Summer Travel Tips — Fly Smarter, Not Harder

Summer travel doesn’t have to be chaotic. Joshua, Michelle, and Darion share insider tips to help you fly smarter, avoid mistakes, and navigate busy airports like a pro.

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:00

The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are entirely our own. We're speaking as private individuals and free thinkers, and nothing we say reflects the views, policies, or positions of our employer or any organization we are affiliated with. Nothing discussed on this podcast should be interpreted as for professional, operational, or safety guidance or as an official statement from any airline. This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Welcome to Jumpseat Chronicle. Welcome, welcome back.

SPEAKER_04 0:44

Y'all, welcome, welcome back.

SPEAKER_00 0:45

Hey y'all. I am Michelle. I'm still here with I'm Josh.

SPEAKER_04 0:52

JJ, but we're gonna I'm gonna switch and cut the JJ thing out because they done already said my name. Episode one, episode two. So Josh is here.

SPEAKER_03 1:02

Darien's here as well. Hey y'all, what's going on?

SPEAKER_00 1:07

So we know that summer travel is has already kicked off. It's June. We know it's exciting, but it's chaotic, right? Airports are packed. Yes. We see it, we know it, we live it, we love it. Our flights are full. However, one small mistake, and it can turn your entire travel experience completely upside down. As flight attendants, we know what works, and we definitely know what doesn't work. So today we're gonna give you some insider tips to help you travel smarter, calmer, and look like you know what you're doing, like a pro. So, what are some of your travel plans for 2026? Where y'all going? What y'all doing?

SPEAKER_04 1:54

Should we start with you, our legendary travel expert?

SPEAKER_00 1:58

Where are you going now?

SPEAKER_03 2:01

But no, um, to be honest, because I'm in school, so I've tried to like cut back on traveling so much. Yeah. So this year, um Mexico in July, going to Port of Reartha, um Orlando in September, and Portugal in this in December. It's not all, I'm not going doing a whole whole lot of traveling. And so just trying to stay balanced. Okay. Because you know me, I'll be going somewhere every month. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 2:27

Every couple of weeks.

SPEAKER_03 2:29

Yeah. So yeah, that's it that's it for me so far for this year. Okay. What about y'all?

SPEAKER_04 2:34

Um I was supposed to be going to DR next month, but that's not gonna happen because got some major stuff in the works. Um, but I'll be going to the UK in October. So I'm looking forward to that because I've yet to cross the pond. So you're gonna love it. I'm I'm I'm praying I do. Yeah. Even though it's gonna be cold that time of year. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 3:01

But it's not too crazy. It's not really, you just need to drag. Oh, I'm going in um to Paris in October too. I can't tell you why, because my mom is my mama surprised she might see this. But yes, I forgot about it. You shouldn't even say it that way.

SPEAKER_04 3:13

She knows she okay. She just knows where we're going. Okay. Well, maybe we need to arrange so we can be on the show. Yes, that would be dope. Yeah, but okay.

unknown 3:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 3:23

What about you, boo? What about you?

SPEAKER_00 3:24

Y'all ain't asked me if I want to go.

SPEAKER_04 3:26

You coming? Oh, yes, because we can do like a little video. Let me say from over near the Apple Tower. The Disney, however, you pronounce that thing. But no, you actually ate.

SPEAKER_00 3:41

Jem C Chronicles International. Right, hello? Just saying. Well, I do have plans for my birthday in August. I'm yet to reveal those yet because they are still in the planning and working. So um Michelle's gonna be on vacation. So if y'all don't get an episode until late August, just know it's because she's on hiatus doing something.

SPEAKER_03 4:01

You deserve to. You be working hard, baby.

SPEAKER_04 4:04

You did deserve a real vacation between the two of y'all. I'm probably the lazy one. Y'all have y'all hands in some pretty serious bags.

SPEAKER_03 4:15

Which is why we take a lot of trips. Like, why you always gone? Because I'm always doing something. So I need that to keep my sanity.

SPEAKER_00 4:20

Yes, sanity. Yeah. We're talking. So I am very crasher. Yeah, actually, I am going to take a real vacation in August.

SPEAKER_03 4:27

Um sand in the feet, on feet in the sand.

SPEAKER_00 4:30

Feet in the sand or someplace, uh someplace that requires another uh language where I'm sitting here with a with a book going. So say that again slower so I can catch up to what you just said.

SPEAKER_04 4:43

Which is a great thing. But this segue's before we go into our main topic. Absolutely. But I was actually with one of me and Darien's mutual friends. Um and we were talking about this because he he has gone on, I guess, a few of Darien's trips. And Darien, from what I've been told, is not, oh, let's just go lay up on the beach for a few days. Darien apparently has a whole itinerary of that makes sense.

SPEAKER_03 5:13

I'm gonna pop my boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. This is why I do this. Imagine going a 17-hour flight away to do nothing but sleep.

SPEAKER_00 5:20

No. Well, not sleeping.

SPEAKER_03 5:21

No, we're gonna go out, we're gonna hit the clubs, another club, bus, another club, another bar. We're gonna be walking out. But no, I just want to make sure that when we go that far, that we are making the best of our time and seeing as much as we can, getting the photo ops, getting the club experiences, getting the museums, getting the beach experience, all the touristy stuff because we only be there for a short period of time, five, six days. So you know how Europeans they go on vacation for two weeks. We don't have that much time, so it's like we gotta get as much done. But I also love to make sure that there's at least one free day to where you can do whatever you want to do. You want to stay in the bed all day, you can. But yeah, my itineraries be lit.

SPEAKER_04 5:59

And I think in those instances when you're traveling with groups, I think sometimes it feels like it lends towards the go, go, go, go, go.

