Who doesn't spend all their time checking the departure boards. I'm am constantly looking , checking, rechecking and checking again to see what gate I'm going from. Relax once I'm sat in my seat.

I have never understood why people do not get to the airport early. I would rather get there too early than too late. Sometimes you may even be able to get on an earlier flight without any fees. I don't see it as a waste of time, but an early start to my vacation.

One you missed is time zones. I had a flight to Germany from the UK and a connection to Newark. I thought I had 90 mins to waste in Germany browsing the shops and almost missed my connecting flights because of the time zone difference. I actually only had 30 mins. It was the final call for the flight that alerted me. It was my first time flying so an easy mistake that could have cost me dearly.

And for God's sake DO NOT MAKE TERRORIST/BOMBING JOKES TO OR AT TSA SECURITY. They can and have shut down entire terminals for that, so don't make EVERYONE hate you. #CavitySearch

Also DON'T FORGET YOUR LUGGAGE ON THE FLOOR !! Especially in Paris, they once closed half of the terminal for a little lost bag, thinking it was a bomb

Here's one I learned the hard way. Never book a route with a very tight connection. Leave a minimum of an hour domestically, preferably a little more. Much more if you need to navigate immigration and customs. Tight connections just aren't worth the stress.

As for your number 5 most common mistake, this is why everyone needs to work in a customer service oriented job at least once in their lives, either in retail or in a restaurant, a hotel, an airlines, everyone needs to do this. You learn what it is like on the other side, and you realize just how little sway they have. No, they are not out to get you, and most will be a lot more accommodating with you if you are nice to them!

I'm an airline pilot and one mistake I see all the time is people make the assumption that flight crews (pilots & flight attendants) know every thing about the airport and we're and when flights depart from. Most flight crews are transient meaning they are not based there and usually have little knowledge of the layout of the terminal and less about arriving and departing flights other then there own. If you want to know some thing about the terminal (location of food, lavatory, baggage claim) ask a gate agent or local employ. If you need help finding your flight ask a gate agent.

one thing I learned from the few flights I experienced so far: ALWAYS check in online. Airlines overbook their flights and you might be to late if you check in at the airport. you could mention this in another flight tip video

As a former check-in/gate agent, I can say that beeing friendly goes a LONG way! If I had the time, I loved to help you with whatever, even when it went beyond my duties. Sadly, more often than not, customers become angry/annoyed and start to blame the agent. Not easy to help then anymore ...

0:32 Not Giving Yourself Enough Time to Get to the Airport 1:26 Not Being TSA Ready at Security 2:25 Screwing Around at Security, Check-in & Duty Free 3:06 Not Paying Attention to Gate Information 4:38 Yelling at Gate Agents, Check-in, Security Thank you for uploading this video. Very helpful!

1:15 was mentioned gates closes 5 minutes before depature time. Not anymore, it's more like 15-20 minutes because if there are no-shows in the plane by then, they need to remove their checked-in luggage from the cargo compartment before takeoff.

not to forget. use online check in when ever you can because it will save you time.

My experience is that everyone DOES care about people that are late. I'm constantly seeing personnel try to get latecomers through cues and security on time.

Great Video 👍. Thank you for posting.

As someone who is going to travel internationally for the first time from Australia to the USA, I find your videos quite informative. Thank you! :)

Another tip: never trust when the flight board says you flight is delayed. Those 15 minute delays are usually wrong so plan to be at your gate at the normal time. I got to my gate based on the delay and found that everyone was already on the plane.

I didn't think that a travel channel would be one of my favorite KZfaq channels. However, Wolter's World is interesting, informative and fun to watch. Keep up the great work 🎥

Great timing for this video as my mom, sister and I are heading to Cabo San Lucas this fall!

Such a great vid, so helpful! Thanks so much!

