We’re sharing stories from our trips of some of the worst travel etiquette and giving you tips on being a better traveler. From the worst B-O on a 14-hour flight to obnoxious travel buddies, to loud people in the hotel hallways. In this episode we are re-living and laughing about it all plus giving you travel etiquette tips to be a good traveler to those around you and make everyone’s lives a little hectic in transit.

We even share good stories of etiquette gone right when traveling. We’ve learned a few things on our trips and incorporated those too. We share a coupleJapan travel useful etiquette tips too, like politely deboarding and onboarding the clean subways.

3 (57s):
Welcome to this week’s episode of the Travel Squad podcast. Today, we’re going to have an entire episode dedicated specifically to talking about bad travel etiquette.

2 (1m 7s):
If you thought travelers and airplane workers could be rude before COVID has taken it to a whole new level. I have experienced some of the jerkies people while traveling in airports and planes specifically out of all of the travel I’ve done since COVID specifically. And I can’t wait to call them out and I can’t wait to have a little laugh.

1 (1m 26s):
Yes, today, our episode is all about throwing some shade on some of that bad travel etiquette that we’ve seen while we’ve traveled. And hopefully if anyone listening is an offender of the bad travel etiquette, you listen, learn, and hopefully you don’t make the same mistakes and do it again.

3 (1m 41s):
And although you guys can’t control how people act that are around you, you can control how you act to make sure you’re not one of those people that we’re going to be talking about here. That we’ve experienced those bad travel at a kid. I know Kim, you mentioned specifically, you know, planes, and obviously I feel like that’s where we see it the most and especially now in COVID, but we’re going to touch travel etiquette, bad travel etiquette, specifically on all sorts of areas of travel from within hotels, the airplane itself, you know, buses, Metro’s trains. We’re going to talk at all.

2 (2m 13s):
And if you are one of the bad travel etiquette offenders, you won’t necessarily be called out by us on the trip, but we will make fun of you on the podcast. And just like there’s bad travel etiquette. There’s also really good travel etiquette. Like Jamal was just saying, you know, you could have a really good flight experience. You can have really cool neighbors on the plane who were just happy to be around people again, get a really nice flight attendants. And those types of experiences are what makes the trip memorable. You know, part of it, like we will never forget our flight from San Diego to London when we got hooked up by the flight attendants. Heck

1 (2m 49s):
Yes,

2 (2m 50s):
Because we used our tip on how to get upgraded for free, which by the way, we will send to you. If you write us a review on apple podcasts and DM it to us on Instagram five

3 (2m 59s):
Star review, you forgot the five-star part.

2 (3m 1s):
Oh, I mean that’s given, right? Yeah.

3 (3m 3s):
I used them as a four-star written review. You’re not getting at five star everybody.

2 (3m 8s):
So let’s dive in. Let’s start making fun of some stuff.

3 (3m 12s):
Yeah. I’m really excited to talk about this too, because we did have a specific YouTube quarantine edition episode about this, but now we’re going to go full blown podcast episode.

1 (3m 21s):
Yeah. That was back when, when we were quarantining from each other, even, but the experience really starts at the airport and that can really just make or break how your trip starts out. So definitely would recommend when you get to the airport and you go up to the check-in counter, be nice to the attendant. That’s helping check you in. They can really hook it up. If you’re nice to them.

2 (3m 41s):
I also just heard a study that showed the effect that smalltalk can have on you positively. So while you’re waiting for your coffee or you’re checking in at the counter, take that little extra step to make a little small talk and it will actually make you in a better mood proven by science.

1 (3m 59s):
Maybe that’s why Jamal is always in a good mood. He always makes friends with everyone no matter who’s around him. Like he could be sitting on a flight with strangers and he’s making friends.

3 (4m 8s):
I think that happened on our last flight. I don’t even think I talked to Brittany that flight. It’s talking to the person next to me, but yeah. Going back to what Brittany first said, be nice just in general to the person checking you in that is going to be the best step you can do. And that leads you right to security check. And you know, when you’re there be on point with your travel etiquette and don’t slow down the line, everyone really hates going through TSA. Let’s not kid ourselves. That’s why we kind of bypass it by getting our TSA pre with our global entry. So I highly recommend you do that. But even still, when you’re going through security, you do need to get your shit together in a sense like literally if you have your fluids, have them already in the plastic bag that they want start taking it out while you’re in line.

3 (4m 53s):
Don’t wait until you get to the TSA agent to start pulling out your wallet, to get your ID, like do this stuff while you’re in line. That way everything moves smoothly.

2 (5m 2s):
Yeah. The people who are just pushing their bag through the conveyor belt, still trying to take their shoes off, like, okay, we’ve needed to take shoes off for 10 years or more now. And now you’re just doing it

3 (5m 17s):
10 years. It’s like 20 now.

2 (5m 18s):
Right? Yeah. Even longer than that. And you know, I think I’ve encountered the most grumpy airplane, airport workers in the TSA line. For some reason, they’re just never in a great mood. And we encountered one that was in a terrible mood in London who just simply hated Brittany. She had,

3 (5m 36s):
Well, this one wasn’t TSA. This was like British version DSA though.

1 (5m 39s):
But I will admit this. We were having a stopover in London. And so they have different requirements for their liquids that you have to actually put your liquids in their specified bag. And so the bag that I got through in the us made it out just fine, was a little bit bigger. So when I tried to transfer everything over to the London approved bag, it wasn’t fitting all correctly. And she was pissed. She was like, you’re doing it incorrectly. You’re not packing it. Right. She grabbed the bag for me. She dumped everything out, told me to repack it again.

2 (6m 10s):
She was pretty crazy,

1 (6m 12s):
A little crazy.

3 (6m 13s):
And so it goes both ways. I mean, I guess when you’re dealing with security, you could only give them so much lip back before they tell you you’re not even flying or take away your ticket or do something. But obviously they should have the courtesy back to be nice to you. But even if they are being a complete a-hole like that lady was to Brittany. When we were going through London, you know, just take it with a grain of salt, put a smile on your face. There are people behind you who want to get through and you’re going to slow them down if you start trying to give them lip back. So be the bigger person

2 (6m 43s):
I had to be the bigger person. Once I was checking into a flight, going from Sacramento back to San Diego, like a 45 minute flight. And I was out in about, it was summer in Sacramento. So it was like a hundred something degrees. I was wearing a tank top that was backless, like had a strap in the back, but it wasn’t like a full back tank top. And the counter lady or some lady that walked up that worked there was like, do you have another shirt you can change into? Cause I don’t know if we’re going to let you on the plane like this. And I was like, are you fucking kidding me? That is so fucking rude. And when the fuck have you ever heard of a fucking dress code on a plane?