SPEAKER_03 6:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:09

Um however, years ago I did a seven-day uh cruise alone. Ooh, that's nice. Babe, when I tell you I loved, I woke up on my own schedule. Yeah, I spent more money than I needed to because I went to that spa, that lady rubbed me down. So good the first time, I went back the next day. That's what a vacation is photo. Spend your money on literally back. It was I was on my own time on my own schedule. And so that part was great. However, when you do go with a big group, I guess it does make more sense to create those environments, experiences because later on, once we're older, you know, we have memories we can look back. Oh, I did so and so. And that's even a reason to hey, I talked to you in a few months, but you remember when I get that. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 6:59

And it's just fun to have a good time when you go. Why go if you're gonna land in bed? You could just stay home and open up and open up social media, open up Google and do that, right? Yeah. So thank y'all for checking in with me. I have I feel like I haven't seen y'all in forever. So it's nice to catch up and find out what y'all are doing this summer. Definitely.

SPEAKER_03 7:18

Oh shoot, I could have put this.

SPEAKER_00 7:19

So with our um starting topic, we gonna tell y'all how to travel and travel well. Let's start with before you even leave the airport. So you know you are going someplace. What should you be doing differently? So let's set you up for success. We know we're going somewhere. What do you need? You need to check everybody's passport. Don't be that person and go, Yeah, yeah, I got my passport. When have you last last laid eyes on it? You don't want to be the one to say, I don't know, and you look and you have four months left on your passport, or you have not checked to see if that country requires a visa. So please make sure that you do that before you go anywhere. Josh.

SPEAKER_04 7:59

And even because you're speaking specifically international travel, like even think domestic for those that are domestic. Real ID kicked in earlier this year. And if you have not gone to the DMV or the BMV or whatever it's called in your city state, you need to go and make sure you have your I's dotted and your T's are crossed in that because just like Passport, if your ID is not valid, even though you think it is because you've been driving around and never had a reason to go get it updated, that real ID situation is in full throttle, full effect.

SPEAKER_03 8:40

Your gagger TSA. Because then you're like, uh, what you want us to do?

SPEAKER_00 8:43

Yes, and TSA is not there to verify it for you. They're they're there to make sure that your boarding pass matches your real ID, not just your ID. So before you even are in the planning stages, make sure that all of your IDs, your visas, your passports are valid. Your passports, they need to have at least six months. And not six months from the day you travel to the day you get back. Make sure you have more than six months before you travel because we never want to, you don't want to travel and end up in a situation where you're stuck in somebody's country and they look and you can't come back. That is a feeling you do not want to have.

SPEAKER_03 9:20

And nowadays, nowadays, too, if you go to the airport and your passport expires in less than six months, they won't even let you go to the plane to go to the gun tree. They'd be like, Well, your travel plans are canceled, and then you gotta figure out what you're gonna do next. And it actually happened with one of my friends on a group trip, one of my group trips, and he missed the entire trip. Yeah, and lost out on everything.

SPEAKER_00 9:40

And that is a lot of money that you want to have wasted. And speaking of that, we're in a digital age. Download everything everything, and if even if you think I'm not gonna need it, you will need it. Download and not only download it, print it. It's nothing like having a old school printed copy. I know we think, oh, we live in a digital age, my phone won't get stolen, this won't happen. Just because you say having a printed copy with you, because just because it won't happen, something happens to your passport, your passport gets lost, you on that fantastic trip, and God forbid there's a fire, there's a flood, whatever, mother nature happens. We can't predict Mother Nature. That's why we call her Mother Nature.

SPEAKER_04 10:23

Internationally, like you were saying about the printed copy. If you don't have your hard copy, but you haven't printed, at least you can go to the embassy to say, hey, this is me. This is me. I had this backed up because it was tucked somewhere in my suitcase. So help me. Yes. And one thing I did want to point out and look up, because I'm sure a lot of people are familiar with IDs, a lot of people are familiar with passports, but visas, um, most people think that you can just jump on an airplane and just use your passport and don't do the visa. Uh, visa is an official permission from a country that lets a non-citizen enter and stay there for a specific purpose and length of time, usually linked to their passport. So it is something that I wanted to point that out because read up on where you're going, first and foremost. Uh the uh the agencies within our government that uh work with travel, the State Department, everything usually has websites that point out this is what you need, these are the places, like even having the addresses of the embassies and stuff like that, where to go. So that's important. But I did want people to know because a lot of times we highlight having the ID, the real ID, and highlight passports. But visas are important, especially now. Our country, cutting to the person that's in the White House, decided to start charging big time fees for visas. And it's it's important.

SPEAKER_03 11:58

If I can piggyback off that to give y'all an example of why it's important to take care of your with visas, I have applied for about 10. Do it within a three months to ban of your vacation. I don't want you want people to gag because my friends, we just had to experience when I went to Bali and Vietnam for my birthday. Two of my friends waited to the last minute to apply for their visas and they could not come to Vietnam. They had to meet us in Bali because their visas did not get approved in time. Because a lot of the different countries, some of them can approve you like the UK. UK's uh visa, they respond immediately and give you a visa approval. But Asia especially, oh, they they take their time, it can take weeks. So make sure you're doing the proper research to find out what's required for that visa in that country and how long it takes so that you're giving yourself enough time to apply for that visa, pay for it, and have enough time for your trip so your whole vacation is not ruined. Yes, definitely.

SPEAKER_00 12:56

That's a good one. And also pro tip when you are packing your bag, you're packing that big old large vacation bag, don't put every single bit of clothing in that bag. Keep at least one outfit change in your carry-on bag because you never know where that large bag may end up. Yeah, and then you're out there and without anything but your electronics and your cell phone with you, and you don't even have anything, not even a pair of underwear to change into. So keep at least one pair of clothing with you until your large bag, and you don't have to worry about, well, now I'm in whatever country and I have, or whatever city, even if you're local, whatever city without a pair of clothes. So keep one with you, even though you think, oh, nothing's gonna happen to my bag. Again, you never know. Stop speaking whatever into existence because you never know what may happen.

SPEAKER_04 13:54

You never know.

SPEAKER_00 13:55

So keep those with you and charge everything before you leave the house.

SPEAKER_04 13:59

Yes. Make sure if you are traveling with a portable charger or power bank that you are charging those ahead of time. A lot of folks think because there are USB chargers or other charging outlets on planes that you can just charge that up. No, that's a fire hazard. Um, and a lot of times they don't work.