I used to work for an airline and was so smug when travelling at everyone else making basically all these mistakes you've just highlighted - and then it happened to me! I was taking a flight from London to Manchester, and as it was such a short flight I wasn't thinking and left my house without my passport. Although it was a domestic flight I still needed photo-ID, so I had to get my taxi to turn round and run me back. Then, as I was flying standby, I turned up and thought I was being checked in on a 10am flight (this was at around 8.30am), but no - they instead put me onto a 9.15am flight, and as I was relaxing in the departures lounge at Starbucks I heard my name being called, I checked my boarding pass and had to run, all flustered to the gate. Moral of the story is as frequent a traveller as you may be, never be complacent!

great tips but the sound volume destroyed the clip.

Great video ! Thanks !

What an incredible life you’ve led! Good for you and God bless your family!

Being nice to people who work at the airports is so important! They can make your journey so much easier. I was once running late (stupid me, my fault) and when I got to the security, the guys there got one of those little cars to get me to the gate. It might have helped that I was young (18), traveling alone and looked lost, but I don't think being a dickhead gets you any help. Good points xx (I think it's pronounced Reikjaviik, 'viik' as 'weak' but with a 'v', it's a Scandinavian thing)

Biggest mistake I ever made was buying a sandwich at the Beijing airport.

I love how brutally honest this video is!!

Thank you so much for your videos! I really appreciate it much.

I didn't know gates could change, and almost missed a flight from JFK to SFO. It was super nerve-wracking!

LOVE THIS !! Especially the don't joke around in Security. ....Montreal, last year on our way back from Italy. We had a 4 hour layover, plenty of time. AND there was the "pretty" couple in front of us. Oh, they were bragging about Greece, Italy Spain, First Class everywhere.They were also going on the same flight to San Francisco as us. Between the two, they had NINE carry ons. They immediately tell the Customs guy, " Careful with these" ( they were high end bags, whatever that means ) So, the guy has a co worker open the last row, while instructing those two nitwits to open and take out everything in every bag !! Classic. We breezed right through got to our Plane, and oddly enough, those two never made it to the Plane !! Thanks again for your videos !!

Great info. Thank you

Thank you for this!!

Another great video!

Great video as usual Mark. Since you've observed so many fellow travelers, perhaps you can do a "what not to do when and after boarding the plane!" although you'd have to go top 25 for sure.

Very helpful video! Thank you!

Great video!! Looking good mate

All of these are my biggest pet peeves. When people expect you to know their gate it seriously makes me mad. Also,don’t say your have a gun or a bomb as a joke. It’s not that funny and you can get yourself in trouble

Great tips. Thank you. I haven't flown an airplane since 1997. So I'm completely out of the loop.

Thank You..haven't on a plan in 15 years and your video was extremely helpful!

Great advice! Everything you mention in this video is 100 percent true.

Slight correction: It's TSA's job to make us FEEL safe. It's an illusion.

Even I have been caught with the liquids issue. After going to the airport from my cruise. I forgot that I had placed a large (30 oz) bottle of aloe in my carry on (thought I placed it in checked luggage). Well they found it and I just explained that I am an idiot and do with it as you will. They laughed, my wife got annoyed at losing the money for the aloe. But we moved on with ease. Patience and sincerity are key when dealing with airports.

thank you very helpful

love your videos thanks for the advice

@5:10 "May be a snack for the little one" - So cute..!

Tip: Use an app to keep up to date on what your gate is. Many of these actually include airports maps which make it really easy to find your gate.

Great suggestions 👍🏾

Man! I love your videos, very raw/organic, not too much production, very informative and entertaining, thanks

Great List! The mistake I see all the time is people trying to get bags on carry on that they know aren't the right size. I do travel carry on only and my last two bags have been under the requirements so when someone else comes in with a bag that is 24 or 25 inches tall and they have to put it longways in the overhead, now I can't get my bag up there and even though I followed the rules, if I'm in the last group to get on, now I have to check my bag because you didn't follow the rules. Really makes me mad and it makes a lot of extra work and effort for the attendants who are trying to get everyone on and in the air on time.

