THESE “TRAVEL HACK” TIKTOK ACCOUNTS ARE GOING TO CAUSE YOU TO BE LATE AND WASTE MONEY.

I’ll admit. I fell into the trap. I subscribed to multiple of those travel hack accounts on TikTok. <br><br>So many of them are nonsense, and this trip proved it. <br><br>I’m currently waiting to rebook my canceled flight (after being delayed for almost 12 hours). My flight was delayed on the way here, and “TWICE” canceled, only to have them revive it after having me sit at the gate for an hour. I watched multiple people lose their minds and book last minute Uber’s to destinations they thought weren’t as far away as they actually were. <br><br>I’m probably the only person in the airport right now (it’s only 9pm) who has successfully fallen asleep on a bench for almost 2 hours. I’m on the east coast, I’m going home, I’m on the west coast. It’s 12am back home, and I’m just waiting for them to announce my flight is canceled. <br><br>Here are some of the “hacks” from those accounts that caused people to lose their minds:<br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>1.) “Everyone always books window seats so the middle seats are more likely to be upgraded.” - I saw someone fight the staff over having to give up their middle seat so the airline could put 3 people together (they had all paid to sit together). It didn’t end well. The flight crew aren’t stupid. They know exactly what seats to upgrade and when. Sometimes it’s as simple as “oh, this person is short and the person in the window seat is tall, so they get the window seat to have the most leg room.” <br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>2.) “Always check the airport map to make sure the gate your flight is scheduled to land in isn’t too far from your next gate. You never know when they’ll decide to change gates and you won’t have enough time to get there.” I heard someone panic when the gate switched and it was 2 terminals over. This was the first thing I checked when I saw my boarding time was only 15 minutes after the flight I was on was scheduled to land. The gates are in the same terminal. I don’t care if I have 30 minutes, I’m not risking being late on a vacation I’ve saved and waited for. It’s not worth risking 500$ over, at least not for me. <br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>3.) “Everyone gets off the plane at the same time, get off the plane fast and hold your bag in front of you because the overhead bins take up too much time to get to.” Or some variation of that. When we were taxiing to the gate I saw someone pull their carry on out of the overhead bin, almost knocking me into my lap. They had put all their bags under the seat in front of them and were standing with their bag in front of them by the time that the flight attendants were still telling us to keep our seatbelts fastened. The flight attendants yelled at least 4 times not to rush off the plane until the pilot gives us the green light. The person next to me looked at me and asked if the person who just smacked me in the face with their bag when the light was still red was “one of those hack people.” I just laughed and said “yeah, definitely.” (Side note, please don’t rush off of planes, it’s not worth it.) <br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>4.) “You can always ask to switch your seat to a more convenient row, or ask to switch your seat so you don’t have to sit next to a random person.” I don’t know what kind of magical powers some people have, but as someone who works in customer service, you will not get anywhere with being rude. I watched a man ask a flight attendant if he could switch seats with a little girl who was sitting next to her mother so that he could sit next to his gf. The flight attendants said no because the mother was unable to switch seats due to being in a window seat and having a broken shoulder, and the man asked why they couldn’t just “make her switch.” The flight attendant kindly explained that if the mother couldn’t reach the overhead compartment, it would be a safety issue to have her swap seats (not to mention this man had 2 carry on bags). The man continued to argue until the pilot himself came over and explained the safety issue to him. <br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>5.) “You don’t have to sit on the plane if you’re connecting flights. Even though they gave you a boarding pass, they won’t let you on the plane because you don’t have a second boarding pass.” I can’t believe I’m even typing this out. <br><br>There are a lot more, but these were the most prevalent ones that I noticed on my flight today. <br><br>The only “hack” that even worked was when someone was stuck on a plane and had to share a row with 2 strangers and asked if they could switch with someone and the person in front of them “had power and more leg room, and was willing to switch.” <br><br>If you still feel the need to follow those accounts, at least take the advice with a grain of salt.