SPEAKER_03 14:18

These charging ports don't work.

SPEAKER_04 14:20

The wattage and voltage might be out there different. So it's always good to have that, like she said, charged up before you leave the house. Um, yeah, that's all I can say.

SPEAKER_03 14:34

I also want to make because we did with this a lot on the plane. Oh my god, I have a tight connection. Do you think I'm gonna make it? How about y'all start booking these flights with a little uh with the give y'all self a bigger window of time to connect? People will book Waitfriend, wait for we can get there. Oh, I was about to listen. No, not even my manual.

SPEAKER_04 14:51

No, not even just that. I'm we are gonna go fully more into that, but the thing I want to tap dance on that is know where you're going and the time zone.

SPEAKER_03 15:03

Yes. Oh, they be panicking talking about I got 30 minutes and they get an hour. We're in a different time zone now. You're in a whole different time zone.

SPEAKER_04 15:10

I think I said it before on one of our episodes. I feel like when people walk into the airport, there's a portion of their brain that shuts off. I don't, I can't say they go into like an autopilot mode, because that ain't it. It's something that happens where it's like the reasoning side of their brain is just not working. Situational awareness skills go away. Yeah. And don't get me wrong, I have been in those shoes as well. So I'm speaking of that, whereas I don't know what it happens when you go into the plane. Maybe you're super excited about whatever trip, or maybe you're super sad or depressed. Whatever happens, something goes through where it's like, oh, your brain is not functioning that it's full capacity.

SPEAKER_03 15:57

Full capacity. Not to mention, Apple iPhone will tell you when you're in a different time zone. It's it just look at your phone, tell you the time.

SPEAKER_00 16:02

And even if you don't have an Apple, Android does it. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 16:06

Anything with technology now, they monitor is gonna change your time zone. Just look at your phone. But yeah, please give you all, give yourself I not get it. Sometimes you see that that that price and you see how how cheap it is, but you only got 30 minutes to connect. Keep in mind, summer travel, there's a lot of thunderstorms and a lot of weather delays because we have a lot of bad weather during the summer, which causes delays. So make sure you give yourself enough padding to where when you land, you're not having to run or possibly miss your connection. I'm sorry. I just also have to segue into this real quick.

SPEAKER_04 16:38

Shout out to all those that are from my hometown, Meryville, Indiana, a few days ago when the thunderstorms and tornadoes ripped through the Chicagoland area. My hometown got hit. And um, thankfully, as far as I know, no one in my family was affected, but like it touched down. And um, that's the first time I've known in my lifetime where a tornado really even hit that area. So um it's summer. I mean, we're here, but like you said, that stuff happens. Um, but yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:14

Yeah, yeah. Thank you, uh, both of you for touching on both of those points that we see often. All the time. Where where's my flight? Where's my connection? Do you know? And I hate to be the bearer of some news. Your flight attendants don't know a lot of times. We're not being facetious when we say we don't know. Say it again with a share, say it again. We really don't know. We're not being funny when we say we don't know. Honestly, we don't know. I wish we did know all of the connections for all of the flights in every single airport or every single place. We really don't know. We sometimes we do, but oftentimes we just don't know.

SPEAKER_03 17:54

One one bit of advice, sorry, is to download a flight tracker app. That way you can track your own connections and know where to go. So when you're in the air, you can look it up and say, okay, I put my flight number into my in my airline. Boom. So when I land, I'm going out of the B gates, C gates. This time I landed out. I got this much time. I know.

SPEAKER_00 18:11

And that's why that's why we say download everything. We mean download everything. If you are on, if you are traveling on Delta, download the Delta app. You're traveling on American, download American Southwest, download Southwest app. Whatever airline you are traveling on, download that app. They have an app. Every airline has an app. There's a flight tracker app, there's an airline specific app. Guess what? There are apps for your hotel stays. Download those two. How you can check into your hotel, you can even basically the front desk from the absolutely you can do all of these things. Technology has come so far. Unfortunately, they have not downloaded a flight attendant app.

SPEAKER_03 18:49

So we don't know these things. And I love I love the the the airlines are now getting with the advancement of technology, especially like my fate, one of my favorite airlines because of this analogy is United. United will tell you if you're going to miss your flight, the next option you have is going to tell you what terminal you're coming into and what terminal your next flight is, how long of a walk is going to take to get to that next terminal. It tells you so much. Oh, that's fantastic. And I love and so it's like if you get the app for the airline you're on, it will let you know hey, you're probably going to miss your connection. This is the next option for you. Do you want to take this now? It gives you all the information you need. Just make sure, like you said, Michelle, download the right thing.

SPEAKER_04 19:28

Speaking of that as a tip, um, because we definitely have it in our notes, and speaking of apps, check in early and monitor the status of your flight, like he just pointed out.

SPEAKER_01 19:40

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 19:40

All the information you think you need to know, it will come to you a lot quicker than us because we have to maybe go look and search and dig and bother other people, like call in the captain to ask him about something during flight when you have an app and all of that is laid out. The check-in early part. I, as far as I know, most airlines 24 hours in advance. That way you know your seat, you know your boarding position, all of that. Um, do it and do it early and get it out the way.

SPEAKER_03 20:16

Absolutely. And also, when you check in early, you got a better chance of getting assigned a better seat too. What all people don't realize. When you, especially if you buy one of the cheaper fares, as soon as you check in, if you check in exactly 24 hours, you have a better chance of being assigned a winner or out seat. So you always get to the airport, get on a kiosk and check in. You want to you mad because you got a middle? Well, sweetheart, you baby could absolutely check in yesterday. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 20:39

And for those who love to ask your flight attendants as you're coming on board, we'll answer you. But the answer is probably gonna be yes. Is the flight full?

unknown 20:46

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 20:47

Summertime, yes. Yes, yes, yes, winter time, yes, completely full fall, yes, year round, yes. Go to your assigned seat, please. I think and because passengers don't understand that even though you come on board and you might, and this is now for any airline because Southwest has joined the ranks of assigned seating. You come on board and you think because you see an open seat, I should be able to sit there because nobody's sitting there, and that's not the way it works. Entitlement so many levels to that. Fuel, weight and balance, and weight and balance and fuel are go hand in hand. Also, there is somebody that usually paid a higher fee than what you paid sitting in the seat that you are trying, or role, or area that you're trying to get. And you can't think that that's makes sense, or it's apples and apples. No, it's apples and oranges. It's like not equal. So why should I just freely let you sit somewhere that someone else had to pay a higher price? For you know, and it's just not fair. And and for us, you know, because I've been in those situations where passengers have kind of oh, so you're not gonna take it personal.