Another great vid You know your international travel

very helpful. thanks

super helpful. thanks☺

"You get more flys with honey!" Great advice 🐝🐝🐝🌻🌻💐💐🍯🍯🍯🍯

I was at London terminal 5, we got told to go to one gate, but they changed it, we had to run the entire length of terminal 5 with no travelators. Lucky we asked the staff every so often

Thanks for the nice tips....so helpful.👍👌😊

Thank you for your information

Actually the thing that irks me most about TSA is that I know it's purely security theater.

Don't buy anything at the Duty Free, it's pointless, unless you like to buy overpriced things.

Hey!! Great advice.. I personally work in the airline industry and you hit the nail on the head

Great tips I’ll keep it in mind

oh yes check the gate i had my gate change 4 times once on a layover so i make sure i keep on looking

Mark, I really enjoy watching your videos, many thanks! I'd like to add some thoughts on the points you mentioned: 1. Being there on time. I totally agree with you if we are talking about the first or only leg of a flight. There's almost no excuse for being late there. But there are occasions where it is not the passengers' fault. Think about this situation: You're flying from Europe to the US, with a connecting domestic flight on an airline from the US. The plane that will take you across the ocean leaves the US end of its flight late for whatever reason, so it arrives in Europe late. Ground time in Europe is not enough to compensate for the delay, so it starts its return flight (your first leg) delayed. You get off the plane, run to the immigration area - and there's a MASSIVE line. Just one or two desks open - you wait, wait, wait, your comfortable connection has been shortened by the delay and is melting away now... suddenly you are running VERY late for your connection. I totally understand that the US want to protect their border and thus check who is entering the country, I'm fine with that. But why don't they open an "express lane" for people with tight connections? It's not that the people wanted to arrive there with a delay... ;-) Yes, I've been there, done that.. 2. TSA readiness, Also you're right in general - but unfortunately there are subtle differences, not just from country to country, but from airport to airport. Example: In Europe noone cares abour your passport at the security checkpoint. Flying from OKC to IAH some years ago the TSA lady asked for mine - while it was in my carry-on, being x-rayed. Thankfully she understood I'm German and we are not used to that. But there's more - some airports require you to take off your belt, some say "leave it on if there's no big metal buckle on it. Some require you to pack laptops separately, some don't... If all were working exactly alike, it would be easier. (Even though removing wallet, keys, phone etc. from your pockets and stuffing these items into a carry-on or jacket pocket is always a good idea.) 3. Duty free stuff - In the US you get it delivered to your plane - that's right. In Europe (or pretty much elsewhere I have been so far) it's like in a supermarket. You select the items you want to buy, pay for them and take them with you (most often in a sealed bag). So people from around the world might not be used to what is done in the US. 4. Should be even more simple today - many airlines offer to send updates either by text message or e-mail. I had that years ago when flying from Frankfurt on Lufthansa... Checking in, it told me gate A1, which is right behind security. When I sat down there, i got a text message "new gate: A46" - roughly one mile away. Arriving there, I was informed that my flight was now scheduled for gate A5, almost all the way back. Early morning workout.... 5. Unfortunately I have seen the reverse - gate staff yelling at passengers. A few months ago I was flying on AA from ORD to FRA via PHL - at least that was the plan. The plane out of ORD had some technical issue and was not allowed to fly. So we waited for a spare plane to be brought in. (Hey, it's AA in Chicago, it was just some random narrow-body jet. How can this take hours?!) As time passed we feared we might miss the connection to FRA and get stranded in PHL. So we went up to the counter, explained our problem asked politely if there was any alternative they could book us on. The lady, already quite rudely, told us there's another (full) flight to PHL scheduled to leave in ~45 minutes, our flight is planned to leave in 40 minutes, and since the other flight is a legal connection we'll make it if our flight leaves earlier. We stepped away from the counter, and just as we were about 1 foot away, the display changed to "flight cancelled" - we stepped back to the counter, and she started shouting at us we had to get back at the end of the line. So we had to wait another 2 hours until we were finally rebooked. Good for her, it was not her to rebook us but her colleague, who put us in premium economy from Chicago to London... ;-)

Thank you.

