No matter how many air miles you’ve racked up, how many security checks you’ve weathered and how many fat, sweaty men you’ve been forced to sit beside by a smiling stewardess, you never quite get used to the airport.Headache-inducing hunts for a parking spot, lugging heavy luggage
, tension-creating walks past security and long waits in the near-purgatorial departure lounge.
When you’re a chronic wanderer, there’s little worse than having naff-all to do in the airport. You can fiddle with your bags for a while, but that will cover all of four minutes before you’re staring into the airport abyss.
With that in mind, we’ve come up with a few ways to tide you over during your stay. Have a look.
The value of valets
Trying to negotiate the parking spots at an airport car park is like trying to make your way through an ancient Grecian labyrinth. You half expect a Minotaur to ram its way into your car by the time you’ve reached your spot.
Wouldn’t it be nice to simply park your car at your terminal and be done with it? Well, you’re not the only bright spark with that idea.
Airport valet parking is available in most major airports. All it takes is a quick phone call to the right supplier.
Just imagine the light and breezy feeling you’ll have when you can drop off your car without all the fuss of finding a spot.
Plug and play
Let’s just admit it to ourselves – unless someone’s being actively electrocuted by one, plugs are about as interesting as a PowerPoint presentation on bus timetables.
If your mate began telling you about his favourite plug socket, you’d probably start edging away from him.
Yet as soon as you’re stuck in a departure lounge, a simple plug socket soon becomes as vital as the air you breathe. After all, just imagine your horror if your Kindle ran out of juice before you’d even boarded your plane.
Find a seat in your departure lounge close to a socket and guard it like it was the crown jewels. You’ll be thankful for the effort when the battery life on your iPhone begins flashing red.
Go VIP
Some say where there’s a will there’s a way. Similarly, where there’s a bog standard departure lounge, there’s also a luxury one where you can stock up on complementary orange juice.
VIP departure lounges are usually cheaper than you think and generally include widescreen tellies, Wi-Fi, free snacks and daily newspapers to help you wile away the time in luxury.
An airport shouldn’t be stressful, so find as many ways as you can to up your game.