SPEAKER_00 22:12

Well, Josh, that's it. They take it real personal. That works for any carrier. Yeah, that that's not for Southwest, that's for Americans, that's for Delta. That is for United. That that works for every carrier. I just believe that now it's Southwest joining the other ranks of carriers. It's now, you know, you know, now new to passengers, but y'all, the flights are full. We would love to allow you guys to sit wherever, but that is beyond our control. Yeah. So when you come on, just know the flights are full. It is summer. Everybody's going someplace. Yes, we think the economy is, oh, it's bad. Not bad enough for people to not travel. Everybody's going to go someplace. You know, there's still, unfortunately, funerals, there's still graduations, there's still birth and death and celebration and life and birthdays. There's still business going on in spite of everything that's going on. And in terms of packing, don't feel like you need to pack everything into that suitcase. It's summer travel. Pack smarter, not harder. Yes, correct.

SPEAKER_03 23:12

And uh just um a PSA. And I'm sure every flight attendant will agree. If you pack it, you stack it. Do not come on this plane pointing at me and pointing out your bag and expecting me, because I am a male, to lift your bag in the overhead bin just because you you pack too much and it's too heavy. I am so sorry, but if you pack it, you stack it.

SPEAKER_04 23:35

And I don't think please I don't think a lot of passengers, and this is to our passengers out there in the world, uh, a lot of times you will get pushback even now from male flight attendants. I don't want to say it like this, but I'm gonna say it like this. Chivalry in the airline industry does not exist anymore. Because if I lift your bag and I injure myself, you are not gonna pay for my hospital bills. The company's gonna have to try to pay for that. And as far as I've heard, any and everybody that has had to go on workmen's comp, it's not the greatest. And we also have guidelines and rules in place within our company not to lift bags or do something, like there's certain guidelines and parameters we have to stay within. And if we happen to do something that's outside of those parameters, then it's on us because there are rules that say, No, you're not supposed to be doing that. Exactly. I can't come and say, like, oh well, you know, she was so sweet to me, and I just wanted to help. No, because if I pull something in my back, whose fault is that?

SPEAKER_03 24:54

Yeah. I tell people all the time, if you if you try if you're traveling before you leave home, pick that bag up and see if you can put it over the refrigerator. If you can't leave your own bag up over the refrigerator, you might want to go ahead and check that bag. Check it. But do not come on with the entitlement expectancy that because you see male flight attendants or even women flight attendants, that they're going to be. Oh, put my bag up. Okay, can't you put that up? It's too heavy for me. No, baby.

SPEAKER_00 25:17

It's it's too heavy for me.

SPEAKER_03 25:18

But what I can do, love, is or sir, is I can check that bag under the plane.

SPEAKER_00 25:22

Or I or or even or even better. Final destination. We don't mind assisting you if you or if you are helping, if you are helping me in the process, help me help you. Yes, yes. Don't come on and sit down and point to your bag and say, put that up. That is where this is not a concierge. This is not what we do. We will gladly assist you. I will assist you all day. I am that is what I am here for. I am assisting all day. I am not picking up and doing that. I pick up one bag throughout the day and I do it two times, hopefully, in a day. For that first flight when it goes up and for that last flight when it comes down. Hopefully, there are no plane changes throughout the day. However, if there are a lot of times there are. You know, we do that, but you know, a good day is one day one down.

SPEAKER_04 26:07

Come on, somebody.

SPEAKER_00 26:08

That is a good day. Bad day is multiple times a day, and hopefully it's mine and mine alone. However, I don't mind assisting our passengers if they, you know, somebody five foot one and that overhead man is right at five five. Oh, girl, come on, let me help you. Help you, not put it up for you. That is the difference in the two. Yes. And unfortunately, I've had men to ask me, and I and we have to have a whole eye-to-eye conversation. When I look at you and you look at me, and we looking at each other like this. And then he thinks about what he just said and go, oh.

SPEAKER_04 26:40

Oh, yeah. That don't even look that don't even. This is still dealing with bags, but it's so, I don't know if it bothers y'all as much as it bothers me. But somebody coming on board, now you're standing in the aisle, pulling out all this stuff out your bag.

SPEAKER_03 26:56

Just dealt with that few days.

SPEAKER_04 26:58

And you're holding up the line from people finding their seats, like the entitlement of it all. The situation we're in this. But my thing is like, you had all the time in the world when you were out there to pull this stuff, but if you needed the consistent up and down, up and down, in the bag. It's like, one, whatever it is should have been in the bag that's going under your seat. But two, that it's like there's so much that's going on that has to happen. Now you bought this ticket and we want to get you to the destination that you want to go, but you consistently, we're like, everybody needs to be seated, ready to close the main cabin door, and you are consistently wait, wait, no. Oh, I just don't need to no, sit down, sit down, sit down, please sit down.

SPEAKER_00 27:48

That is her, sit down. Ma'am, sit down. Sit down, and nothing, and nothing exists a part of them. Them, them, and they and they they they don't get it. And it's like, hi, you have to come and be like, hi, excuse me. Step out, and you actually have to, that's where we, you know, we got had a whole big conversation about the touching. Yes. You don't want to touch somebody, but that's the point where you want to touch somebody and be like, hey, we need you to go and step into your rope, please. Step into the step into your aisle, yeah, into your role, please. We don't, but it's like that's where you want to be like, hey, excuse me. Can I tap you?

