Why Airports Want People To Fly With A Tennis Ball
Tips For Every Traveler
Ever been on a flight and figured that it just could have gone better? Well, frequent flyers and even those who only fly every once in a while should pay attention to these tips.
From packing tennis balls to where you should sit in a plane to how you should pack your luggage. These things are lifesavers and you’ll learn about them and more on our list.
Tennis Balls
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Not many people carry around tennis balls unless they go to the court at least once a week. But what if we told you that you should bring along a tennis ball whenever you travel on a flight or a long road trip.
Tennis balls can be just as useful as expensive exercise balls. They can help circulate the blood flow and prevent pains when sitting for a long time.
Normal Tennis Balls
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But one major mistake a lot of people make when learning this knowledge is using pet tennis balls. Do not under any circumstances do that. Some pet tennis balls are filled with treats that security will pick up and count as undeclared food.
Remember to only use normal tennis balls for this trick.
Vertical Slash
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You should still be careful though. If your tennis ball has any scents on it that aren’t strictly natural then the TSA dog is sure to sniff it out. Even if you have nothing to hide they may ruin your tennis ball by ripping it open.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t do that yourself…
Making Your Own Incision
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Before the TSA security officers get their hands on your tennis ball and ruin it you can make your own incision into the ball so that if they ask about it you can confidently show them that nothing is hidden inside it.
As long as your slash isn’t too big you should be able to use the tennis ball as a muscle relaxer with no problem.
Pack Multiple
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You can even pack multiple tennis balls if you are worried about TSA officers destroying them. In most cases, the officers will open up one or two and after proving that they are normal should leave you with the last one to use on the plane.
Don’t forget to explain yourself and give them a reason for bringing the balls. They may be more understanding that way. Now that Tennis Balls are covered let’s move on to other tricks.
Shink Wrap
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Most people have to shrink wrap in their kitchens to keep things fresh. From sandwiches to packed lunches. But there are more practical applications to shrink wrap than a lot of people think. Like when you’re going on a long trip or flying.
Just wrap your luggage in shrink wrap to prevent nasty scratches or damage from jostling in the car or even worse – the airport cargo.
Power Banks
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USB power banks should be used to charge your phone instead of the airport chargers. The problem with airport chargers is that they can’t be 100% safe and hackers can steal your personal info.
Rather be safe and bring your own way to charge your phone.
Wifi
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Wifi at airports isn’t always complimentary. In some cases, you’ll notice that you’ll only get an hour of limited wifi before it kicks you out. But what if you’re waiting in the airport for longer than that?
Don’t worry though, if you roll back your clock an hour you’ll get your hour back without having to try the annoying “boot” method.
A Belt
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Why wear a belt when you always have to stop to take it off anyway? It just seems counterproductive even if you’re going for that chic professional look.
Just wear an outfit that doesn’t need a belt. TSA rules will make sure that you don’t wear one either way. It will make for a very smooth journey.
Socks
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Whatever your footwear happens to rather make sure it’s something that has socks underneath. Not only will your feet thank you on the long flight but if you want to take off your shoes at any point you’ll avoid being barefoot.
Plane’s are not guaranteed to be 100% clean so you could pick anything up being barefoot.
Empty Your Pockets
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Make sure that you are ready at the TSA checkpoint with all of your pockets already empty. It’ll speed things up considerably and you won’t have TSA agents grumbling. It’ll make for a much smoother transition to the next step of the process.
Just make sure to keep your valuables close to you and put them back into your pockets once you get through.
Avoid Holidays
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This one might seem obvious but plane tickets aren’t at a fixed cost. It all depends on the availability and during holidays they are way more expensive than off-season tickets.
So if you don’t want to end up with barely any money to spend once you get to wherever you’re going do not book a ticket the day before a major holiday. Your wallet will thank you.
Currency
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Exchanging currency always feels like such pain no matter where you go. You never know how much you should exchange and often you’ll leave the country with a fair bit leftover that you have to reexchange.
Our advice is that you should leave a little bit of physical cash in your currency so that you have that to get a cab from the airport instead of having no money that’ll work when you get back.
Don’t Drink Beforehand
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This is also quite an obvious one but we often see people make this mistake and have to use the onboard bathroom within the first hour of flying. It seems very inconvenient getting up just as you sat down and try to settle.
There’s an easy and obvious tip here – don’t drink too many fluids before boarding the flight.
