6 years & 60+ fights

 I am by no means a travel pro but I’ve learned a lot the past 6 years – There have been 33 round trip flights ORD to LAX, and a few others (MDW > UVF, ORD > MCO).

Book 48 to 58 days in advance for best prices, this has just been my experience but I always book around that far out…also, clear your cache/history, you will most certainly find better prices when you do.

Book the earliest flight of the morning if you can for a couple of reasons – first flights of the day are less likely to be delayed or canceled, turbulence is less likely because the atmosphere has yet to heat up and cause disturbances. I’m talking anything before 9am.

If you’re not a fan of turbulence, always sit wing and forward. Turbulence is more likely to be felt behind the wing. If you purchase internet on your flight, you can check the path and pilot reports of turbulence on https://www.turbulenceforecast.com/pireps or https://www.aviationweather.gov/airep I check both of these religiously because I’m terrified of turbulence. I’ve done so much research on turbulence and airplanes; The airplane can handle way more than our heads can even handle to understand.

If you can, get an airline CC. Even if you don’t have a ton of points you’ll be able to get a lot of perks (free checked bag, standby for seat upgrades, and priority security check in).

After you take off and you hear the first two dings, that means you’ve hit 10,000 ft.

Same with about 10 min or so before landing, you’ll hear those two dings and you’ve made it to 10k feet again.

If your flight is delayed or canceled, know your rights ! The minute your flight is canceled get to the counter quickly because everyone else will be running there to rebook the next flight (I learned this the hard way one time). But also know airlines are will give you some type of compensation, could be flight credit, free food coupons to the airport, hotel vouchers, etc. Do not be afraid to ask, if you don’t ask, you will never know. It’s better to be told no than risk having to pay for your own hotel, airport food, etc.

Oddly enough I’ve been through a lot of weird instances flying, delayed flights, canceled, rerouted, bad turbulence, flown with spirit, delta, American, United, Alaska aka Virgin airlines (my favorite because they have pretty planes).

Flying in a 787 vs 737, airbus, 747, etc are very different when it comes to turbulence. A larger plane, 787, will feel less turbulent because of the wingspan and just how massive it is and covers more air surface. But no matter the size, planes are over designed to handle so much more than we think.