Travel Tips and Jetset Flight Advice

When you work on a yacht, not all the travelling is done on the water. You can be flown to meet the boat, fly the crossing, fly home to visit friends and family. In fact a yacht chef managed, in the space of a year, to clock up over 40'000 air miles. Which is some pretty serious travel.

Of course some crew are lucky enough to be flown in the bosses personal jet but for many others it's cattle class on the local low-cost airline.

In view of this, we got some of our frequent flyer yacht crew to give us some of their tips on coping with flying.

Thanks to Steph, Liam, Portia, Jen, Hayley, Maddy, Gareth, Phillip, Susan, Andrew, Charles, Luigi, Simon, Carol, Dimitri, Rob and James for their help and input.

Pack your manners and your sense of humour and carry it with you at all times. Scary how many people forget these at home.

Before you start

1. Remember there is a difference between non stop and direct flights. Try and choose non stop, direct flights often mean one stop or more on route, direct just means the most direct route, not the quickest.
2. Select your seat online. With many airlines you don't have to wait until you check in and can do it online 24 hours before departure. If you are tall or bigger than average request the emergency door seat...those seats always have more room.
3. Before you go! It sounds soooo obvious but do remember to make sure you have the right visa's etc. Just because you fly often doesn't mean that you can't forget the obvious.

Carry a light jacket or sweater. Sometimes it's really chilly on the plane especially if you are seated near a window or next to someone who needs to have air blowing on them.

Packing

1. Try cross packing. No, not packing in a temper but put a couple of essentials in your hand luggage like clean underwear, a clean shirt so if your skipper or boss meets you in New York and your luggage is in Istanbul, you do at least have a change of basics to freshen up with.
2. Black luggage might be fashionable but when you are in a rush yours, amongst the thousands of others, can be hard to spot. Equally tying a red bow on simply blends yours in with everyone elses red ribbons or gets your bag stuck in the conveyor belts. Try a brand of luggage that really stands out.
3. The heaviest thing you have to carry is often your toiletries. Shampoo, conditoners, toothpaste, face creams, hair gels, the list goes on. Remember that on most boats toiletries are provided. Try and get samples of your favourite products, and keep these for travel. It makes a huge difference in terms of weight. To get some free samples try walmart.triaddigital.com/free-samples.aspx or www.freesamplesblog.com

Go to the bathroom before you get on a flight.

Security and cutting down the wait

1. Obviously if your name is Susan book your ticket in the name of Susan. Not Susie, not Sue, not Suze. Airlines frown on the wrong name being on the ticket and may not let you board.
2. Don't carry liquids
3. Check your bag for sharp stuff and put it in your main luggage and save everyone some serious time and your self the expense of having your favourite nail clippers thrown away.
4. Wear comfortable and easy to take off shoes. You will have to slip them off to run them through the Xray machine at security.

Connecting flights can become a nightmare if your original flight is late. Make sure when you purchase your ticket that the lay over time in between flights is at least an hour and a half.

Duty Free

1. This does NOT mean bargain. Know your prices first, frequently the local store is cheaper.
2. Remember the large bottle of gin that you bought in Dubai? If you are doing an international change and transfer a further security check at the next international airport will find you throwing away the bottle that you just spent £20 on.

Sometimes you can upgrade to first class for a really cheap price at the gate right before boarding the plane.

Staying healthy

This can be a major problem with flights, even short hops. I always got sick when I flew. A day or two after landing I'd invariably get a sore throat, a cough, a cold or similar. Turns out there is a lot you can do to keep the germs at bay.

1. Throughout the flight suck antiseptic throat lozenges.
2. Use an antiseptic nasal spray or colloidal silver spray on your upper lip and in your nasal passages
3. Don't use the airline pillows or blankets. These are only washed when they 'look' dirty.
4. Take a small pack of antibacterial wipes and use them to wipe your drop down tray. Again these are very rarely washed. (Eurk)
5. Keep your shoes handy for visits to the loo. Many people are known to 'miss' and treading in the missed spots in your socks is disgusting.
6. Use the antibacterial wipes after each loo visit. Washing your hands is fine, until you open the door and find the last person who used the loo didn't wash their hands...
7. Boost your immune system before you fly with echinacea and vitamin C.
8. Follow the exercise routines recommend on the in-flight magazine and tv
9. It is also recommended that the day before you fly you take baby aspirin as well as on the day of the flight and continue to do so for three days afterwards as a way to help prevent deep vein thrombosis
10. Take an empty water bottle through security with you then fill it and keep drinking throughout the flight to help avoid dehydration which can leave you feeling weak and tired. Avoid alcohol, coffee, tea, and other caffeinated beverages too as they are frequently diuretics, exacerbating and compounding the problem of dehyration.

Make sure your hand luggage has wheels. This saves a massive amount of hassle and back and neck pain. I have a complex camera and laptop bag that can be heavy when fully loaded and is without wheels so I bought a small trolley. Might look a little naff but it's saved me a massive headache.