You're listening to the Cruise Tips TV Unplugged Podcast this week on the pod.
We are sharing some tips for long haul and normal duration flights and some must-have
flight essentials.
Welcome to Cruise Tips TV Unplugged.
I'm your host Sherry and we invite you to join our Cruise Loving Family as we travel
the world creating cruise videos and vlogs.
In this podcast, we talk tips, tactics and strategies to help you make every cruise
your dream cruise.
Well, hello everyone, hope you're doing wonderfully.
It's Sherry flying solo this week on the podcast.
We have just returned from our Diamond Princess Cruise over to Japan and I had so many things
I wanted to share and talk about with regards to be more comfortable on a flight.
We actually on this particular voyage embarked on I think the longest flight of our entire
cruise career.
Our flight over to Japan was over 13 hours.
I think it was 13 hours and 45 minutes if I am not mistaken and on the way back just
a little over 11 hours.
So we were in it for the long haul and I have to say we learned a few things on this
particular flight.
So I wanted to share some tips and tricks.
Mr. Cruise Tips TV will be back with me next week on the podcast where we will be doing
a full review of our Diamond Princess Cruise.
We have so much to talk about with regard to the ship, the service, the food, the entertainment,
the atenorary.
There's really so much to share that it may end up being a two-parter.
So we're still trying to decide if it's going to be one week episode or two weeks worth
of commentary but we'll keep you all closely posted on that and let you know.
But for now, let's talk about some tips for your next flight.
I mean, let's be honest, it's awesome when we can drive to our cruise port.
But most of the time, I think for most people, it's not really the case, right?
Flying is how we get to our cruises.
And flying can be so incredibly hectic and crazy these days.
It's really, it's hard.
Flying is getting more and more difficult.
The airports are more busy, the seats are smaller, they're more uncomfortable.
The whole process is just becoming more stressful and I should be honest, I think it's kind
of uncivilized, right?
So whether you're packing for a flight to a cruise or just flying in general, maybe you're
going on a land vacation, we're helping that these tips and these items that we're going
to suggest will make your flight and your airport time a little bit more comfortable and
maybe even save you some money.
That's the end goal, I think always with these podcasts is to help you to save time and
money.
So what's been going on with us lately?
Oh my goodness, we have had a wonderful week.
We've been back in action for about a week since our Japan cruise on Diamond Princess and
the jet lag at first you guys, whoa, it was real.
When we first came back into town, our flight landed in the US after almost a 13 hour flight,
our flight landed at like 8.45 in the morning.
So we had to stay awake after being awake for basically 24 full hours.
We had to stay awake for another 12 or so hours to make it to evening and that was the
longest day of our lives.
I think some of you can relate, you've been there trying to hold on tight.
Same thing goes when you fly over to Europe and maybe you take a red eye or you take that
last flight of the day, but then you land in Europe in the morning, but you've got to
make it to the evening, right?
So you're trying so hard to do your sightseeing and to stay awake.
Well this time we were just, we were in our own home trying to unpack and do laundry and
recover from the jet lag.
It's taken us a while.
We were in Japan for over two weeks and while we were there, we were 14 hours ahead.
So we were one full day ahead.
So our body is really had to adjust coming back and we are not as young as we used to be.
So it has been a long process, but now we're starting to fill a lot better.
Our sleep schedules are kind of coming back onto a more normal pattern, I guess, but it
takes time and for those of you who have been dealing with any jet lag lately, believe
me.
I feel for you.
Latest content you can find on YouTube.
We had some interesting stuff that we posted lately.
We did a quick review on Diamond Princess of Diamond Princess.
So if you go to our YouTube channel and you look at one of the more recent videos there,
the title of that video is called Expectations versus Reality.
And we spend a good 15 minutes on the cruise ship talking a little bit about what we expected
this cruise to be like and then what really ended up happening.
So everything from the ports to the food and the weather, the weather was a big factor
on this one.
You kind of update you.
Spoiler alert, there was a typhoon.
There were actually two typhoons while we were in Japan.
There was typhoon Kanun and then I think the second one was called Lan and they both caused
changes to our itineraries, which was perfectly understandable because we were trying to stay
safe.
The first itinerary change was Busan South Korea, which we missed entirely because the
port completely closed.
So even had our captain wanted to take us to South Korea, we couldn't have gone because
due to the safety of the community there, they had to close the port.
And then the second one was our last port in Japan, which we'll talk about on the podcast
next week.