SPEAKER_04 28:28

We'll be the first ones, and I'm not saying everybody, but usually are the first ones, why are we leaving? Why we delayed? And huffing and puffing is like, I know I just saw you spending all this time.

SPEAKER_03 28:39

All this time biting with your bang. Your book band.

SPEAKER_00 28:45

Five whole minutes searching for a book. Oh, it was in my it was in my bag.

SPEAKER_04 28:51

So another thing uh that's on our list that just made me think about it. Um one TSA rules. Make sure you are looking up. If you don't already know, go to TSA's website, TSA.gov or whatever it is, see the requirements because they are requirements. And actually, they're always ever changing because new products are coming out, new inventions are coming out. So those requirements are ever changing. I know even with airlines across the board, a lot of them are cracking down even on portable chargers and power banks. While you can only have one or not multiple. Yeah, so be mindful of that. But the one thing I was gonna segue into when it comes to TSA rules is those that like to bring water bottles. We want you to stay hydrated. We definitely do. However, don't forget you put water in it and then put it in the overhead bin. Because what you don't realize is you left that in the overhead bin, the expanding and compressing of the cabin is causing now your water bottle to leak. And not only is it coming through down through the vents and all this other stuff, but it's soaking up and wetting up other people's bags, and now it's a whole situation. So those that are coming on with water bottles, just be mindful that you have liquid in it. And if you don't have any liquid in it, no big deal. You putting it up overhead, sure. But if you do know you have something in there, or as soon as you remember, as long as it's not between takeoff and landing, um, grab it down because the sooner you get to that, when you know you got liquid in, the safer everybody will be. Because the fact that I have to run in and out because it's like trip, it's raining. Trip, trip, and a passenger is pissed off because normally the person whose drink it is is not the one in the world. Never the one in the state. It never works that way. It's never the one in the scene. They're like, it's that one that just wanna and it's a bystander. I'm about to pursue the airline, and it's like it wasn't even us.

SPEAKER_03 31:06

And another thing with those, those, those heavy metal, those, those ughetis, they are heavy. Y'all ever hear one of them drop on the floor sound like a uh bowling ball? A lot of times they forget to put them, take them out over a bit, and they fall on people's heads. Yes, yes, y'all have to be careful with those heavy insulated water containers. Take them out because you are injuring other people, which then slows us down because now we got a medical.

SPEAKER_00 31:31

Since we're talking about water bottles, airports have water fountains. Yes. Oh my god, they just get your water before you come on. We don't mind getting you water during boarding, however, airports have water bottles. Get your water before you come on board.

SPEAKER_04 31:51

And honestly, even to that point, we don't mind however during boarding, we're still in a certain stage within our job function. We are in a safety-related functionality at at that point. Um for some airlines, for some, it's different. I think usually across the board, we are all in agreement when it's boarding because we have to be watching, we have to be paying attention and doing all this other stuff. So you asking for some water to take some medicine that you knew you had to take.

SPEAKER_00 32:31

Before you came on board.

SPEAKER_04 32:32

Before you came on board. I'm not pointing the finger, but you knew this. I didn't know this. As your flight attendant standing here to remind you, hey, you take your medicine. I didn't know none of this. So you were aware of that that's something you should handle prior to getting on board or wait to the appropriate time when we can serve. I am sorry that you jogged from concourse A over to Concourse C and you're tired and you're sweaty. And I I get it. I apologize that happened. However, give me some grace if I tell you I can't serve you right now, or I can't give you uh any water until we get in the air. Because usually if a flight attendant tells you they can't, there's a reason behind it. So don't immediately I say all this to say don't immediately jump to it's an offense against you or it's targeted against you, because 99% of the time, I already told one or two other people know they can't. And when I say I, I'm speaking for flight attendants as a whole, we um have to do that. But there are there are phases. We are not customer service, everything. Like you come on the board, everything is about you. No, when you come on board, everything is about safety. That's our number one job. And of course, we're talking about travel tips, but this is Jumpseat Chronicles. We are flight attendant driven. We're gonna talk about flight attendants, and so I'm always gonna uplift flight attendants as a whole. Our job is safety, number one, to make sure you're safe. Everything else is a added and a bonus. So I want to highlight that.

SPEAKER_03 34:09

Also, too. Um speaking of you're not the only one on the plane, it's not all about you. We get y'all might be tight on connections. You get that you may need to make your connection. Please do not ring your flight attendant call button and ask the flight attendant if they can clear the aisle and let you off first. Like you're the only one on that plane that got a connection. And row third. You are not Beyonce. And row 31. Oh sorry. You're not the only one on this plane who has a connection. You are not special, and unfortunately, we will not be allowed to do that.

SPEAKER_00 34:41

The entitlement we would absolutely love to do that for the other 28 rows that are in front of you. However, I'm so sorry we just can't do that. It's always people that always and and I apologize that you know your choice and option was yours to make when you chose to sit in row 30. It's a choice. Like I said, you have an option to pick your seat. Or or 50 or 56. 56. If you were on, you know, others, or seven, you know, all the way in the back or wherever you're seated, even if you're in row eight and your bag happens, and you were tardy, and your bag happens to be in row 19. You cannot hold the people back so you can go retrieve your bag to come back up so you can de-plane with row one through seven. Yes, and you're at row eight. That is not something we can do. And no, we cannot allow you to get your bag down for landing so you can hold on to your suitcase while we're landing. Because again, unfortunately, you missed your particular boarding to allow that. So, again, you know, we're high, we're we're we're laughing about this, but you know, presenting it to you in a joking manner. But seriously, this is for real. This is these are the reasons we're giving you these tips so you can avoid these mistakes when you travel during the summer. And I know a lot of summer travelers are not seasoned travelers, you can see that. So we're giving you these tips so that you can get to the airport and look like you're a pro. So next time you know you get on a plane, you you know, look like you're you know what you're doing. And we want y'all to look like you know what you're doing because we see the chaos of it every single day. And it is, it becomes, I feel like, more and more chaotic every single summer. And y'all, when the plane lands, that is not the time to get up. That is not the time to unbuckle your seatbelt.