1 (7m 18s):
Never.

2 (7m 19s):
I was about to lose my mind. And I think I was with my ex-boyfriend at the time. And he was like, dude, stop. They’re not gonna let you on the plane. But I was so pissed. So it was like, excuse me,

1 (7m 30s):
What did you do? Did you change your

2 (7m 32s):
Show? I didn’t.

3 (7m 34s):
So it doesn’t sound like you were the bigger person. He said he had to beat one and telling the story and doesn’t sound like you were,

2 (7m 39s):
I kept my mouth shut after that because I didn’t want to get, not let on the plane. And it was the bigger person because what I wanted to say was not what I said.

1 (7m 47s):
Do you want to say, let’s hear it now on the podcast,

2 (7m 50s):
You know, I’d rather not, I’m going to be the bigger person that was just like the rudest thing I’ve ever experienced.

3 (7m 57s):
Yeah. So it goes both ways, going through security. I mean, really that’s the initiating point of your entire trip? You know, you could be on the receiving end of bad travel etiquette from not even a traveler or a worker, but you can go a long way by having your mental mindset and mood set based on how you respond and move forward, getting through security and dealing with your checker inner at the airline desk.

2 (8m 18s):
All right. Now, moving on through security, you think you’re out of the gate, but you’re not, there are lots of bad etiquette offenders beyond the gate to

1 (8m 27s):
Like a boarding. Like how many times have we seen people crowd the boarding area? Like people are standing there like 20 minutes before the flight, even boards. Yeah. Trying to get spots to move them up in line. And I think a lot of it has to do with the overhead space and then wanting to like manipulate that

2 (8m 44s):
Because airlines are trying to suck people dry and make them pay to check bags.

1 (8m 48s):
True, true. That. Except for Southwest, shout out to Southwest

3 (8m 52s):
Two bags, fly free guys. Two bags, fly free.

2 (8m 54s):
I think COVID with the lines a little bit and they would call up certain numbers. But I think it’s even worse with COVID when people are crowding that area, it’s like, dude, sit down, give some people some space.

1 (9m 5s):
They were doing like 10 at a time, but they’ve recently gone back to their full boarding process where they have 30.

2 (9m 12s):
It was so much more efficient.

3 (9m 14s):
But see, we’re just talking about Southwest, even other airlines that have assigned seating for that matter. Or if it’s not assigned seating, it’s boarding group numbers like a, B, C, D whatever. And people just want to go up and try to get on and outside of their group. And I’ve seen people be turned away by the gate attendant saying, oh, it’s not your time yet. And they play dumb. Like they don’t know. They know they’re just trying to get on. And maybe you write it as that fight for that overhead space. And realistically, I don’t want to get rid of my back either, but if it gets to the point where you have a carry on size and there’s no more space, they will check it for free. So don’t think like, oh no, now I’m going to be suckered in having to pay to check.

3 (9m 54s):
That’s not the case, but don’t fight the line because there is a line.

2 (9m 58s):
Yeah. And I mean, we got to confess, we’ve definitely done this. We’ve had the backdrop etiquette and boarded outside of our group, but Boise,

3 (10m 9s):
But that’s because we were on the tiny plane that Kim bragged on. And that’s why she’s a hater on Alaska because she’s the only flown one of their small puddle jumper planes. And she thinks that’s what they’re all about. But they were telling us like, oh, and the flight was in our defense though. And you know, and we’re talking about it. And Kim, thanks for keeping us honest. We have offended it, but they had delayed our flight. We were going to lose an hour already. We were going to get in close to midnight now. And the last thing we wanted to do was to have to check our bag, but extenuating circumstances. But yes, we are offenders, but only the one time that I can recollect,

1 (10m 43s):
They did announce that they were going to run out of space. And they were like, if we could have people volunteer to check their bag, we’ll do it for free. And so we’re like, oh, there’s four of us. Like, that’s a lot of overhead space. We each have a carry on bag. So who was it that went up to the agent and asked, Hey, if all four of us check our bags, can we get like a free,

3 (11m 1s):
I asked for a free drink? Yeah. This was like our last flight. This was like our last light before COVID. I said, there’s four of us. Like, we’ll check it. But I mean, I said, honestly, we don’t want to wait. Is there any way that we can get like a complimentary drink for checking it? And they told us no. And I think it was her response to me with the, no, that made me say, you know what, at this point, we’re maybe going to bypass, but in our defense, we were D and we loaded with the last of the seas. So we were close. It’s not like we did a big, big jump.

2 (11m 32s):
Yeah. They should have given us that free drink ticket. I would’ve

3 (11m 34s):
Checked.

2 (11m 34s):
And that’s why Alaska sucks.

3 (11m 36s):
No, don’t say

2 (11m 38s):
I think also just something to know, if you want to have good trouble at a kit, say hi to your flight attendant, be friendly with them. They definitely get a lot of rude people, especially with having to constantly tell people to put their masks on and all of that BS. So when you’re nice them, it’s out of the ordinary, which it shouldn’t be, but it is. So they’re a little nicer to you.

3 (11m 59s):
I always go out of my way on the plane to make sure that they see me say hello and with a smile on my face one, I think it’s just nice. And two, for the very reasons that you just said, but I do that in everyday life. I’ll even say that to the person, checking me out at the grocery store and try to look at their name tag and call them by name. It really goes a long way. And I promise you, 90% of the time, I can tell that they’re nicer to me when they come around for my drink or snack or whatever than they are to anybody else who just kind of ignored them.

1 (12m 27s):
You might get two snacks.

2 (12m 28s):
I actually at the grocery store the other day, the checker hooked me up with a free bag of tortilla chips. Dan just threw it in for free

1 (12m 37s):
Love that.

2 (12m 37s):
Yeah, it was awesome. Another thing I’ve seen in the COVID areas, people just don’t wearing their masks or not wearing them properly, like sticking their nose out and all that’s going to cause is the flight attendant to come over and say something to you. It’s like, just wear it. It’s not that hard.