Thanks. I'm having my first commercial flight within the next two months, and I've been anxious about not knowing all of the details, but these videos have helped me a lot. Cheers!

I would also say to check gates on the screens as often as possible as you walk past etc. If the gates change later you may not hear the change announcements over the intercom.

Just thought of something; People with lap kids- you can't sit at the bulkhead (the first seat of the plane, both first class and coach)! We were asked if we could trade seats with someone, and it turned out if no one was willing, the family would have been kicked off the flight for safety reasons. *FYI*

awesome video thanks!

as a member of check in and gate staff in the uk i cannot tell you how spot on you are.

The biggest one is don't drink alcohol before or during the flight. Just remember they can't let you board the plane if you show the signs of impairment.

and always check where your are sitting ahead of time, and make sure you are not setting next to the toilet.

Such good stuff!

Thank you

Having lived in 6 states, 5 nations, on 4 continents, and having traveled to Europe 5 times I do all these things. I get there a minimum of 3 hours early I always have shoes that are easy to take on and off I have my wallet, change, belt ready to put in the bin. The first thing I do whenever I get to the terminal is find my gate, even if I'm an hour early, I find my gate. THEN AND ONLY then do I walk around. I'll add another. Stop by a place like Subway and get a sub to go. That way you're always ready to eat. this is especially true if you're going early in the day.

"dont be late" this applies in life, great rule. its also VERY RUDE

Well said my brother

I cannot stress how important it is to check your gate. Had I not checked mine when I arrived in Atlanta last Monday, I would have missed it. The gate changed 3 times, lol. Always be checking.

Delayed flights can drive even the most sane people mad. I remember being stuck at the airport for seven hours after checking in because of bad weather. My flight was supposed to leave at 3 PM and wound up leaving at 9 PM after my connecting flight had already departed from the transit destination. When it came time to board, the passengers around me were pissed off so badly that they were elbowing others in order to board first. When the gatekeeper finally started boarding us, some snotty business class passengers were even trying to hold everyone else back from boarding, insisting that they still board before us because they were business class.

Why is everyone complaining about the sound? Your videos sound fine. Good work btw

I agree, another nice video

I love this guy!!

Il add 6 and 7 which aren't as obvious. 6. This is important.. If using multiple airlines that are operating on your destination. Always go to the terminal with the carrier you are physically flying with on that day ! Not the original you booked with. This is a time killer if you end up at wrong terminal and find you must go to the other terminal. 7..Be careful if you have headphones on.. gate changes are often announced but tough to hear if it's busy inside to begin with.

I can relate to #4, a few years ago when my family and I were waiting in the airport for our flight to Prague, which they were told was at one gate. Then, while me and my mom were walking around, just went to the bathroom, were looking at some places to eat, we were looking around and saw that our flight changed gates, and it wasn’t even announced or anything. So, we all rushed over to that gate. So, yeah. Pay attention to where your and what gate flight is at, ay keep checking the departure screens.

thanks man this helped

All of your videos are making me super excited for my upcoming trip to Belize this summer! 😃

Also... when you have conections be sure you have 2 or more hours to change plane... I always do that and the last time I travelled, in Newark, they were doing remodalations and everybody had to check in the same place.... it took one hour and 45 minutes and there were people crying because they only had 45 minutes or 1 hour to change planes!!! I learned this when I was 18 years old, someine else bought the ticket and I only had one hour to change planes and doing that in USA is a nightmare.... I almost lost my plane because I had to search my baggages, re-check them and hey make me walk from onde side of the airport to the completely other side of the airport... I boarded 2 minutes before the closed the doors... So now I don't accept if I have leas than 2 hours in order to change planes and I don't accept less than 3 hours if it is USA!!!

It seems like Reykjavik is the windy city.