SPEAKER_04 36:38

Or you see the seatbelt light go off, yeah, like that's the time to jump up. Just because you see or you feel like a jerk and you you think we think because you're on the aisle, like, oh, we're there.

SPEAKER_00 36:49

No that is that is not the time to get up.

SPEAKER_04 36:51

Look, actually, that's the time you need to be looking at your flight attendants. Yeah. To see what's going on. To see what we're doing. See what we're doing. Is are they up? Like, are they moving? Because if we are, then yes, get up. If that's not on.

SPEAKER_00 37:06

Please stay seated. Stay seated. Please stay seated. And and and besides, where the the Where do you think you're going? The bigger question is where are you going? You can't go anywhere until we prepare the cabin and prepare the door to open. Where are you gonna go until that door gets open? Nowhere until your flight attendants, actually, until the captain has pulled the plane in, set the brake, gives us the sign to prepare our doors to be open. Nothing happens unless you climb it through that window. Until the captain gets everything set so that we can get set so that y'all can get set. Hold on. We want you to get there. It's not like we don't want y'all to get there. We do want you to get there. But getting their safety, again, like Josh highlighted a few minutes ago, safety professionals, that's what we do. Drinks and snacks, that's a plus. That is that is a plus.

SPEAKER_03 37:57

And another thing, please stop doing okay. Let me say this the correct way because I know. Okay, please, when that flight tenant light goes off, stop getting up out of your seat at 28 and running up to the front of the plane and blocking people in row three from getting up because you decided to send it back, but you want to be the first one off the plane. You are not special. Please stop doing that. These passengers are mad, they be cussing, and I'll be looking at you stupid, because that lets me know you are not a seasoned traveler, because that's rude. Have some airplane etiquette and cut that stuff out. Please. I'm so sick of it. I'm sick of it. It happens all the time. And then I'm not gonna say that. Never mind. I'm done. That's it. Stop doing it.

SPEAKER_00 38:35

So, Fran, you just had to let you know.

SPEAKER_03 38:38

I'm so sick of that. Like you chose 28B, but you want to be the first one off the plane. You got people in first class or in extra, you know, premium economy, and you're blocking them from getting up because they can't even stand up because you're standing in front of them like this. Because you want to rush to be off the plane first. It don't work like that, baby.

SPEAKER_00 38:55

But I I I never understand the I can't stand. I can't stand, I I will never understand the rush for getting off of the plane, and your bag is still not gonna be there. So you're gonna wait for your stand there at baggage plane for 37.5 minutes waiting for your bag to get off. So it's like, ladies and gentlemen, we want y'all to understand it's we want y'all to get there, we want you to get to your travel, but still, you still have to navigate a very crowded airport no matter where you are going. The airports are completely crowded. So it's like, y'all, practice some patience.

SPEAKER_04 39:31

So the one thing as a tip to everyone, uh, because we just did have our little rants, a tip to everyone is look at traveling through airports as an experience versus a um a must, or I, you know, business travelers. Usually you will see them most of the time calm, cool, collected, throwing the you know, jackets over the shoulders, just getting in their seats, they because they're gonna have a drink. Uh you know, they they they take off their jackets, they fold it and they, you know, do they're just cool, calm, and collected. They don't make this flight, they know there's another one. Like, because they're experienced. You have to look at travel as an experience. Yes, rushing to the front to think you're gonna get off the plane, your bag's not there because they ain't started pulling bags off. Your your Uber Lyft is not gonna be there because one, you shouldn't have been ordering it while you're in the back. Like it's gonna take time. You even if somebody's picking you up from the airport, usually, especially if it's a holiday weekend, the airport's already jam-packed, so it's gonna take them time to work up to the front, you're up there waiting. But one thing that even when you're coming to the airport, make sure. I'm just gonna say the two-hour window, three-hour window for international is kind of out right now. Just come to the airport. There's plenty of restaurants, there are bars, there are stores usually in most big airports, smaller airports might be a little different, but major airports like LaGuardia, Atlanta, Chicago, food, I'm sure. Philly, Philly, New Orleans, like all of those airports have such stuff set up for passengers to feel comfortable and be relaxed before a flight. We ain't saying come and get toe up, because if you get toe up, you're not getting on that flight. Like, let's be clear. So do not, that's the tip. Do not come to the airport and get wasted. That's never no-go. Because as soon as you walk in and you, whoa. Got to go back. Sorry. You gotta go sleep that off. Next flight. Next flight, or until you can walk straight. Make sure you're getting there early enough. I again, domestically, two hours is a stretch, especially with what we saw earlier this year. You probably need to be getting there three to four hours before before you know you're gonna leave. Because if you have to check your bag, which now most people are starting to do that a lot more because of the way the airlines operate when it comes to backspace in the overhead bin and having to pay for bags uh because you can only take so much. Build that into your itinerary when it comes to whatever you're traveling for. Um international flights. Dot your I's and cross your T's with that because there have been so many people, and I'll say even traveling into places like we were talking about visas and stuff like that, they get held up in those airports, can't even enter the country, they're still in the airport because they didn't dot their I's and cross their T's with whatever paperwork needed to be in place, making whatever payments, because these countries also require you to make some payments on on said visa or whatever to enter in. Also, another thing read up on the laws where you're going because you might be live in Chicago and you can walk around or you know, be able to do certain herbal things that you can't do in other places, you need to know that going across the country and you normally our lovely Michelle has her arms out on today's episode, but certain countries she might not be able to freely walk around with her arms out. And if you don't know that because you just thought, oh, I saw this beautiful picture, and I just want to go to this place, and you don't know how their laws work, baby, you can end up in prison, in jail. Don't go to do you can't get out from. For a while. And there's nobody to come and save you. I mean, it's different when mama and pawpaw can come pay to get you out of Dallas prison. Or I mean not prison, but jail, Dallas jail, pay your bond. It's totally different when you're in a whole nother country.