3 (12m 55s):
And I think at this point, like, you know what, if you don’t want to do it in other aspects of when you’re going out, you know, that’s one thing. But now I feel like, and I’m hoping it gets over soon. I’m tired of wearing it quite honestly. But if you’re going on a plane, it’s almost like the social contract now, you know what they expect of you. So now if you don’t want to do it, you’re going there for a fight. And now that’s completely bad travel etiquette. Like why are you trying to ruin the experience for everybody else? You’re hearing all these stories now of people having land planes, because they’re not planning it on doing this and that and Delaine. So don’t be that person, you know, don’t why do you want to make your point in the year? You’re going to be nothing but famous on social media, but for the wrong reasons.

1 (13m 32s):
Yeah. You’re not going to even make it to the destination you were intending to go to.

2 (13m 35s):
Right? You’re going to ruin your trip and everyone else’s experience. But also I’ve seen some headlines with some really rude flight attendants to tried to kick this family off of a plane. Their baby wasn’t wearing a mask. Their baby was on her lap and she was too eating and wasn’t wearing a mask. And the flight attendant was trying to throw them off the plane. Everyone was on their side and the flight attendant got kicked off the plane.

1 (13m 57s):
Oh, I haven’t heard about that.

3 (13m 59s):
And that was relatively recent. Yeah. That one was relatively recent. So again, it’s a two-way street. Right. You know, don’t be that person either. Yeah.

2 (14m 7s):
I think another thing I’ve seen COVID or no, COVID people playing videos on their phone with no headphones

1 (14m 13s):
That drives me. Like,

2 (14m 14s):
Dude, shut up,

1 (14m 16s):
Turn it off. When,

2 (14m 17s):
Especially when it’s a night of her later plight and all, and I have a story about this too, laying down on the seats, when there’s plenty of seat room, I was on a flight going to Boston and it was in October. So it was COVID central. And so they didn’t have any middle seats open or they were all open. I’m sorry. But so the way I think it was Delta, they have their first class and then they have a lower class, but it’s still better

3 (14m 44s):
Like premium economy.

2 (14m 45s):
Right. Right. And then they have the back, which is just regular economy. So they put everybody who got a regular ticket in the back, still with no middle seat. But the person in front of you is right by you and across the aisle is like, what a foot. Right. So you’re not distanced yet. All those middle seats were open and I’m just like, how fucking money hungry? Can you airliners be second? There was an empty road behind us. We were like two rows. There were two empty rows. And then our rows in the back. So it was a red-eye flight. So I wanted to lay down. There was nobody there. So I went to the row behind me to lay down and the flight attendant comes up and asks, is that your seat? Obviously, bitch. You know, that’s not my seat. Like I, you know, where I was sitting, you have the fucking seating chart, dumb question,

3 (15m 28s):
Passive aggressive.

2 (15m 29s):
Right. And so I said, no, whatever it got. And she asked if we could give them some space, they wanted an extra row in between their back row and the passengers. Like you see how many fucking rosary right there. You could have had a lot of extra space. If your airliner wasn’t so money hungry and you weren’t such a, you know what I mean?

3 (15m 49s):
Well, what’s funny is when you said middle seats, I want to clarify. You’re not talking about, oh, they’re splitting the middle seat between the three on each side. You’re talking literally from like first class in premium economy, they’re leaving the middle of the plane. Just like

2 (16m 1s):
10 rows. Yeah.

3 (16m 2s):
And it could have spread people to make double rows between his white house.

2 (16m 7s):
Yeah. And that was Delta. So Delta,

3 (16m 10s):
Although they are one of my favorite domestic airliners in terms of the big terms of the big ones. Well, you just had a bad COVID express.

2 (16m 16s):
No, actually I don’t, I don’t really like Delta. Anyway. I do think they’re pretty money hungry. They have some decent snacks, but jet blue it’s way better love gelato.

3 (16m 25s):
Another thing, keeping on the boarding real quick of the plane do not move other people’s stuff in the overhead bin to squeeze yours. And I mean, if somebody’s laying their luggage long way and you can tilt it a little bit, that’s one thing. But when I’ve seen people like try to shove theirs and compact other, people’s like in a real bad way, it’s like, come on. If you’re going to have to do it and move it, just ask like, oh, is this anybody’s here? And then just say, may I move? Like if somebody responds, they’re not going to tell you no. Right. And in best case scenario, it gets the attention to the flight attendant and they’ll help you figure out where it needs to go and then move it yourself. But don’t just shove other people’s stuff. I’ve seen like non-hard suitcases, like a duffle bag style one.

3 (17m 5s):
And people are just like shoving on it, trying to compact it. And it’s like, you don’t even know what’s in there. Like what the fuck you doing that is bad travel etiquette.

1 (17m 12s):
I’ve also seen people put like tiny bags that do take up space in the overhead bin where it could go under there. And I’m like, why are you wasting space? Like, is it really going to inconvenience you to have this one thing under your seat? Like they already said, there’s going to be limited space in the overhead bins.

2 (17m 29s):
Yeah. Or those people that, and I’m sure I’ve been one at one point or another, but it’s like one carry on. But they clearly have to carry on. They’re just trying to pass one as like a purse or something. I’m like, I see you.

1 (17m 42s):
We were, we were boarding a flight recently and they actually said, you know, it is one carry on bag, one personal bag. That doesn’t mean one personal bag and your purse. You need to condense it all into one. So they were calling people out. I think they saw people lining up and they’re like, Nope, not going to fly with us.

2 (18m 0s):
There’s so many travel offenders on the plane though. Like reclining the seat is a big topic.

1 (18m 6s):
Yes. It is hot topic over here

2 (18m 8s):
During takeoff. It’s like, come on it. First of all, it’s against the rules. And then it’s a rule for a reason.

3 (18m 14s):
That’s the rule for safety. If you have to do an emergency landing and it’s leaned back, it’s harder for people to get out and get to the aisle to go to the emergency room.

2 (18m 23s):
It’s even hard to get into your aisle if you’re fucking leaning back. And someone has to crawl behind you, pulling on your seat, meanwhile, the whole time, because you’re in the way. Yeah. Oh, and you know what, that’s another pet peeve of mine. People pulling on the seat, like use your core strength.

