Tips and tricks as Oklahomans kick off holiday travels
KOCO 5 has some tips and tricks to avoid major airport meltdowns over the holidays.
KOCO 5 has some tips and tricks to avoid major airport meltdowns over the holidays.
KOCO 5 has some tips and tricks to avoid major airport meltdowns over the holidays.
Across the country or here at home, Oklahomans are expected to take to the skies and highways for holiday travel.
KOCO 5 has some tips and tricks to avoid major airport meltdowns over the holidays.
"The travel industry lost 8.2 million jobs between March and April of last year, and those jobs are only slowly returning," said Sally French, a travel writer at Nerdwallet.
With fewer and newer employees to help travelers on the road, there are some tips to ensure traveling is five stars.
"Embrace tech this year. You can avoid the airport ticket counter if you get your boarding pass sent to your phone. Even hotels, there might be long lines at the hotel check-in counter, but most hotels do wireless check-in, just download their app. What’s really cool is most do a mobile key, so your phone is the key. Just hold your phone up to the door and never have to talk to a person at check-in," French said.
It is also possible to trip down on the security wait time with apps such as CLEAR, which uses biometric data and allows users to skip to the front of the line.
"Not that anybody plans on being a scrooge as they travel this holiday season, but there is a right way and wrong way to complain should something go wrong. I actually recommend turning to social media. Rather than sit on hold, I did call their customer service line and they said it would be two hours on hold. So, I tweeted at Southwest and a customer service agent responded on Twitter. They were able to get me on a different flight get me a flight voucher and that whole transaction happened on my Twitter direct messages," she said.
However, it is always smart to take extra measures just in case.
"Especially now, it’s always important to travel with a backup plan. Know what lodging you might be able to stay at. Know what airports are nearby. If your airport suddenly cancels your flight, can you drive to another airport that’s half an hour away? Bring a backup plan with you because you might actually need it," French said.
One last pro-tip: put essentials in your carry-on. Medications, phone chargers, snacks, and CDC cards are easily accessible in your carry-on if your flight gets delayed.