SPEAKER_03 44:15

Especially places like Dubai and those Middle East where they have really short. Do not come out though with your cooch cutters on because you will not make it very far. One of my friends got stopped in the mall and they said you need to put some over because she had a cleavage out, and the cleavage was cleavaging. And they said, cover up.

SPEAKER_00 44:28

Put some clothes on. Yes, they do not play in the countries. Please be careful. And I've been to Dubai, they're very conservative with their women. Yeah. Then they are with the men.

SPEAKER_04 44:37

They do not play. But even we're in June. LGBTQ. AI plus all of those. Um happy pride. Happy pride to everybody. Thank you. Thank you. I'm part of the club.

SPEAKER_01 44:52

Be who you are for your prize.

SPEAKER_04 44:55

However, even when it comes to that though, you gotta know your laws with that, where you're going. Because I hate to hate to say that. Don't say no, no country. No, not countries, but to my to our brothers and sisters that are um trans. It's sticky out here with the passport situation and the ID situation. So again, read up, be mindful. I know our very first episode, we got so many, so much slack because we told people Google. Like when we were talking about the whole lookup Eric Hodes, you want somebody to Google and you talking to me and relax. I want anybody with common sense to go and look up what you need to look up. Because one thing I learned in school, if you didn't know something, you do your research. You don't wait on somebody to come tell you something. So I keep getting on these little step stools and just walking some stuff through. But anyways, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:04

Um I um one last thing, y'all. If you travel in the summer, most majority of the time you're traveling for great occasions. You traveling for vacation, you might be out of school, you're traveling for a bachelorette party, you're traveling to kick it with your people because y'all off. Keep a positive mindset and have good energy in the airport. It's free. It pay it's it costs nothing to be nice. That's true. So your fellow passengers, be courteous to your fellow passengers, the crew members, the people in the airport that are of service, that are helping you and giving your food or cleaning behind you all, just come and be. It costs nothing to be nice. Right. It really don't. And that it just makes for even better airport experience and travel experience for you when you come with great energy because usually matched. Right. So just keep that in mind. Now, if you're traveling for a death and effect, we can't we understand people are traveling for different things, but if if it's a good day and you woke up and got breath in your lungs, try to be as nice as you can, especially when you are in the airport. It really helps.

SPEAKER_04 47:05

And to that point of being nice, remember summer travel, delays, delays, and delays. Keep that same positive attitude when it happens, not only with your flight attendants, and we are Jumpsy Chronicles and we are flight attendants, but you need to keep that positive attitude with the wheelchair pushers, with the gate agents, with our operations agents, with the people that work at Burger King and McDonald's or whatever the food place is that you're going to, the restaurant staff, the pilots keep that good energy across the board because all of them are usually all of us are affected by delays. Because that very restaurant staff that you you got upset with also has now an influx of clientele because flights got delayed. So now they're a little more intense or aware or on point because they have more customers coming to them. The ops agents and the customer service agents of these particular airlines that everyone flies are overwhelmed because now they have to possibly look at rebooking people and dealing with all the questions on bags and and well, can I change my flight and all the keep that positive energy from the time you get out of your car and and going into the airport? Like put on put on a good playlist to get you hype and excited for today. Because that's important.

SPEAKER_03 48:39

Keep in mind the weather delays are out of everyone's control. If anybody can control the weather, uh yeah, they would, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 48:46

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 48:47

I love storm from the X-Men, but maybe she does not exist. Absolutely not. Especially shout out to our gate agents because they don't get enough love and respect because they deal with the worst. I have witnessed so many gate agents get cursed out, threatened, and so many and just disrespected in so many different ways, all because they are there to do the to do the job of rebooking you because of things that are out of their control.

SPEAKER_00 49:11

And it and if you think threatening someone who actually has control over your flight is going to have a positive or negative effect.

SPEAKER_04 49:18

You're in for the ruled awakening? Probably not. When you get upset, take a moment. Yeah. And just think. Because one, think about the actions that you might want to exude and what the outcome can be.

SPEAKER_00 49:34

Absolutely. And it's and it's you're never gonna win. Why would you want to have you still need you still need to get to where you're gonna go?

SPEAKER_04 49:42

Yes, that part. And they are in control if you get there or not.

SPEAKER_00 49:44

So it's why am I going, why am I gonna get upset with the person who actually has control over whether I'm going to get to set function, set event, set funeral, family event? Ma'am, sir. Okay, I get it. This was not your fault. However, I still need to get there. What are my options to get me there? Yes. This is not your fault. You did not control that maintenance delay, that weather delay, that flight attendant getting sick, or who got injured, that pilot who timed out. None of that was your fault. What can we do to get me to wherever I'm trying to get to today? If it's not today or tomorrow. And it's they just appreciate you being nice. Thank you for not walking up and yelling at me about something that I had nothing to do with. Yep. Just be nice. It costs nothing, like y'all said, it costs absolutely nothing to be nice. It's free. And a lot of times they will they are more than willing to help you being nice. Now, can we control those who are not nice? No, only person you can control every time you step foot out that door is yourself, right?

SPEAKER_04 50:51

Period. So best times to travel, and then we're gonna start getting out of here. Um always say morning flights. Morning, I'm gonna find it. Morning flights or red-eyed. If there's the option for a red-eyed, meaning a flight that gets leaves late at night and gets to its destination early in the morning, those flights usually work out best for all types of passengers, even uh the those at non-rev, um, we know morning flights start out early. Early. It's lucky.

SPEAKER_03 51:23

Opportunities for delays too, because for people don't know the airline industry, they want to start their day off on time so the day continues because of the ripple of things. And they get fine if they delayed leaving out in the morning. So your best opportunity for things to go smoothly with your travel experience, leave in the morning. I know. I know y'all hate getting up. I hate know y'all hate getting up to alarm clocks, but it will allow you to get to your destination early in the day, have the day ahead of yourself, and not have a major chance of being delayed. So just get up in the morning, get on that flight, get your coffee or something, go to bed on a flight and get there and have a good time.

