Traveling Alone



Traveling alone can be an intimidating experience, especially for those who don't do it often. Knowing what to expect and thinking about the challenges solo air travel throws at you ahead of time can make it an easy and efficient experience.

Avoid checking a bag. This is true of any air travel really, but I find it's much easier to be a self-contained entity when alone, leaving as little responsibility to the airline as possible. There's nobody to search for the right baggage claim with you or to help you talk to the agent if a bag gets lost. By keeping everything with you, there's less chance of error.

Along those same lines, don't be afraid to gate check a bag (usually signified by yellow tags put on the bag as you board). This works differently from normal bag checking, as any gate checked bag is only given to the airline as you board the plane, and is retrieved right as you exit the plane. The bag never actually goes through the whole luggage system - that invariably ends misplacing things.

Traveling alone seems to increase the chance of you being searched at security, particularly if one is not obviously on a business trip. Just assume you will be searched and pack accordingly.

The biggest advantage of traveling alone is usually the ability to get an exit row seat. If the airline you are flying with allows online check-in (usually available 24 hours before departing time) exit row seats can usually be obtained there. If not, make sure to ask at the gate, as most of the time there will be the odd one exit row seat that nobody has taken because they want to sit with their traveling companions. They get company, you get leg room. Sometimes a book and being able to stretch is better than someone to talk to.

By: Joe McGrath



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