I’ve been on the travel side of Tiktok for a while now, and while there’s a lot of good advice out there, there are some weird ones out there. Here are 3 travel “hacks” that you couldn’t pay me to do:

Trying to be the last one on the plane so I can “pick” my seat. The idea is that if you’re the last person on a half-full plane, maybe there will be a free row you can claim for yourself.

First off—I’ve seen flight attendants swiftly correct people who think they can do this, I’m assuming it’s a nightmare for them. But also—if I’m flying with a carry-on and the plane is full, there’s a good chance that the overhead bins will be full too, which leaves two options: 1) Check your cabin bag, or 2) Put your cabin bag in another overhead bin, away from where you’re sitting. I hate checking my cabin bag too much for number 1, and if number 2 happens, there’s a good chance that my bag will be behind me—meaning I’ll have to wait until the plane de-boards to make my way back there. No, thank you! I’ll never be in a rush to get on the plane, but being the last one on purpose feels silly.

Freezing a waterbottle to get through security with ice, which is technically not a liquid. This is a solution without a problem, as I very rarely have found an airport where water was difficult to find. I believe that a sturdy waterbottle is necessary for travel, as it can be dehydrating to fly. But most waterbottles that I’d recommend aren’t freezer-safe; the good-quality reusable ones are insulated, so throwing them in the freezer does nothing. But let’s say that you did freeze a single-use waterbottle, chug all the water before security, and then put your block of ice in a jar through the airport scanners. Then what? You’ll have a sweaty wet bottle full of ice, and less room for water on the other side? Sounds messy and unnecessary; just bring the waterbottle empty!

Booking the aisle and window seats with my partner, then hoping there’s no one in the middle. This came to me by a couple’s account, who say that they always do this to have a free seat in the middle; if someone ends up sitting there, then they offer to switch. This feels like so much hassle and money spent to essentially hope for a best-case scenario. Why would you spend money on seats you might not get to use? Just get the seats you want and hope for the best – if there’s an opportunity for a spare seat in your row, I can’t imagine that the thing that will make or break the decision will be a couple’s ticket-buying decisions!

Would you try any of these hacks? Let me know in the comments. Happy travels!