3 (18m 38s):
Some people don’t have core strength, but I agree with that. But the exception to that is if the person is leaning behind me in the way in which they shouldn’t early on, I will pull on it.

2 (18m 49s):
I will

3 (18m 49s):
Be passive aggressive back. Yeah. I was even about to say that I will be passive aggressive back, but only if they deserve it, but I will not get into a verbal confrontation on it. I remember one time we were leaving Mexico city and someone was already reclining before takeoff. I’m just like, dude, like we have been on the plane for like three minutes. You really can’t wait for takeoff and get to 10,000 feet to do it. And so eventually we just kept the flight attendant and pointed to the seat and she got it and she said it herself. So if you want to be confrontational and say it, but in a nice way, more power to you, but always let the flight attendant do it. It’s their job. And then it comes across like they’re doing it for safety perspective, which they really are.

1 (19m 30s):
And while we’re on the topic of reclined seeds, because it is such a hot topic, I can’t stand when people recline their seats and keep them reclined during meal service, there is nothing more annoying to me than that. I’m like, we’re all just trying to enjoy a meal here with the seats. Yeah.

2 (19m 45s):
And also like leaning back and eating your food. It’s just weird manners. I think

3 (19m 50s):
Not only that I feel like on flights that do give food, they announced that during meals service let’s have the seats up and

2 (20m 0s):
Set up, people were get out

3 (20m 2s):
Seriously.

2 (20m 4s):
There’s a lot about the seating, the middle seat. I always get stuck with the middle seat, especially on unassigned or because I haven’t paid to pick my seat and I swear, it’s like, I can’t even move my arms because I have no arm rest. It’s like, you have to give me one.

1 (20m 21s):
Exactly.

3 (20m 21s):
Yeah, seriously. I think if you’re on the window, you should default to kind of leaning against the wall of the plane, right? If you’re in the aisle, you have a complete open space by you. You should default to leaning to the aisle side and leave the middle armrests to the person who’s actually in the middle and has nothing but the back of their seat, which gets uncomfortable. Right. So if you’re that person, don’t crowd the person in the middle lean to your open lien,

1 (20m 48s):
Jamal had a great experience in the middle seat and we’ve mentioned it before and it’s just, you know, so funny, we have to mention it again on our way. Home from Johannesburg to Atlanta, Jamal was sitting in the middle seat next to the lady who smelled like a O

3 (21m 3s):
Yeah, seriously. Oh my God. It’s such a good story, but such a bad one at the same time. So the flight from Johannesburg to Atlanta is 16 hours. It’s like on the top 10 longest commercial flights in the world. I think it’s somewhere in the middle, like five or six in terms of length of flight time-wise and me and Brittany are sitting together. Obviously she’s in the window. I sacrificed the middle being the gentleman that I am for such a long flight. And basically we’re literally down to the last three people that are coming on the plane. Right. You know, the, with the last ones that are coming in, cause you can kind of see the trickle of space between the everyone’s not compact and close together. It’s more spaced out. So I’m thinking to myself, oh shit, man. We might really get lucky here and have nobody buy us for this flight.

3 (21m 47s):
And then all of a sudden this one person comes in that I see. And I just had the feeling right away. I was like, fuck this. Person’s going to sit by me. I just know it. I just know it. And you can tell by the way she was walking that she just didn’t look very clean. She kind of looked a little grungy, like sweat pants. And they were dirty that had dirt stains on them and whatever. And then she sat down and had the worst case of BEO I’ve ever smelled in my life. So one please, before you get on a plane, make sure you’re at least semi fresh. I mean, I’m not going to say freshly showered, but semi please let alone for 16 hour flight, you’re going to come on reeking like BEO. It was horrendous to not be that person.

3 (22m 27s):
At what point? You can’t even complain at that. What am I going to tell the flight attendant and kick somebody off a plane? Like I’m not going to do that, but don’t be that person. Oh God, it was bad. It was bad.

2 (22m 37s):
I mean, even if you are freshly showered, like you went into the, to the lounge right before your flight and took a shower at the end of that 16 hours, you’re going to smell like BL

1 (22m 45s):
Yeah, absolutely.

2 (22m 46s):
Coming into it nasty.

3 (22m 49s):
Yeah. And see, even when I’m on a long international flight like that let alone 16 hours, 10, I can’t not pack deodorant. Just one. I’m thinking of it myself. God, I don’t want to stink. And two, that’s also a courtesy of the person sitting next to me. I mean, if you are in the middle or on the plane, you are to an extent sitting kind of compact. You are sweating in there. So I always carry that with me. So that’s a good squad. Tip, carry deodorant with you for those long flights. But I don’t think deal don’t want to save that girl. It was beyond that,

1 (23m 17s):
Beyond that. But then the row in front of us, they leaned or their seats back. So they were further and trapping us into this BEO bubble. The only saving grace was watch mall.

3 (23m 29s):
She had a blanket on her and when she was covered by the airplane blanket that we always have great stories about, should we take it or should we not? When it covered her, it was good. But the moment she would lean over to change her TV setting in front of her and expose her arm out of the blanket. It was just like a big waft of disgusting air that came out that was trapped. It was bad. It was bad. It’s pretty great. And now I look back on it and it’s horrendous still, but it’s a good fun story to talk about, but don’t be that person. I can’t stress that enough. That might be the worst travel etiquette. Do not come on a plane with horrendous BEO.

2 (24m 2s):
I’ll say too, some people will complain about like perfume and cologne. But I actually love that. That doesn’t bother me whatsoever in terms of like bad etiquette. Like, Hey, you want to throw on the cologne and bay in it before your flight

1 (24m 15s):
About others, me, it like gives me a headache, a really bad headache.

3 (24m 19s):
I put one spray on my cologne. Sometimes a Brittany’s like you put on too much. Like, what do you want me to do? I put on one spray. I agree with you. I agree with you in terms of like, it could be bad if somebody bays themselves and it could be strong, but I would rather have something like that. That’s powerful than, you know, something else

2 (24m 34s):
I love when people walk by and you can just smell nice cologne in their path and like, where’d she go?

1 (24m 43s):
I don’t mind it if it’s like nice and faint. But if it’s too overpowering, it’s a no go for me.