But go check out that Expectations versus Reality video.
And also if you haven't yet seen our pack with me video for our cruise to Japan, we have
a Princess cruise packing list that we put together on our website to go with that video.
And it's a kind of a fun a fun take on a packing video.
It's about 22 minutes long and we feature some new luggage in it.
We do have a new suitcase from level eight called the grace.
And you can find a discount code for that luggage in that video.
The grace was amazing.
It had these killer spinny wheels to carry on size and it had a laptop compartment in
the front.
And it was expandable.
So we had good luck with the luggage we packed really well and really light on this
one.
And those videos should help you out.
And lastly, since we last recorded a podcast, we also have a perfect day at Coco Kee
video up on our channel.
It's called Coco K Master Tips.
Make sure you check that one out.
And of course, there's a companion video to this podcast called Must Pack or Must Have
Flight Essentials.
So those are the last few things we've done on YouTube.
If anyone wants to have a little catch-up session, go watch those videos and let us know
in the comments what you think.
But let's get into some of these flight tips.
Now I am going to kind of focus on primarily long haul flight comfort, but these tips can
absolutely apply across the board, whether you're flying for two hours or 12 hours, hopefully
they can help you.
Our first tip, especially if you are going on a long haul flight, is if your airline
is kind enough to provide you with a pillow for your seat.
So sometimes you sit down and there's a pillow and a blanket given to you.
A lot of times this is only on long haul flights these days, but if they give you a pillow,
we recommend taking that pillow, don't put it behind your head, but make it into an immediate
lumbar support.
Putting that pillow down at your lower back makes a world of difference.
And this is for anyone, not just us older folks who are trying to be a little bit more comfortable.
So try that out and see what you think.
We, a head Mr. Cruz of TV, try it and I think he, at first, he looked at me like, what?
Really?
You want me to put this behind my back?
And then he totally kept it in that position for our entire flight.
And I think he was glad that he did.
It just gives you back a little bit of relief and it's a better use for that pillow.
A lot of people just take that pillow and put it on the floor or they put it in the overhead
compartment and they never use it.
But treat it like a lumbar pillow and you'll be so glad that you did.
Our second tip actually comes from one of our subscribers.
I believe that this tip came from April, who has been one of our followers for a really
long time.
And she suggested that when you get, or when you're preparing for your flight, that you
actually take a small pouch, a zip lock bag, just some kind of a smaller bag, anything
that you might need on or during the flight, take that little pouch and put it in the seat
back in front of you.
So of course you've got your personal item under the seat in front of you, right?
That goes under the seat.
Your carry on bag goes overhead, but just this one little bag with your absolute necessities
stays with you.
That way you're not fumbling through your personal item during the flight to try to get to those
items.
Now, what those items are is probably going to be different for everyone.
For me, it's probably going to be something like headphones, chapstick, and stuff to wipe
down the tray table, and maybe like my phone, my universal phone holder, right?
For other people, it might be their kindle, it might be a book, it might be, oh gosh,
I don't know.
You know, whatever your entertainment is for your flight.
But if you put all of that stuff in a small bag with your necessities in it and put it
in the seat back pocket, you will have it close to you.
Now the benefit of putting it in a Ziploc bag is that that seat back pocket, as we know,
is gross.
It's filthy.
That is where people put their used tissues, that is where people put their garbage.
There is nothing clean about the seat back pocket, right?
So you want to protect ear belongings.
So putting them in a little buffer like a Ziploc bag is a really good idea.
The next thing that we have learned most recently, particularly since we started flying
more out of Texas, Dallas Fort Worth is now our main hub airport, is that dressing in layers
for your flight is absolutely critical.
We have been in situations where we have been on the tarmac in Dallas, where it was probably
about 89 degrees on the airplane, in the airplane, like something was not working well
with the air conditioning system.
You are just boiling on the tarmac.
And then right after takeoff, you reach your cruising altitude and it's like 65 on the
plane and you're just freezing.
So usually when we talk about dressing in layers or packing layers, we're talking about
going to Alaska.
Now I'm starting to recommend dressing in layers for your flight because you could end up
needing to be in a tank top and your leggings one moment and wearing a sweatshirt, a hoodie,
and a scarf 10 minutes later.
So think about what that means for you.
I think everybody's a little bit different about how they dress.
On flights, usually believe it or not, we all wear jeans.
I think that for some people, jeans aren't comfortable and that wouldn't be what they'd
want to wear.
