One time, the lines were long and they opened another booth. However, rather than announcing this politely, an immigration agent shouted at full volume ordering people to queue at the new booth.

Speaking for myself, I never bring my boarding pass, car hire voucher, or any other documentation for my trips. I just bring my ID, and let their computers do the rest.

Though unlimited, as usual, does seem to be limited. From the terms and conditions:

“If you are on a data plan that does not include a monthly megabyte allowance and additional data usage rates, the parties agree that AT&T has the right to impose additional charges if you use more than 5 GB in a month.”

Possibly the plan you reference has a different set of T&Cs — their web site is useless — but these seem to be pretty all-inclusive.

Not that $65 for 5 GB of international roaming isn’t amazing.

The new luggage generation based on poly-carbonate is both sturdy as well as extremely light. (Mine is a samsonite.) I can only highly recommend them. Oh, and get a 4wheeler instead of only two.

Try to avoid US airports and US airlines. They are the worst and US customs will be very unfriendly if the check oyur bag.

Great tips – several I recognize from my own travel optimizations. A couple more I’ve found useful:

- Buy a (small!) toiletries bag and stock it with duplicates of whatever you use at home, so there’s no “in the morning, I have to remember to pack my toothbrush/razor/yak” silliness. It’s okay to just buy two toothbrushes at a time. (Also means that, if at-home supplies run out and surprise you, the bag can be raided for spare deodorant, hair product, &c.)

- On the minibar extortion – I don’t full-out avoid them, but I do check the state of their tech. Some hotels use sensors, or special stickers, to track what is taken out of the fridge, but most just have normal cans of soda, bottles of beer, &c. If that’s the case, I’ll use the fridge and just replace with locally sourced stuff the next day (with a DND sign on the door, the fridge won’t be inventoried by housekeeping).

- Speaking of signs, I am reliably informed by a former jewel thief that “Please make up the room” door hangers might as well read “Rob me! I’m gone for a while!” Many hotels are starting to phase them out, AIUI.

PS – Avoid it if it messes with you in other ways, by all means, but caffeine is not a diuretic

However, I do have the feeling that a number of commenters may be lucky enough to fly business class so get all the related extras (such as higher baggage allowances). Try to spare a thought for us non-rich types who fly economy!

Besides, what’s your concern here?
My travel tip: stay at a hotel you can afford. don’t be cheap, you will probably regret it

I think the sunlight and the watch advice are superb. I took a trip to Europe with a friend once who for some reason refused to set his clock to European time. He was in rough shape the whole week. Not recommended.

I also agree with the Bose comments, as everything of theirs is ridiculously overpriced. They make a good product, but there’s other electronics out there that have the same quality for half the price.

Personally, I’m a believer when it comes to the Bose headphones. Like everything else Bose makes, they’re grossly overpriced, but they are the best I’ve tried. And the new generation (QC15) is a huge improvement in noise cancellation. But, by all means, NEVER buy them in Europe. They’re about 40-50% cheaper in the US.

For my carry-on, I also pack nose spray (against dehydration) and a pair of very thick socks (so I can get out of the shoes; nobody likes wearing shoes for 10h straight). And, of course, books; I like to not be bored during take-off or landing.

But a large part of the flight experience is determined by other people – the ground staff, the check-in, immigration, security gates, the gate staff. So you can go a long way by working with them.

Rule number 1 here is: “Be polite.” This should go without saying, but the number of times I’ve seen people argue with security or get angry at the check-in counter staff is just amazing. The poor sods can’t do anything about the rules, you’re just holding yourself and everyone else up.

Since I’m 6’4″, economy is hell for me; the seat in front of me begins before my knees end, the head rest tends to be 10cm shorter than my head. And my skin crawls when I have to touch an unknown person for 10 hours, which is unavoidable in full economy. So I go to some lengths to avoid that if the flight is long.

Some tips here:

Dress the part. Remember the people thing? Everyone needs to get comfortable for a long flight, but your chances to upgrade or plain get a better seat improve if you look as if you belong where you want to be. Shave, wear a jacket over your comfy turtleneck, and you’re much more likely to transport it without wrinkles (because the nice lady will put it on a coat hanger for you) than if you had stuffed it into your suitcase.

Another reasonably cheap trick is to get your credit card from the airline frequent flyer program. It’s a few bucks per year to get the gold-level business-package card, and even if you never fly business, when you check-in for your eticket, you hand over what? When they ask you at the line whether you really have your boarding pass, you show them what as well? Exactly, your credit card! They see the gold trim, their own logo, misjudge your FT status and send you over to the business class counter (even if you have a lowest class economy ticket, which is not as easy to see on the boarding pass); this happens to me in about 30-50% of my trips. Not only does that save some time (and nerves), but it also puts you in a place where more relaxed people are more well disposed towards you:

Always. Ask. Everyone. for an upgrade. The booking agent, the check-in counter, the gate (at every gate), the purser on the flight. You’d be amazed how often they take pity. Also, the flight reservations change quite often, so the more frequently you ask, the more likely you are to get an opportunity where something is free for cheap, and work your polite, well-dressed charm on the representative.

That said, the booking agent and everyone you can reach over the phone is usually unable to help at all. Even their supervisors have to stick to rules so stupid it’d make your head burst. (I could tell anecdotes …) Your best bet is the check-in counter, and first and foremost, the gate. (The on-flight crew is also great, but if the plane is full, it is too late.)

The gate folks – in my experience – can fix almost anything they like with regard to their flight. They’re also the folks who know whether business is full or not, and authorized to sell seats cheaper than anyone else, or to upgrade you. I’ve gotten upgrades that, when I inquired on the phone, were supposed to cost 3500 EUR (where I said: “uhm no thanks”) for $150, which I’ll gladly pay for 10h in business; or flights upgraded with miles where everyone else said that the contingent was already gone. I’ve not been quite as shameless as buying flowers when I go to the gate counter, but I’ve given it serious consideration.

And if you end up paying for the upgrade, make a fuzz: they will likely credit your mileage account only with the economy miles. You paid, you deserve the full miles (which gets you closer to your next upgrade). But make the fuzz _after_ the flight, never with the gate crew.

After a while we just started to bring low weight, low volume, and high quality trekking, camping, and military equipment.

It is premium prised and a bit tricky to buy, but it just works and we always have our own stuff. We also do not except our luggage to arrive. Everything needed for our self and our kid is with us inside the plane or checked in at gate.

Here are two child products that just works:
– Noronna Child Carrier. Noronna is most famous for their special forces backpacks and serious trekking gear: http://products.norrona.com/webshop/tradepoint/b2c/ItemView.aspx?ID=0023-00
- Phil & Ted’s Traveller Portable Travel Crib. No nonsense baby bed. Our kid used for all sleeps for months. Small enough to bring inside the plane on the kids ticket. http://www.amazon.com/Phil-Teds-Portable-Traveler-Black/dp/B0016LUPAM

We also bring our own baby seat. Some air companies are willing to mount them inside the plane. Most of the companies offer to send them for free.

Basic super light cups, plates, spoons, forks, and so on is in our hand luggage.