3 (24m 50s):
So I want to talk about something else here. And I don’t want to call out anybody. Who’s a parent because I’m not a parent. So I don’t know how hard it can be. And I know it is a very hard job, but there’s a difference between hard and just being an asshole and having bad travel etiquette. I’ve seen people take dirty diapers and put them in the seat in front of them, like in the mesh pocket that has the instructions and you are not that busy to take a dirty diaper and carry your child with you. If you have to, to the restroom and throw it away, do not put it in the front of the seat. The next person that comes in ignorance is bliss, I guess. Right? But come on. You’re going to put a shit filled diaper in the front seat.

3 (25m 30s):
I’ve seen. What if

2 (25m 31s):
It’s

3 (25m 31s):
P that doesn’t matter to this still. It’s a dirty diaper. It’s a dirty diaper. Am I wrong?

1 (25m 36s):
No, you’re not wrong. That’s

3 (25m 37s):
Pretty good. Don’t be that person. I have no problem with a baby crying. What are you going to do? I mean, is it annoying? Yes. But what are you going to do? The parent can’t control it. You can control that. That is outrageous.

1 (25m 49s):
Yeah. It’s the parents actually physically doing that so they can definitely control their actions.

2 (25m 54s):
Okay. What about when you have to go to the bathroom? This is like so awkward when I get the window seat and then there’s somebody there on the aisle, like sleeping or watching a movie.

1 (26m 3s):
The best rule is if someone else in your aisle gets up to go to the bathroom, you go at the same time. So that you’re lessening the amount of times that you have to bugger everyone else.

3 (26m 12s):
I think that’s a good rule, even if you don’t want to get up. But I also want to say this. If you are traveling in economy to where it’s really an issue that you have to make somebody get up so that you can move yourself, you can’t be upset if somebody needs to go to the restroom, like if you want the convenience of the aisle, because it’s easy for you to get up and you have that extra space on the side, the least you can do is not roll your eyes. When someone needs to use the restroom, like agreed. I feel bad if I’m really having to go a lot, for whatever reason, drinking, a lot of water falling, an international flight and the booze is free. I’m going to be drinking it and that’s going to cause you to go also. But yeah, if you’re sitting on the, I’ll just take it with a grain of salt. It’s one of the best things that you can do to make somebody not feel like, oh my God, this is, I’m a burden.

2 (26m 56s):
I always feel so bad. Like if someone’s sleeping, I’ll try to hold it. If I can. Cause I don’t want to wake them up. But as soon as they start wrestling around, I’m like, yo,

3 (27m 5s):
And that’s respectful. That’s good travel etiquette camp.

1 (27m 10s):
What about farting on the plane?

3 (27m 12s):
Britney knows everything all about this. The fact that the fact that both of us said this, we know it’s you agree?

1 (27m 20s):
I wasn’t the one Dutch Avening and other person

3 (27m 25s):
I don’t know about that. I think one time there was something going on and then we talked about it later. And Kim finally admitted maybe a year later that it was her. I think it was a flight to China. I think it was. But anyway, realistically though, don’t be that person, especially, you know what, sometimes, you know, traveling on a plane, you feel that little quench in your stomach. Not necessarily that I have to go to the bathroom, but maybe you need to, but if it comes out and it’s deadly and you continue to do it and no, then that’s some real bad travel there. You got to hold it in some

2 (27m 54s):
Flights where someone was doing something,

3 (27m 56s):
Could you, with the most infamous flights that I could remember is when we were going to Japan and somebody was doing it, it might’ve even been the flight attendant cropped up, if you want me to be honest. Cause it was just so prevalent. And at one point our niece Dasia, she was coming with us and we looked behind her and we’re like, is that you? And she said, no, I thought it was been you guys the whole time. And then do you remember the time we were going to Bryce? All of us as The Squad. And then it was that late night flight to Vegas and somebody was, luckily it was only an hour flight, but somebody was ripping it real hard. And it was so bad on that plane. Just like, oh, you’re about to go to Vegas right now. And something’s wrong with your stomach?

2 (28m 31s):
I think people like it because planes are actually quite loud and the sound is a little distorted. Cause if your ears popping

3 (28m 37s):
Could be muffled.

2 (28m 38s):
And so they’re like, no, one’s going to notice this.

1 (28m 44s):
You know, I do remember I’m reading an article and it was about a flight attendant and they loved walking the aisle and crop dusting, everyone.

2 (28m 52s):
Hey, if you’re rude to the flight attendant, when you get on,

3 (28m 55s):
He did it. That’s so jacked up. See, it may have been the flight attendant. Although I don’t want to say that because I enjoyed my flight on Japan airlines. They actually ranked one of the best economy classes to fly in the world. So I want to give a shout out. So I don’t want to say it was the flight attendant, but yes, I have heard and read that article of like confessions of flight attendants, where they say that they’ll do that, especially to rude customers, if they’re having gas.

1 (29m 18s):
So you finally make it through the fight. You just land at your destination, but you haven’t aborted yet. There’s a lot of worst offenders that happen when you’re D boarding a plane in terms of travel etiquette.

2 (29m 30s):
Yeah. You’re supposed to let rows D board row by row. Not if you’re in row 17, run up to row four and try to get off the plane. As soon as the doors open. No, you wait until 16 is off and then 17, you can go, especially during COVID when you’re supposed to do that. Stacy did until the row in front of you, D boards give them space, blah, blah, blah. That’s definitely not happening. And it didn’t happen before and it’s not happening after

1 (29m 55s):
Like people. Is it really going to make you get off the plane any faster

2 (29m 58s):
To like 20 seconds?

3 (29m 59s):
You know what? They already do stuff that pisses me off when they come up. But when they start to come up and then I stand up and block them because it’s my turn. And then they look at me like I’ve offended them. I’m just like, who the fuck do you think you are to give me that stink? I like that. Like, you’re lucky. I’m not, oh, accidentally pulling my luggage down and bumping you in the face, accidentally with it. I mean our last flight that we were on Britney. Well, I know that I say that I really would never do that. And I’m getting passive aggressive in the way I speak, but not what I would really do. But on our last flight Brit, somebody did that. Do you remember? We were getting ready to board the plane and I don’t think she had any luggage and she just kind of bypassed everybody before people stood up and like, what are you doing?

3 (30m 43s):
You’re coming from the back rows. And you’re already in the middle of the plane. Don’t be that person.

