Air travel can be amazing – it transports you to far flung destinations and lets you soar through the clouds. Truthfully, more often than not, it is a noisy, uncomfortable, germy means of getting from point A to point B. Business and first class are great, but not affordable for most, even for business travelers. Some airlines take care of their coach passengers pretty well, but let’s be honest, it is still coach.

Last week I learned about a project I may get. One with the potential for travel to the client’s headquarters, a mere 20 hour/3 stop flight away. While I would jump at the chance, for the project and the travel, I’d have to pull out all my tricks for surviving the double whammy of long haul AND coach. Since I’m already thinking about the preparation, I wanted to share my top tips for making your coach experience a little more luxe!

1. Choose your seat wisely. SeatGuru.com is the best place to figure out which seat will work best for you. If you know you can board, sit, and sleep until you land, maybe a window seat is the best choice. If you have control issues, like me, an aisle seat in the exit row is a must have. SeatGuru.com will give you color coded grade, details about location, seat space, and more. Once I have the airline, SeatGuru is ALWAYS my second stop.
2. Explore your pre-boarding options. Depending on your credit card, mileage status, or other status you may be able to board before everyone else. It sounds silly, but not having to rush to wait on the gangplank jet way makes the experience feel a bit more exclusive. In certain situations, your airline may offer the option to purchase pre-boarding. This will pop up when you check in online. I’ve see this range from $29 to $139.
3. Take your own food. Not having to wait for food service is another way to feel posh. Snacks that travel well mean that you can nosh at your leisure. Almonds, expensive chocolate, exotic dried fruit are all good choices for nibbles. You can also grab some good take-away at the airport just DON’T be the passenger that brings garlic supreme sausage with a side of onions. The smelly food you enjoy for 10 minutes will stay with the rest of us trapped in this speed-of-sound metal tube for the entire flight.
4. Pack your own amenity kit. First class passengers receive amenity kits with little goodies to make the flight nicer. In my experience, the kits from American Airlines, Qantas, and Korean Airlines have the best stuff. From upscale skin products, hand lotion, lip balm, socks, eye mask, and other niceties, these kits can easily be replicated for your stay in coach. Hit the travel-sized toiletry aisle at your local Target, use your Birchbox samples, or browse the check-out aisle at Sephora for all the little things you may need. As long as it all fits in your 3-1-1 pouch, you are ready for some in-seat spa time!
5. Treat yo’self. I do not advocating drinking alcohol while flying because it exacerbates the dryness.  The ONE exception I do make is to enjoy a glass of champagne/sparkling wine/prosecco at the start and midway through a very long flight. This is a nice way to start your journey and champagne brings a little elegance to everything, even 23B!

What do you think? Will these tips make your coach trip a little bit better? Did I miss your favorite tip? Let me know in the comment and, as always, thanks for stopping by!