What are your air travel micro-hacks?

[MEL_Traveller]

I travel with a roll of masking tape and use it to seal the lids of any bottles of liquid that I take with me. Shampoo, deodorant, etc. I used to do the zip lock bag thing, and sometimes still do as “belts and braces”, but I find the masking tape generally does the job well.

I use the bag tags! They are super strong and sticky. The little peel off tabs are ideal for small bottles. And solves the issue of recycling, or leaving them behind in the hotel rubbish bin where someone can then get your details.

 

[Anthomag5]

I travel with a roll of masking tape and use it to seal the lids of any bottles of liquid that I take with me. Shampoo, deodorant, etc. I used to do the zip lock bag thing, and sometimes still do as “belts and braces”, but I find the masking tape generally does the job well.

Gotta love a Deodorant spill in the toiletry bag!

 

[Warks]

Electrical tape is what we use to seal bottles of chemical for transit in my line of work - the additional seal I mean - some chemicals have an amazing propensity to get out of any container. So handy to travel with a roll too, black being the optimum colour to cover up those annoying flashing or otherwise LEDs on alarms, TVs and air conditioners.
Additional ziplock bags never go astray too.

 

[significance]

Electrical tape is what we use to seal bottles of chemical for transit in my line of work - the additional seal I mean - some chemicals have an amazing propensity to get out of any container. So handy to travel with a roll too, black being the optimum colour to cover up those annoying flashing or otherwise LEDs on alarms, TVs and air conditioners.
Additional ziplock bags never go astray too.

Electrical tape is good for when you want to be extra safe, but masking tape has the advantage of being much easier to peel off for low-risk liquids.

 

[Warks]

Electrical tape is good for when you want to be extra safe, but masking tape has the advantage of being much easier to peel off for low-risk liquids.

I think I got a bit wary of masking tape as it doesn't age well. Grab an old roll and it doesn't stick much at all. Electrical tape is okay if you can find the end!

 

[Seat0B]

Gotta love a Deodorant spill in the toiletry bag!

I use a stick deodorant to avoid this issue when travelling - in my case it’s Dove, but there are others.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I use a stick deodorant to avoid this issue when travelling - in my case it’s Dove, but there are others.

Rock crystal deodorant is also great for travelling. Super effective, $6.99, and will last two-three years of daily use. Or about 10 years if only used when travelling!

 

[DejaBrew]

Rock crystal deodorant is also great for travelling. Super effective, $6.99, and will last two-three years of daily use. Or about 10 years if only used when travelling!

Never heard of this before. Interesting...

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Never heard of this before. Interesting...

Been using it for 20 years…from the tropics to the arctic.

Chemical free, all natural, unscented.

Just waiting for them to say one day it’s carcinogenic

 

[RooFlyer]

Chemical free, all natural, unscented.

Well, not exactly chemical free KAl(SO4)2·12H2O - hydrated potassium aluminium sulphate (natural alum) . Good stuff.

 

[Sandro]

One small thing that helped me a lot is actually checking the airline rules for Handgepäck, which simply means carry-on luggage in English. I used to just throw things into my bag and hope it would be fine, but the limits for liquids and the typical cabin size rules can vary more than people expect.
Once I started packing with those limits in mind, security became much smoother and I stopped having things pulled out of my bag. It also helps to organise liquids and electronics so they can be taken out quickly at the checkpoint.

 

[Sandro]

One small thing that helped me a lot is actually checking the airline rules for Handgepäck, which simply means carry-on luggage in English....

Another small thing I noticed after doing this for a while: I now keep a tiny "security kit" inside my carry-on. Just a small zip bag with liquids already sorted and a separate pouch for cables and electronics.
When I reach the checkpoint I can take everything out in a few seconds without digging through the whole bag. It sounds trivial, but it made the process noticeably faster and less stressful.

 

[significance]

Here's one: If you need to take a small bottle that might leak, such as eye drops, and taping the lid isn't doing the job, put the bottle inside a small, airtight container to maintain air pressure around the bottle. This worked for me on a recent trip to Perth.

 

[Warks]

A change of clothes in your hand luggage if you have a checked bag. That was my mantra until suddenly last month my backpack went missing on arrival in Queenstown (others will have seen my story elsewhere here) and I was forced to wear the same clothes for a lot longer than I would like. I have always packed a change of clothes until the one time I didn't my bag was lost...
It's an obvious thing to do if you check a bag but familiarity breeds contempt I guess.

 

[significance]

A change of clothes in your hand luggage if you have a checked bag. That was my mantra until suddenly last month my backpack went missing on arrival in Queenstown (others will have seen my story elsewhere here) and I was forced to wear the same clothes for a lot longer than I would like. I have always packed a change of clothes until the one time I didn't my bag was lost...
It's an obvious thing to do if you check a bag but familiarity breeds contempt I guess.

I like to keep my hand luggage light, but I do pack a change of underwear and socks, which is enough to take the edge off.