2 (30m 48s):
Well, we can go on and on and on about airplanes, but let’s move on to some other bad etiquette offenders

3 (30m 53s):
Such as the hotel room.

2 (30m 55s):
Yeah. Hotel room walls are pretty thin. So when you’re making a ton of noise out in the hallways, people can hear that. And when we get up at the crack of Dawn for an easy day, we try to be quieter in the hallways, but then you’ll hear kids screaming and

1 (31m 12s):
Running up and down the hall

2 (31m 14s):
Early in the morning and late at night. And it’s like, come on

3 (31m 17s):
Seriously. And I’ve even been places where I’ve heard people play loud music and it’s like, they’re having a party in the room next door. And I’m just like, what are you doing? Like you’re in a hotel. I’m not saying don’t have a good time, but there’s a level of courtesy. And clearly those people are not abiding by that. But I will say it happens everywhere. And by everywhere, I mean everywhere, but I feel like Vegas is the worst, but Vegas just lends itself to be that way. Right? People are going to be stumbling in late hella drunk and doing all this and that, but have a little courtesy, especially if you’re not inebriated because when you’re knee braided, I guess maybe you can’t control it, but you can tell when people are walking down the hall, if they’re drunk or not,

2 (31m 53s):
I think it’s also bad etiquette for the hotel staff to not have your room ready a check-in time. And I just want to say that

1 (32m 0s):
Ever happened to me. It hasn’t happened to you.

2 (32m 2s):
Yes it has. And it’s quite annoying. Most recently when I went to Scottsdale

3 (32m 7s):
Most recently. So this has happened multiple times. Geez. I’ve never had this happen to me. Well,

2 (32m 12s):
You’re

3 (32m 12s):
Lucky. I mean, I’ve gotten there early and they’ve told me it’s not ready, but I’ve never gotten in at the assigned check-in time at a minimum. And then them telling me,

2 (32m 21s):
Wow,

3 (32m 22s):
Bad luck for you on that. But yeah. Well it’s bad. Like we said earlier, etiquette is a two way street. It’s not just us as the travelers. It’s people who are doing the hosts are in the industry themselves. Right? Whether it be the attendance, the hotels or whoever.

2 (32m 36s):
Okay. I have a question. Do you think it’s bad travel to deny the bell boy from taking your bags? Like you want to do it yourself?

3 (32m 46s):
I don’t think so. I like to carry my bags a lot of the time too. Especially if I am wanting to change right away to go out or do something or I have something inside. No, I don’t think it is. I think it’s bad etiquette. If you have them bring it and give them a shitty tip.

2 (32m 60s):
What would be a shitty

3 (33m 1s):
Tip? I think anything under $5 is a shitty tip for a bellboy. Yeah, I do.

1 (33m 7s):
I think it depends on how many bags you have truly. Like if you’re staying for a few weeks and you brought four suitcases, I’d probably tip a little bit more. But if you brought like to carry on size bags, probably wouldn’t.

2 (33m 18s):
What about the valet? What’s a bad tip.

3 (33m 22s):
I see. What’s funny is I feel like I want to give the bellboy more money than the valet. I usually give the valet about three and somebody may crap talk me because I’ve been in the service industry as a waiter. But I really do think that getting a car is a lot different than taking somebody’s order of carrying somebody heavy luggage, such as a bellboy. But that’s my personal thought. But to go back to your original question of denying them the opportunity to take it, I don’t think so at all. Who are you to say that you have to surrender your luggage to anybody checking into the hotel? So no good

2 (33m 53s):
Point. Good

1 (33m 53s):
Point. How much do you tip?

2 (33m 55s):
Yeah, I think $5 anywhere that I three to five for the bellboy, I guess two, three valet or five. I don’t know. Depends if it’s a really nice place or not.

1 (34m 4s):
You guys tip the house cleaners

2 (34m 6s):
Sometimes. Yeah. If I have cash, I’ll leave it. I’ve I’ve left money sometimes like on a multiple night stay and they don’t take it. And I, to leave a note that says, this is for you.

3 (34m 17s):
Well, I think some places, depending on, especially the nicer places have envelopes that specifically say for the cleaners or what what’s the appropriate term to use for them, for the room service. Right? If you just leave cash out and they don’t realize, then they may think, oh, it’s here and then they’re stealing. Right? So that

2 (34m 35s):
I tried to like, make it look like it’s on the table, just sitting there, you know? But yeah, I know you said not to talk about the subways, but we’re going to go there with the subway.

3 (34m 46s):
It was to not talk about the subways in Mexico, where I have a memory of my phone getting swiped from me and I’m still kind of bitter about it. Although I handled it well when it happened, but yes, there is lots of etiquette that can be broken here on the Metro’s trains or buses for that matter. Right?

2 (35m 4s):
Yeah. Like people are getting off and people are coming on. Wait until the people get off before you start trying to get on.

1 (35m 11s):
I don’t know why that’s such a hard concept for people to get, but it’s like this one, huge, like what are they called? Mosh pits. Like some of those.

3 (35m 22s):
Yeah, because everyone’s pushing against each other. And oh my gosh, you know, who does not have issues with this travel etiquette, the Japanese. And when we were in Japan, it was one of the best travel experiences in terms of etiquette and manners I’ve ever experienced in my life.

2 (35m 37s):
So,

3 (35m 38s):
Because it’s amazing, it’s an amazing culture. And they are just so polite. I mean, they have designated sides in the subways for you to walk. If you’re entering to the subway, going to your train and dedicated sides to walk on, if you’re leaving and let me tell you if you’re going in, every one stays on that one side. If you’re going out, everyone stays on that one side. There’s no cross. Everybody waits until everybody gets off the Metro before the people who need to get on, go on. They even form a line waiting to get on. I mean, have you ever seen anything like this? They wouldn’t even do that here in the states. I love it. Amazing travel etiquette in Japan and every other country that I’ve been to has failed at this. Japan is the only one that I have seen succeed and not be animals and monsters about it.

2 (36m 23s):
You’re very passionate

3 (36m 24s):
About, I am passionate. I loved it in Japan. Love the love Japan.

1 (36m 28s):
And also just a general trouble etiquette. No matter where you are in the world is if you see someone that’s pregnant or elderly, please give up your seat

2 (36m 35s):
Or a woman. Like if you’re a man sitting, you should give up your seat for a woman.