This one was a suprise. Very entertaining!

very useful on the gates thing

Well, you forgot one small thing: the TSA are just baaaad. They must have some form of interview where they ask "are you truly incompetent at your job?" "Yes. I stink at this job!" "Great! You're hired!" I don't understand any of the dumb/weird things they do. Other cities around the world don't have the weird, unnecessary crap and are doing fine while not having 2-hour long lines. I've been to London, they didn't take two hours to process me through customs. It was less than 20 minutes. In Frankfurt, the Germans were actually very efficient and security even helped me get to the gate because I got lost. In Madrid, the same thing: it didn't take anywhere near an hour to get through the security line and it was NOT a slow day! Even in Switzerland, I cleared security in less than five minutes while ENTERING the country. I was preparing for a few questions and was sure they would stop and scrutinize me. I had my driver's license in my hand so they could match it with my passport and ticket stub. The man behind the desk just looked at my passport, stamped it and waved me by. In Chicago, it was a mess. I was stuck in line for far over an hour because they offloaded not one but two Boeing 747s (they were 400-series, the stretched versions!) and had only four counters open. Yes, four and they expect those poor agents to process over 1,100 people? The halls were pandemonium and I had to take the monorail to get to the other side. Of course, the monorail station was absolutely packed. In San Francisco, they also took over an hour and it was a few days before the crush of post-Xmas travelers head home. That's why my mom had us celebrate Xmas at her relatives' house a day late! We were having Xmas turkey and opening presents while everyone else around the state of California was fighting to get through huge lines at the airports. When I finally cleared customs in Chicago, I was VERY late and missed my connecting flight because i was stuck in customs the whole time. There were no other flights available without a super long layover. I didn't want to take a nap in the airport. That's asking for trouble. I'd wake up minus either my wallet or passport. Sometimes, you can't do anything about bureaucracy and it has caused me to miss two or three flights. Fortunately, I seldom fly more than once a year. What on earth do the TSA do that takes so long to get people through security? I've looked very carefully at the people in line in front of me. Connecting through Dallas/Ft Worth to Zurich/Kloten in late December: the man in front of me had a jacket on and was holding his shoes in his hand. The person in front of him was being held up. I don't know why. The person in front of that one was JUST finally through the gate. When they finally got to me, it was almost three minutes. That's three people. Now think about how many go through Dallas/Ft Worth over the holidays... That's a LOONG time! Wow are they slow! And I've been to the gate when there was a line of 50 people. It doesn't move at all even with three checkpoints. You just try to stay awake and realize the person behind is politely nudging you to move up.

Those rules for liquids in hand luggage exist since 2007, not since 15 years ;) and I really hope they will change it back, as are the plans in the E.U.

Great advice....IF ONLY YOU COULDBE HEARD!

So so true!

Well a Turkish Airlines employee stole my laptop, I left it on a counter for 3 seconds and she placed it under her desk. I asked if she saw a laptop bag there and got a polite no. So I reported that to the police and they went trough security cameras on an airport and after 3 hours found my laptop under the desk. I missed my flight because of that and when I wanted to report that to TA officers they politely asked me to go to ticket office and buy myself a new ticket, not even concerning a police report. So next time you go trough a busy airport make sure you don't leave your stuff unintended for even a second. And yeah rule of thumb, if your boarding an airplane from the runway get to your boarding room at least a hour earlier because if you are boarding directly into a haul they will wait, if you have to take a bus to your airplane they wont.

TSA keeps us safe?! Ahahahaha good one. American pilots call them Thugs Standing Around.

👍 Thx...again😊

Sage travel advice, especially with flight gate updates

A mistake people make when posting videos: don't check the audio quality and whether the volume level is constant between cuts etc. ;-) Constructive criticism aside, great airport tips. :-)

can anyone name one time where the TSA has "kept someone safe"?

Well, this was refreshing! Sometimes I feel like I'm being overly vigilant by checking the screens at nearly every opportunity! I have had that happen where I had a last minute gate change on a connecting flight. I still had plenty of time to get to it and relax because I checked those screens! That was an important piece of advice - thank you!

Thank you! I'm going to college in a few weeks and it's in a different country and I'm traveling alone so I really needed to know these things and thankfully I knew most of them