone's garage, avoid Hungarian prisons, find the perfect Greek island, and sail the Mediterranean for one-sixth the price.

A new edition of our unique travel hacks!

For other travel hack columns, go to Part Ten and Part Eleven and Part Twelve and Part Thirteen and Part Fourteen and Part Fifteen and Part Sixteen and Part Seventeen and Part Eighteen and Part Nineteen and Part Twenty-One.

Here are our latest hacks:

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Have room in your inbox for another newsletter? I love Life Crumbs, which is the brainchild of semi-warped humorist Michael Young. And it’s illustrated! In fact, Mr. Young drew the personalized illustration above, of Michael and me.

Brent and Michael are going places — even the moon!

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In Europe, sleeper cars in trains are currently all the rage, with a full range of price options: cabins, roomettes, or a bunk in a shared room.

This has ignited a longstanding debate: is a sleeper compartment on a train a good travel hack?

Here are the pros:

• You’re probably saving money, since even a private cabin on a train may beat the cost of a hotel room for a night, airfare, and transportation out to the airport.

• It’s better for the environment.

• It’s fun and romantic!

Here are the cons:

• If you’re a bad sleeper, you will barely sleep.

• If you cross a “hard” border in the middle of the night, you’ll be woken up for border control.

• In America, sleeper cars are insanely expensive.

I’m a great sleeper, and I love sleeper cars! But Michael is a terrible sleeper, and he hates ‘em.

A private sleeper on the train from Budapest to Vienna ($160). I LOVED it! But Michael hated it — in part because he was too tall for the bed.

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Is there any way to check how full an upcoming flight will be? The airline’s website or app will probably let you check the seat layout on an upcoming flight, especially if you have the option to change seats. You’ll need to log in and enter your confirmation number, but then you can see which seats are and aren’t occupied — and your existing seats will be saved unless you specifically change them. You’ll get another chance when checking in for your flight, either via email or at the kiosk at the airport.

But what do you do if a flight is now full? Some airlines will let you switch flights for little or no money, at least with certain fares. But here’s a little-known fact about flying in 2024: lots of people are monitoring those empty seats, including various “standby” passengers. I’ve been shocked by how many times lately that I’ve seen what looks like a mostly empty plane online, only to arrive and find it essentially full.

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Meanwhile, how do you find out how full an upcoming cruise will be? Even your travel agent may not have that information, but there is something you can do.