1 (36m 40s):
Well, always does. He always gives up his seat for me. And he always offers his seat. If he has a seat to the elderly, especially when we were in Japan and they were so thankful

3 (36m 50s):
Cause they were nice. How can I not be nice back? But you are right. And thank you for doting on me. I always do that woman pregnant or not. I will do it. And especially elderly people just as well.

2 (36m 60s):
I think another offensive thing I’ve seen on the buses and trains is when it is really packed in there or even medium packed, packed enough that the seats are all gone. There’s people standing and someone has like their backpack or something on a seat. It’s like, come on, move yourself. Because obviously people standing cause there’s nowhere else to sit,

1 (37m 18s):
You know where this wouldn’t happen, where Japan,

3 (37m 21s):
It wouldn’t happen to Japan. Even though there was really crowded on the trains during rush hours, especially in Tokyo, everyone was really courteous of everyone’s space also too. So that was really cool. But yeah, honestly just be respectful of people’s space. Be nice. Like I get that. We’re all in a rush to go where we’re going, but there’s certain manners and etiquette that you can do. And if you start, maybe someone else will see it and maybe we’ll all mutually get to that level. I don’t know. But I mean, it’s a good lofty goal to have and just put good in the world and don’t be an asshole I could say.

2 (37m 52s):
So now a lot has changed since COVID and I wanted to call one thing out that I’ve seen many times somebody else going up to somebody and telling them their mask isn’t on. Right? It’s like, it’s annoying to see somebody not wearing their mask. Right. But even more annoying for the citizens arrest mass police out in the force, just patrolling the mass, patrolling the faces and like, dude, just move along. Like give yourself some space. You don’t need to be the mass police around here. Okay. Karen, just sit down.

1 (38m 25s):
Kirin Kyle, whoever it is. I agree. I see a lot of people patrolling and it’s like, you’re getting into a confrontation for no reason. Yeah. Distance yourself away from which

2 (38m 37s):
Is even more bad at a kit to start a brawl in the middle of a public space, over a massive, you could just walk on and leave it alone

3 (38m 43s):
And let alone, the comment may lead to an argument which will lead to people talking. If they don’t have the mask on now they’re directing their anger towards you. And maybe their germs that you were more concerned about to begin with are even worse now and going to be in your face. So I agree with that sentiment. I mean, again, if you’re uncomfortable and you’re on a plane, there’s something to be said about again, maybe telling the flight attendant and I hate to default it towards them because it shouldn’t be their job to force that. But to an extent right now, it really is. And it comes better from them than from you just telling somebody. Right? So, but in public, in general too. Yeah, like wide, like if you can actually space yourself from that person, then space yourself from it and don’t be the one to make the confrontation.

3 (39m 27s):
But we’ve talked about on the plane, in the air D boarding, hotels, buses, metros. Let’s talk about some travel etiquette about traveling with people. And I think this is a good topic because we also travel like as a squad, let’s not kid ourselves, people travel with their friends and there’s certain things that you should really do even amongst your friends to have some good travel etiquette.

2 (39m 50s):
I think one thing I’ve I’ve seen with other groups is something that you specifically want to do. And I guess that’s kind of a balancing act between honoring what everybody wants to do. And if somebody really wants to go to this baseball game, then you know, try to make that happen. Or this restaurant tried to make that happen. But when there’s somebody in the group, that’s like, I have to be back at 6:00 PM so that I could watch the show or something like that. That is interfering with everyone. Else’s travel plans. It’s like,

1 (40m 19s):
Who is watching TV while they’re on vacation? Like who has,

2 (40m 22s):
I mean, I’ve definitely heard people say like the baseball games on, I need to, I got to watch the baseball games. Like, no, you don’t watch it on your phone.

3 (40m 28s):
Yeah. And if you want to watch it, you could be in the rush to get back and not make everybody else who you’re traveling with.

2 (40m 34s):
It’s a group thing and yes, but that’s what it, that’s what we’re saying. That’s what you should do. If you had good

3 (40m 40s):
At a kit, the

2 (40m 41s):
Bad etiquette people are like, we have to be back at this time, like assume everyone’s on your schedule,

1 (40m 46s):
Not everyone’s on your schedule.

3 (40m 47s):
I mean, I know there’s times where we’ve traveled as The Squad where there’s certain things that either you Kim or Zayna had suggested or Brittany even, and you know, I’m just like, I don’t really want to do it, but you guys had returned do what we want to do. And we find that compromise and make it happen. So we could all have a cohesive trip if there’s really something that somebody suggests that we don’t want to do, we don’t make a scene about it. And we say, oh, you know, like maybe we’ll split up or do this. And we’ve done that before. So don’t put the pressure on people and be aggressive about it and let alone make them feel guilty for trying to say, well, if we want to do that, let’s just split and be mutual about it.

2 (41m 27s):
Yeah. But I think I was more referring to something like, not that you want to do on the trip, but something you need to be back for.

3 (41m 33s):
Yeah, absolutely. But I wanted to bring up about stuff to do, like on the trip, especially if you travel with people, be mutual about like what it is that you do. And I don’t want to say cater and bin backwards, but if they’re doing stuff that you want to do, you got to do stuff that they want to do, but in a non-aggressive way. Right.

2 (41m 49s):
And I do think if, if you do have something you need to be back for, so you have to watch that baseball game at home, or you have a zoom work thing or, you know, you’re working while you’re traveling, whatever that is. See, there’s something you have to do. And it’s just you, then you make the arrangements for you to get back in time and don’t impact everybody else. And what they’re doing,

1 (42m 9s):
Your personal plans affect everyone. Else’s trip. Like if you know, you have the other commitment going on, make your own arrangements to get back. You can find it. You can get back there by yourself, not going to be the end of the world.

3 (42m 20s):
Absolutely. And also, I just want to say too, we gotta be courteous of people’s time, who you’re traveling with and not on what we’ve just been discussing, but realistically, you know, if it’s agreed upon, Hey, we’re going to be out the door by this time to start our day because we want to do all this. And it’s really kind of agreed upon that. Yeah, we all want to do this stuff. And then for whatever reason, you’re taking too long to get ready in the morning or doing this or that and slowing people down and slowing down the trip, you know, that’s not cool at all. So we gotta be courteous to people’s time. And if it’s been agreed upon stick to the what’s been agreed upon, right?