They'd maybe go with something more like sweatpants or leggings, but I just feel a little
too casual wearing leggings on a flight.
So I usually will go with jeans and some kind of a top and then a layer to go over that
top.
But something like a lightweight top, not really a blouse, but like a cotton knit, some
kind of a fashionable top that I feel comfortable in, and then something warm to go over the top.
But a scarf could also be a great thing to keep you warm as well, which we'll talk a little
bit about later.
So the first three tips we've talked about, I'm just going to recap that.
Number one, you want to use the provided pillow as a lumbar pillow.
Number two is put that small bag with necessities in your seat back pocket and make that bag
a ziplock so that it's protective and it keeps the germs off of your stuff.
And then number three is dress in layers.
Now we have two more tips for flights that we think are super helpful.
Number four is to arrive at the airport earlier than you think you should.
If you think you need to be there three hours early for an international flight, make sure
you're there at least three hours early.
If you think you're flying domestically in two hours, it's good at least two hours.
You just don't know what can happen, folks, on a flight example.
We were flying home from Japan and I don't know why we will never know what happened.
Maybe due to the typhoon, something happened at the airport in Tokyo where the system to
check people in and give them boarding passes the day before the flights broke.
So nobody could get a mobile boarding pass.
Everyone had to stand in a manual line for a boarding pass at the airport.
When they showed us the line to get into, it literally stretched from one end of the terminal
to the next.
And we thought to ourselves, when we walked in and we found out we were going to have to
get in that line, my blood pressure shot up and we just looked at each other and I told
my husband, we're never going to make this flight.
This is itself a three-four-hour line.
Now it all worked out, we'll tell that story another time.
But bottom line is you don't want to be arriving at the airport at a disadvantage if something
goes wrong.
So, budget, time, interior schedule.
I know that some of us are a little more prone to pushing it, but you just don't want to
push it guys.
There's just too much going on these days.
Now at the time of recording, we're still kind of in summer, it's honestly the first
week of school.
Things are dying down a little bit temporarily for travel, but come holiday season, it's going
to start getting busy again and those airports are going to be nuts.
So plan on the unexpected, get there early and your stress will be so much lower if you
have buffered your schedule.
And our last flight tip is if you can, and you don't always get this choice, but if you
can, choose a flight that leaves a little bit earlier in the day.
And one of the reasons that you want to do that is because there is less chance of cancellation
with flights that are earlier in the day.
Sometimes that flight will have been sitting on the tarmac overnight and it'll be ready
to rock and roll, less delays from incoming flights throughout the day, but yet there's
also one more reason why you might find flying earlier in the day.
It needs to be better and that is that there is sometimes less turbulence in the air during
the morning hours due to temperatures being a little bit lower.
So that's something that you can take into consideration if you are very sensitive to
turbulence.
You might want to consider getting that earlier flight in the day just to have a lesser
chance of turbulence and of course a lesser chance of your flight being delayed or canceled.
So those are the flight tips.
Now I want to pivot and talk a little bit about some awesome flight essentials that you
might want to take with you on your cruise.
I think there's about 15 of them.
I'm going to buzz through these in probably about 15 minutes or so.
We're not going to spend a huge amount of time on anyone given item, but I do want to
kind of touch on them because these are all things that we packed on our most recent flights
that were just essential and we're so glad that we took all of them.
The first thing is to start with some kind of a high quality under seat bag.
So your personal item could be a backpack.
It could be a small bag, like a shoulder bag.
If you're flying on a budget airline, like Frontier Spirit and you're limited on size,
it has to be one of those bags.
Or if you're flying another carrier that allows you a little bit more square footage, you
could go with some sort of a tote or a weekender.
I've been using a weekender style bag.
I ditched my backpack technique a long time ago just because it was uncomfortable for
me to move through the airport wearing a heavy backpack.
So I switched over to a personal item with a trolley sleeve.
So some sort of a small weekender bag, like a mini duffle that goes over the trolley handle
of my rolling suitcase.
And then that will be my personal item that will fit under seat in front of me.
And things to look for when you are shopping for a bag, which by the way, of course, all
of these are in our Amazon shop in the flight essential store, Amazon.com slash shop slash
cruise tips TV.
One of the things I really like to look for in those bags is something to put my water
bottle in.
So it may be insulated, it may have a little plastic in it, just something to kind of slide
a water bottle into so that it's not going to leak into my bag.
So I always look for a little outer pocket or an inner pocket for that.
