TikTok travel tip for flying using flight number

One travel influencer shared a video claiming they knew the 'best' flight tip for travellers. Photo / 123rf

OPINION

Even at the best of times, travel can involve a lot of time, money and effort. So, it’s no surprise we love learning about new travel hacks, tips, tricks or shortcuts that could make it all a little easier.

Typically spread around the internet via Instagram reels or TikTok videos, some are more helpful than others. Scoring free offline maps? Heck yes. Wearing a medical device on a flight? Eh, not so much. While some ‘tricks’, as travellers unfortunately learn, aren’t actually permitted.

To call a travel hack ‘the best’ feels like a bold claim, but it’s one a travel influencer has made in a video.

The clip, titled “best flight tip ever”, was posted by 32-year-old Londoner Louise, who shares travel content under the handle @loulouexplores.

Posted on June 5, the video has since racked up more than 10.2 million views on TikTok alone.

In the caption, Louise claimed she always uses the flight tip.

“I do this every time I fly. Send this to a disorganised friend, haha,” she wrote.

So, what was the supreme piece of advice for flying? Well, disappointingly, it’s not actually helpful for those looking to make their journey more comfortable.

Instead, it relates only to those who will be collected from the airport by a friend.

“If you paste your flight number into your messages and send it to somebody, you can hold down on the flight number and it brings up all your flight details,” Louise said.

This trick isn’t the most well-known, but also isn’t new and tends to do the digital rounds every few months.

Louise said she found it helpful as it meant she didn’t need to give her ride constant flight updates.

“I find this so useful, especially if someone’s picking me up and they can use it. You can check your terminal and gate, if it’s on time, departure time, arrival time and how long your flight is,” she said.

Some viewers were clearly impressed with the trick, describing it as “brilliant”, “so cool” and the “best trick”.

The tactic doesn’t work for all flights (Louise claimed she couldn’t make it work for Ryanair flights) but it works for other major carriers.

@loulouexplores

I do this every time I fly. Send this ti a disorganised friend haha. #flighthack #traveltip #travelhacks

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One viewer had an addition to the tip, claiming iPhone users didn’t need to get the flight code as a text. Instead, they could just type the code into the search bar and it would bring up information.

Now, I love a travel or flight tip as much as the next person, and while this is helpful, it’s far from ‘the best’ or even one of the top five.

Partly because I can’t remember the last time I had a friend or family member collect me from the airport. But mainly because the flight isn’t the only factor that dictates when you’ll arrive at the airport pick-up area.

See, unless the flight is delayed at the departing airport (and you would update the person before departing anyway), the flight time is rarely going to vary by more than 15 minutes or so.

In my experience, the biggest variable that can force my friend to drive loops around the airport is the baggage carousel.

When the luggage gods smile on me, I can grab my bag straight away and breeze through security. However, other times I can wait 25 minutes before joining a long line at security, furiously texting apologies to my poor friend on the other side.

So, is the flight number trick a good one? Sure. But when it comes to superlatives, I think I’ll be holding ‘best’ for something that can guarantee me a row of free seats on a long-haul flight.