1 (42m 54s):
Yeah. You know, the night before you can shower, you can lay out your outfit. You can get as prepped and ready as possible before you have to get ready for that day. And that really helps.

2 (43m 3s):
I think another bad etiquette thing I’ve seen is when plans don’t go according to plan and then somebody in the group or whoever you’re traveling with gets upset over it. Like, I think I’ve been an offender of this when we were in Sequoia and Kings kid in the snow, ruined our plans to do certain hikes, Then I’d throw a fit over it and blah, blah, blah. The rest is history. And that’s how we ended up on a 16 mile hike last on Easter day with no food. But I think with COVID it has even enhanced it more with a lot of things being closed that should have been there should have been available. And whether it’s COVID or it’s not, COVID, there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s not there. You can’t do it.

2 (43m 43s):
So don’t cause a fit or make a scene.

1 (43m 47s):
I might make a scene over the no breakfast parfait when they’re supposed to provide it.

2 (43m 51s):
Yeah. I mean that’s

3 (43m 53s):
But if they don’t compensate me by giving me a breakfast to go in a bag at the very minimum and they still advertise it online, you could get upset I guess, but to make a scene

2 (44m 2s):
Case, Brittany just smashed the plexiglass windows and take them down. Just kidding. Don’t do that.

3 (44m 10s):
But I think that’s a really good point about what you said, you know, I mean, there’s going to be some things that you just can’t do because something’s closed or something has come up and

2 (44m 19s):
Limited capacity. So it’s full.

3 (44m 21s):
Yeah. And it’s just, you know, roll with the punches. Don’t make a scene. Don’t make things uncomfortable for whoever else you’re traveling with or your partner for that matter. Right. Just go with the punches. But did any of you ladies have any final thoughts on one last little bit of travel etiquette that we want to just spill out here to everybody before we get into Kim’s favorite part of the week?

2 (44m 43s):
No, I, I just think for as much as we’re talking about bad travel etiquette, we’re saying it so that you can have good trouble etiquette and make your experience and the experience of who you’re traveling with and the experience of people you encounter along your journey. Everybody to have a good experience. So learn from these lessons.

3 (45m 2s):
Absolutely.

2 (45m 3s):
All right. Question of the week, time

3 (45m 5s):
Questions of the week,

2 (45m 6s):
We actually have two questions here today. And the first one is since COVID, what would you say the etiquette is on offering to help put up or take down someone else’s luggage on an airplane?

1 (45m 20s):
That’s a good question.

2 (45m 21s):
You know, you’re not supposed to touch other people’s stuff.

1 (45m 23s):
I feel like if someone was struggling, I feel like Jamal would have the courtesy to ask, do you need help with that before reaching for it and then gauge their response? And if they did need it, then I think it’s appropriate to help.

3 (45m 35s):
I think so just as well. And if you are that concerned about it yourself, and again, you don’t know who you’re talking to, how concerned they are. And so Brittany’s point is very valid gauge their response, but we should all be traveling with hand sanitizer these days. I feel like everybody really is.

2 (45m 50s):
And they also say it’s very hard to catch COVID from surfaces.

3 (45m 53s):
Right. Right. So if you have the hand sanitizer to do a good gesture like that, as long as you ask, without taking the initiative to take something out of somebody’s hand, because I mean, I’m still seeing flight attendants do it. They’re probably touching more stuff than me as an individual is. So if somebody’s comfortable with the flight attendant, they need help. They should with me. But that’s again my thought on.

2 (46m 13s):
Yeah. And my thought is that if you ever see me with luggage, feel free to put it up or take it down for me. All right. And then our second question is, have times changed and how early to arrive at the airport before flights.

3 (46m 28s):
I actually really liked this question. I think it’s a good one. And it’s tough because I feel like right now travel is starting to pick up. So now it’s really tough to gauge is the airport going to be empty? Do I not need that much time? Or is it going to be crowded? And you just don’t know. Right. Cause I’ve gone on a few trips now where travel has picked up and then I’ve gone and then it’s been dead again. Right. So you just don’t know. So again, I feel like it depends on your airport, but I would say an hour is a good time to get there beforehand, especially if you’re not. Yeah. For domestic, especially if you’re not checking any luggage, but they do have a TSA app. It’s the, my TSA app. And it gives you security checkpoint line estimates.

3 (47m 9s):
So you can look at that and really kind of gauge on how much time you need to get there.

2 (47m 14s):
Oh yeah. That’s cool. So it’s kind of like the borderline you can check to see how long your wait is going to be. That’s perfect. That’s always, I mean, that is what the holdup is going through TSA.

1 (47m 23s):
Well, sometimes the airports are huge and you don’t realize how big they are and how far you have to walk to get to your gate. I’m like San Diego to get to terminal one. I mean, you really don’t very

2 (47m 34s):
Long. There’s no gate,

1 (47m 36s):
But if you’re, you know, in Atlanta or somewhere

2 (47m 40s):
Seattle

3 (47m 41s):
Or let alone San Diego terminal to terminal two is big, not terminal one. Right? You

2 (47m 45s):
Have to get on a shuttle and go to the next one. Yeah. Oh yeah.

1 (47m 47s):
Yeah. Sometimes Jamal actually looks at the terminal layouts beforehand or the airport maps

2 (47m 52s):
Most efficient,

3 (47m 53s):
Just like looking at maps. So I always look at that too when I laugh, but see, that’s why, if we go back to what I said, I said, it depends on how well, you know, your airport, if you’re traveling somewhere, you don’t know you’re landing in that airport. Right? So when you land there, if you’re flying back out, you should at least use that opportunity to scope like, oh, it is a far walk from the gates to the front entrance and check-in area or this or that engage at yourself. But that my TSA app is good. But if you’re flying out of your home airport and you know, it, you should be able to gauge that yourself on how much time you think you really need now to get there.

2 (48m 25s):
Great tips for navigating the airport. All right. Squadies thank you so much for tuning into this week’s episode. Please keep the adventures going with us by following us on Instagram, subscribing on YouTube at Travel Squad Podcast, tag us in your adventures and send us in those questions of the week.

3 (48m 40s):
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1 (48m 54s):
And stay tuned for next week’s episode, we have some more amazing adventures and tips in store for you.