SPEAKER_00 51:57

Absolutely. Love it.

SPEAKER_04 51:59

So um, we're gonna go to this part real quick and answer this um because we love the engagement that you all give us on social media. Um, we love and read every message and comment. We don't respond to every message and comment, but we love even when you speak to us in the um airports and out and about, Michelle got clocked out and about already. So um we definitely love that. However, on our bus sprout page, we got some fan mail, and we had someone, um, I'm not sure if you were male or female, uh, reach out to us. And you want to take the question?

SPEAKER_00 52:42

Yeah, they um thank you from Columbus, Georgia. Uh they want to know how do we plan for life events or appointments, for example, weddings, funerals, and anniversaries. And second question, how do we plan for personal travel? Um, do we non-rev or do we buy tickets? So, um, Josh, you want to start?

SPEAKER_04 53:01

Yeah, uh life events. If I know well in advance, that's just a little minor scheduling uh situation. Um, where because the way we do our schedules, as far as I know, and the reason why I say this usually a lot of times is because I can only speak from my vantage point with my particular airline. But we bid for our schedules, and bidding is seniority-based, just like pay is seniority-based, the longer you do this job, the better it gets. So when it comes to me knowing a life event like a wedding, funerals are a little different. Um, and the great thing about the airline industry is I know we have bereavement time. So if funerals take place, um, you have time uh that is given to you that the company will cover uh for you to handle that, and anniversaries and weddings and family reunions and all that. When you know in advance, like I said it time and time again, our schedule is unmatched. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 54:07

Okay. Darien. Oh, uh Josh, uh, how do you plan personal travel? Darien can answer that. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 54:15

Um, so I do a lot of personal travel, and a lot of times um when I do decide I want to go somewhere, even if it's a month before or six months prior, my first thing that I do is I look for confirmed flights just to see. Because a lot of times what people don't realize is when you fly internationally, if you book your tickets well enough in advance, they can be very cheap. And sometimes just to have the piece of mind and knowing you're getting on the flight and not flying standby, you can get tickets for five, six hundred dollars. So a lot of times, if I know I'm going somewhere to Thailand and I know I'm going for my birthday, I look to see if the tickets are under about $700. If they are, I just book a ticket because I know that if I do it that way, I'm getting there and I'm getting home with no issue of minds. Because let me tell y'all, when we went two months ago, it was a nightmare getting home. It was a complete nightmare. It took us two days. So I try to prioritize confirmed travel depending on where I'm going. And if not, if it's too high, then I'll just take my chances and non-rev. But also, um, like you said, we also get our we we get we bid for our vacation. Yeah, that's like six months. Six, seven months before that year starts. So if you know you want to take a trip in June, we bid for that in the in the previous and during this time, and we know what weeks we get way, way, way, way ahead of time. And that way it allows you to have those vacation days that you need for your birthday, for your upcoming wedding, for your family reunion, so that you have the time allotted time off to be there. Right. So I just tell people proper planning, give yourself enough time. But even if you're one of those people like me that's spontaneous and likes to take trips out last minute, just do still make sure you're doing the proper planning and use our flexible schedule to your advantage and take care of the dates that you need off and go have a good time. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00 55:58

You want to add anything? Uh seniority is everything. Yes, God for our for our job. And um, like you guys said, for um appointments, I'll I'll kind of touch on how we do appointments. Having a care team who understands your job is key in this job. Talking to your care team, you know, I'm a flight attendant, and most doctors, physicians, they're more than you know, more than understand the schedule. I've had my dentist for almost as long as I've been flying, and he knows, hey, I got an appointment. He's like, Okay, when do you want to come in? And I just give him a day and he's like, Okay, this is when you're due for a cleaning. What days do you have available? Same thing with my doctor. She knows I've had her longer than I've been flying, and she's like, Okay, you need to come in for your annual appointment. This is what we have available. I know you may need to switch. Call me a month before your appointment. But this is what we have scheduled for next year. But I know around December-ish, if your appointment's in February, around December, January-ish, you may call and we may need to flex during this time. But I'll set an appointment for here. Yep. But she knows come January I may call and be like, hey, I didn't get this day. Can we move it to this day? But this is the time. So having a care team that knows what you do. And don't be afraid to talk to your care team about, hey, I'm a flight attendant. I don't have this day, but I have this day available. You know, same thing. Clear understanding, you know, facials, manicures, pedicures, whatever you have available, letting your people know what you have available and allowing them to understand that, hey, we have this going on. You know, people in office, they don't, you know, a lot of them they don't have that. We have the flexibility to be able to flex our schedule for what we need for just life. I agree.

SPEAKER_04 57:39

So, with that being said, uh, we want you all to tune in for our next episode. We're going to be talking about dating life. Does it exist for a flight attendant? Because we are, you know, we be out here dating and stuff and how that goes. So we're gonna give our insight on that. So uh make sure you tune in. Um, when it comes to our episodes, we are excited to share, if you don't already know, on Apple Podcast and Spotify, their podcast section. Our videos are now uploaded on those platforms, so you don't have to just go over to YouTube, even though we'll still be on YouTube. But um, on those platforms, you'll be able to see these videos as well. And we are so excited and thankful. Um, we're reaching so many people. Um, and we're just excited about it. Don't forget to visit us on YouTube, um, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, uh Threads. We're even on Threads. Um, so check us out, Jumpseat Chronicles Podcast. Uh and even if you're more interested on our particular pages, I know specifically on Instagram and Facebook, we're usually tagged in our posts. So um, yeah, there's that.

SPEAKER_03 58:57

As a reminder, the opinions shared on this podcast are our own and do not reflect those of our employer or any affiliated organization.

SPEAKER_00 59:06

It's not about the destination, it's about the perspective. We land in places only seen on television or read about in books. We recognize how big and small the world truly is at 35,000 feet. Thanks for riding a jump seat with us. Until next time, we'll see you on the next flight.

SPEAKER_04 59:23

Bye. See y'all later.