Avoid 12 Airport Mistakes When You Travel in 2026

As an older, semi disabled woman who always travels alone, I cannot emphasize this enough: make sure you can lift your bag into the overhead bin by yourself!! Having a disability or being older is NOT an excuse to expect the flight attendant or anyone else to manage your bags for you! They are actually not allowed to do so, since the airlines don't want to be on the hook for paying staff to stay home due to work-related injury. Pack less and bring a half sized rolling carry one, or pack in a regular carry on and pay a bit more for a ticket class that allows you to check it.

I just learned this last week. If your flight is delayed making your connection time super short, go to your gate anyway. Even if you are sure you won't make it. Go to the gate!! The app may show that the flight is boarded but realtime they may still be boarding. I learned this from a Flight Attendant . I landed in DFW in E terminal and had to get to D terminal in less than 30 minutes. The app said boarding had started but when we made it to the gate they had not started and we made the connection. Once you physically know you cannot board, then start making other arrangements. Don't assume.

I won’t even book a flight if the connection is less than an hour, even if I’m traveling alone. It’s not worth the stress. The money I spend on direct flights is offset by not paying for seats, bags or upgrades.

"Other people can slow you down." YES!!! 90% of my problems at airports have fallen under this category. I always leave more time than they suggest, and bring a book to read once I get to my gate early.

Uber has an option to always request the 4 digit code. One more level of security. Great ideas, thanks for sharing

I wear a small travel pouch around my neck that fits my phone, passport, debit card, a little cash that can be tucked into a top. I remove it for security, but otherwise it keeps things at hand but not in my hands. It's also easy to stuff into pocket on my personal item bag.

I can’t remember where I heard this but it is a valuable tip. Pack your personal care stuff (makeup, etc) at least a day before you leave. Then get ready using the packed items. Hopefully you will then discover if you’ve missed packing anything before you leave so you don’t get to your destination with no toothbrush!

Tips for a really short connection time: 1. Use the restroom ON the Plane so that you don't waste walking time by standing in a line at the restroom. 2. Tell the flight attendant that you have a short connection. I have seen them ask others to wait in their seats during the deplane so that those passengers can exit first. 3. ALWAYS check your app immediately before you exit the plane and then check the board again before entering the arm to make sure your connecting gate number has not changed. Sometimes it only changes a tiny bit (like E9 to E11, but I walked all the way to the end of one gate in Charlotte only to discover that my flight gate was changed to another arm. It's rare, but it happens. That's a waste of physical energy (especially for the mobility challenged) and time if you have to back track. It could easily mean the difference of whether you make your connection or not. Thanks Laurie for keeping us up to date with new changes.

Great video. Always learn something new. At 75 and 90, we still travel and only use carry-on and personal bag. We move quickly and try not to hold others up. Glad you made other seniors aware of this.

Get one of those little "leashes" for your cell phone that you can wrap around your wrist if you need to have the phone out.

Hi Laurie: Thank you for keeping all of us, up to date with airline information, much appreciated !

Do not take a carry on that you can not lift.

I flew America Airlines last weekend from Chicago to Hartford CT. A young woman walked on to the plane with 4 separate items and was not stopped. She had a backpack, a tote bag, a purse and a large shipping tube. Then before everyone was seated ( of course this woman found space in the bins)they announced that the overhead bins were now full and everyone who still had a carryon bag to stow needed to come to the front and check it at the front of the plane. This was so frustrating.

If you pack everything a week before and stand up, not lay down, your luggage, gravity will do that shaking for you. You gain a few more inches every time.

UPDATE: My flight was amazing! TSA in Jacksonville, FL no longer requires you to take anything out of your bag. Scored an empty middle seat between me and another lady who reached over and held my arm when we took off so I wouldn't panic. Turbulance can be a little crazy and I couldn't get the internet to work for me. Return flight, I had a nice couple next to me and got to experience flying at night which was neat and got the internet to work like a pro. I can't say I will be hopping planes every other week, but because of videos like this and encouragement in the comments I will never let flying keep me from going anywhere. Thank you all! 27 days until I get on an airplane for the first time ever. I am super nervous and afriad I'm going to do something wrong, so your videos are helping me ease some of that. Thank you bunches!

If you have connecting flights, always check the cabin baggage allowances ( size and weight) for each airline you’ll be flying with, especially if you’ve started out with a US airline and are connecting onto a European one. The allowances vary from airline to airline, and if your connecting flight has a less generous allowance than your earlier flight, the gate agents are likely to make you check them. I’ve noticed in recent months that the gate agents have become much stricter about carry on bag size and weight. Some gate agents even get a commission for the bags they pull! They used to be more lenient, especially with travellers coming off airlines with more generous allowances, but not any longer.

A DFW employee walking near a gate saw my confused look, (Bless him) came over and told me to not trust the overhead flight Informational screens, but to download the airport app. to get to my (changed 3x) departure gate. WHY? DFW is building another new terminal. The place is chaotic and wacky, and the poor pilots and their arriving planes are often being diverted 2-3 times to different gates. .. In the meantime, the app information changes faster than the overhead flight info screens. He was right, and saved me a lot of stress. 😮 DFW .. not for the faint of heart. (Kudos to ATC and Ground Controllers plus our amazing flight crews. Holy. Moly.)

Another great video. Cannot thank you enough. You take the stress out of flying. I feel more informed and prepared.

The biggest reason for not booking a short layover is that your first leg flight may run late. If this happens, head to your second flight, no matter what they tell you. Stop at the first customer service desk you see with boarding pass in hand--they can call the gate and tell them that you are on the way so they MIGHT hold the doors for you. I was so fortunate on my recent flight to see one of the motorized carts stopped--I asked the driver if he could get me to gate number within 5 minutes. He said sure, I hopped on and was literally the last person to get on the plane but I made it. 2 customer service people told me it was impossible. Worst case, if you don't make it, you haven't lost anything in trying,

Great tips! Last October I was surprised when going through TSA in Savannah that I could NOT SEE my bag or purse as they went through the screening. The way the station was set up, I had to stand past the conveyor belt and there was a blind spot. Really strange. Never had that happen before and it got me concerned! Also, I've been guilty of only allowing 45 minutes between flights...I will take your advice and not do that anymore!😅