I also like if I can, I like to have a laptop sleeve or a laptop holder within my bag,
but that's not always the case because sometimes I'll put my laptop into my carry on in the
outer sleeve.
But one way or the other, look for something high quality.
You do not have to spend a lot of money.
There are many bags out there that run between $25 and $55 that are just fantastic.
That have a trolley sleeve.
So last thing I would look for is something with that sleeve where you can slide it over
the handle of your suitcase.
The next thing I like to shop for and that I have been taking most recently on my flights
is a purse, a small cross body purse or a fanny pack that is small enough to then fit
inside of my personal item.
You can't take a third item.
That purse, if it's going to be a third item, it has to get tucked into a bag.
So I'm going to be leaving some space in that weekend or bag that I pack, right?
Space for my little purse, but then the little purse stays as a cross body until boarding
time.
And inside of it is going to be just my most essential items, my wallet, my passports,
my cell phone, and maybe a pen, and that is it because that small little bag has to
go into my personal item once we board.
And believe me, those gate check agents are watching you.
They do not want you to have something else wrapped around your body.
No third item, you cannot have it.
You've got to have just your carry on and your personal item or they will tell you to
tuck it away.
And you want to make sure you have somewhere to tuck it.
So lesson learned, leave a little space in your under seat bag, put that little person
there if you need it.
If you are really minimalist or maybe your gentleman and you only have a wallet in your
back pocket and your passport and your other pocket, great, that works too.
Number three item that I think is absolutely essential for a flight is some kind of lip balm.
Our lips get totally dry on flights, you guys, enough said.
You're going to feel miserable if you don't have something to hydrate your lips and your
skin with.
In my opinion, it is absolutely non-negotiable.
I have to have some kind of chapstick because my lips always just feel like they're going
to crack and fall off.
I don't know what it is about me, but that's a personal thing.
Number four item is snacks.
And if I think I'm going to get a meal on a flight, I'm still packing some sort of a
snack, whether it's something I bought in the airport, whether it's something sealed and
brought from home, it's got to happen.
There has to be some sort of sustenance, whether you need it on the flight, whether you need
it later in a hotel room, whether you need it in the airport before you even got through
security, which ended up being the case for us.
We ended up being in a three hour line.
Before we could even get into and through security, there was no food, there was no water,
there was nothing.
Thank goodness I had a bag of granola, right?
So always be thinking about snacks is more than just on the flight, but obviously on the
flight, that can be an issue too.
Next thing I recommend is some kind of a TSA approved toiletry bag.
If you're flying within the US, this rule applies.
Once you get out of the US and you're in Canada and other countries, this is no longer
a valid tip because they all have their own liquid rolls.
Within the US, I would recommend searching on Amazon for a TSA approved toiletry bag
because you can fit so much more in one of them than you can in the court size liquid
bag that the TSA allows.
So TSA approved toiletry bag, just give that a search.
Next item, some kind of a charging cable is absolutely critical.
Charging cable for your phone, your Kindle, whatever it is, don't forget the cables.
A lot of times, we'll remember to pack our chargers, but we'll forget a cable.
That takes me to the next tip, which is to remember to pack your chargers.
There's so many different types.
Our new favorite type is actually hybrid.
If you watch us on Amazon Live, you may have seen this new, fancy little doodad that is
a charger with cables built into it.
So imagine a charging brick and on the back of it into some recessed little, kind of little,
I don't know, divots, right?
There's cables for several different types of devices pressed into the back of the device
and when you need to use the cables to charge your phone or whatever, you just pull the
cable out, turn the charger on and it's a charger cable combo.
It's the coolest thing ever.
So grab yourself one of those, they're fabulous.
Another item that I have not been traveling without for quite some time now is a universal
phone mount.
Universal phone mounts are these little gadgets that you can, they're spring loaded and you
can hook them to the back of some airplane seats so that you can watch entertainment.
If you don't have seat back entertainment or you don't like the seat back entertainment,
these can be used.
Now when I say some flights, I really mean it because sometimes A, the airline may not
allow them anymore.
I'm hearing that this is happening and B, sometimes there's nowhere to hook them.
On my flight home on Japan Air from Japan to the United States, there was literally not
a single place I could get that little spring loaded sucker to hook onto the back.
So what I did is I opened my tray table and I converted the universal phone mount into
a stand.
I just flipped it around and I placed my phone on it and it sits in any position you
want it to sit in.
So it doubles as a phone stand.
