Brent and Michael's Secret Travel Hacks, Part 34!
Document everything, get more into your carry-on, don't be a slob, get surprising discounts, reduce investment fees, and stay two subway stops over. Plus, the single most important travel hack of all!
You guessed it! Still more unusual travel hacks.
For other travel hack columns, go to Part Twenty and Part Twenty-One and Part Twenty-Two and Part Twenty-Three and Part Twenty-Four and Part Twenty-Five and Part Twenty-Six and Part Twenty-Seven and Part Twenty-Eight and Part Twenty-Nine and Part Thirty and Part Thirty-One and Part Thirty-Two and Part Thirty-Three.
And here we go!
Document everything
Have a problem with a flight/rental car/hotel room — or worried that something might be a problem? Document everything with your phone by taking videos and/or photos.
Also, if anyone witnesses the event or if there are service people involved, get their names and contact information.
The more documentation you have, the (much) better off you will be in any resulting dispute.
Be wired and wireless
When it comes to earbuds for a phone, Michael prefers Bluetooth, and I (much) prefer corded. For one thing, the audio, connection, and price are both better — and yes, there’s a cord to manage, but the damn things also never need charging.
But the truth is, travelers sometimes need to be on their phones unexpectedly, often for long periods of time — for instance, to talk with customer support when things go wrong. So if you’re a Bluetooth person, you should still always carry both.
Bring an (almost) full tube of toothpaste in carry-ons
Michael and I have recently started flying with no checked baggage, just carry-ons. But one problem, of course, is toiletries: you’re not allowed to bring liquid containers larger than 100 milliliters (3.4 ounces), and all containers must fit in a single quart-sized bag.
Travel-sized toothpaste containers are so small that they’re almost worthless (and very expensive per ounce). So I started experimenting with how much I could fit in reusable travel containers.
And it turns out I could fit almost a whole tube!
Interestingly, the tube says it holds 6.4 ounces, so either Colgate is lying or it’s the maker of these travel containers. But either way, I’ve taken these containers through security many times, so I know it’s okay.