So universal phone mount can be used to mount but can also be used as a stand.
And then it can be great on your cruise or at your hotel as well.
You can set your phone on it as like a little charging station or as an alarm clock.
You can, you know, turn your phone into kind of a little clock.
It works out great.
The next thing to remember to pack on your flight is headphones, whether it's Bluetooth
or the type that plug into the back of the airplane seat, which are the standard ones
or the type that plug into your own phone, just some kind of a headphone.
Some of the airlines are still providing headphones but I wouldn't count on it and I also
wouldn't count on the fact that you'll like them if you're given them.
They may be uncomfortable.
They may be the wrong kind.
You might just not be happy with them.
Next item is don't laugh at me guys.
I'm saying guys but don't laugh at me anyone.
Fluffy socks.
If that flight is more than three hours, I want something comfortable on my feet.
I want to be able to remove my shoes only while I'm seated.
I would never walk around an airplane with just socks.
That's not hygienic.
But while I'm sitting in my seat and maybe trying to catch some z's and relaxing, some
fluffy socks can make all the difference and if you want to remove your shoes, it feels
so restful to put your feet into some fluffy socks.
So we recommend those.
The next item really should have been number one.
And that is something to wipe your tray table down with, whether it's a Chlorox wipe or
just some Santa hands, you got to have something to wipe down that tray table when you get
on.
You guys, I, oh my gosh, one of my friends on Instagram today was flying first class.
He took a video of the guy in front of him in first class, changing the TV channel with
his toes, bare toes.
So he took his feet and he was lifting them up and changing the station with his feet.
You want to wipe down everything and anything you possibly can on that airplane.
Do not count on it being done by the fly crew.
They simply don't have time between flights.
You got to take matters into your own hands.
If you take Chlorox wipes, I recommend a glove because Chlorox wipes are really strong
and you shouldn't be handling them without a glove.
But here's my latest hack.
Instead of busting my Chlorox wipes out, I have just been taking the Santa hands that I
used to clean my hands because they're a little more gentle.
And I've been using those alcohol based wipes to wipe down the tray table and it's just
quicker.
I think Chlorox wipes probably kill more viruses ultimately.
But for me, it's kind of working out.
So hand sanitizing wipes, Chlorox wipes, whatever, but pack both of them.
If nothing else, pack a really good amount of Santa hands brand, alcohol based, they're
wonderful.
I also like to travel with an empty water bottle of some sort, whatever type you like.
If it's collapsible, great.
If it is insulated and good for cold and hot beverages, even better.
If it's miniature, because you don't know if you're going to use it and you don't want
to take up much space, which is my case, I actually pack a small 10 ounce bottle because
I don't use it much, but I don't want to travel without it.
You could also do that to minimize the space.
Also essential, especially for the ladies, if your temperature sensitive like me, a cozy
wrap or a shawl, maybe a sweatshirt for the boys, a hoodie for the boys, that you have
something to warm up with if it gets cold, that wrap, that shawl, that sweatshirt, if
not in use, can be rolled up and used as a comfortable neck pillow or something to lean
up against the window with.
It can be so nice on a flight.
Now, those are all of the items that I wanted to mention today for this particular podcast,
but there are some bonus tips that I want to share just for flights over six hours.
If I'm flying on something that's going to be potential for taking a nap or wanting
to rest a little bit, I'm also going to pack an actual neck pillow for myself, so some
kind of an neck pillow to rest on and also a sleep mask, something where I can block
out light.
If I want to just try to rest my eyes, I cannot sleep to save my life on a flight.
It's just not going to happen, but I can close my eyes and try to recharge a little bit,
and we all know that our eyes take up a lot of energy, the energy of our body, right?
So, if you're feeling really run down, allow your eyes to rest, it allows your body to rest,
it allows you to rejuvenate and to get that energy back, and I think it's just such a
good practice for when you fly just to have a sleep mask, even if you don't plan to sleep.
At least you can give yourself a little bit of a break.
All right, friends, that's all for me this week.
I hope you've enjoyed this solo episode.
Cruise review with Mr. Cruise Tips TV coming next week, we're so looking forward to it.
Send me your feedback on this podcast when I post it on social media, I'd love to hear
your flight tips.
And until next time, we'll see you on the high seas.
Thanks for listening to Cruise Tips TV Unplugged.
If you like our show and want to know more, check us out at cruisetipstv.com.
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Until next time, we'll see you on the high seas.