<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Heathrow Airport</span></p><p class="caption">Heathrow Airport CIO Stuart Birrell</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>London's Heathrow Airport is one of the busiest airports in the world, and only getting busier. But it uses only two runways to handle the 1,300 flights that take off and land every day. </strong></li><li><strong>Since Heathrow can't get any bigger, it had to get smarter, which is why it's using a number of Microsoft products and cloud services to apply artificial intelligence to the problem. </strong></li><li><strong>Heathrow's chief information officer says that its AI systems are improving passenger experience, cutting down on flight delays, and generally crunching an absurd amount of data to make everything more efficient. </strong></li><li><strong>It's also using Microsoft's PowerApps platform to help employees build their own apps that draw on the airport's data to help them do their jobs better and faster - while cutting down on paperwork. </strong></li><li><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.</a></strong></li></ul><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Happy passengers, travelling with their bags, on time.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> It sounds simple, but it's harder to deliver when you're the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_busiest_airports_by_passenger_traffic">seventh-busiest airport in the world</a>, handling record numbers of flights and far more passengers than Heathrow was ever designed for. That's why Heathrow Airport turned to the cloud and AI - mainly powered by Microsoft technology.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">At Heathrow, 1,300 flights take off and land every day, on 84 airlines, going to 203 destinations in 84 countries. That's 80 million passengers a year, using just two runways, and a plane taking off or landing every 45 seconds. Plans for a third runway finally got government approval in 2018; even if the expansion goes smoothly it won't be in use until 2026, when it will push passenger numbers to around 130 million a year. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Even without that room to grow, the numbers of flights and passengers from Heathrow are creeping up; from 207,000 passengers a day to 220,000. 1300 flights a day almost reach the 480,000 takeoffs and landings the airport is allowed every year. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Since Heathrow can't get bigger, the airport team turned to Microsoft for help getting smarter. The airport's management boasts that by using AI tools that integrate with existing operational tools makes Heathrow the best large airport in Europe for getting flights out on time, despite being stuck between airport congestion in Europe and the fluctuations in the jet stream. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Heathrow Airport</span></p><p class="caption">Heathrow is one of the world's busiest airports.</p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hundreds of different data sources feed into a model of everything that affects the airport: real-time data of flight movements, passenger transfers, security and immigration queues, boarding card scans, baggage handling, car parks, world events and even currency rates with weather predictions.  It uses SQL Azure database storage, Azure Stream Analytics - a real-time event processing service that can detect anomalies, predict trends and trigger workflows -Azure Data Lake Analytics to handle analytics queries, and the Power BI business intelligence service for dashboards that tell everyone working at the airport what's going to happen long before planes land.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> "The scale of complexity we work at and the fact we're capacity constrained is actually really exciting because it forces us to be a bit creative," Heathrow CIO Stuart Birrell told Business Insider. "We have to look at how we operate to squeeze efficiency and effectiveness and make sure passengers get a great experience. There's a huge amount of disruption across the global aviation network and we're at the heart of that."</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are plenty of companies out there betting big on AI, which is expected to change just about every industry, everywhere: Amazon Web Services, the leading player in the cloud computing space, has made significant investment in that area, too. Birrell says that the airport did its research before settling on Microsoft, but that its existing relationship with the tech titan certainly played a role.</span></p><p style="font-weight: 400;">"The airport has been a Microsoft customer for years, and decided to go with Azure and Power BI only after a thorough commercial and technical review of the market and competitor products," Birrell says. </p><h2><strong style="color: #000000;">Earlier isn't always better</strong></h2><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It's not just delays; planes landing early can be just as much of a problem. Day to day changes in the jet stream mean flights from the US can reach Heathrow half an hour late or an hour early; flight times from the far- east change too, Birrell says. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> "We could have fifteen or twenty flights arriving 45 minutes early," says Birrell; each one of those disrupts another two or three other flights. When long haul flights arrive early, short haul flights from Europe and elsewhere in the UK lose their landing slots and have to be delayed. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As well as space on the runway, flights need a gate to land at, an airbridge to get people off the plane, and airport staff to deal with them. Twenty early flights mean 6,000 people arriving 45 minutes before immigration, customs, baggage handlers and the staff in the coffee shop are ready for them. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"The planes need handling too; they need engineering, they need fuel, they need cleaning and food restocking. It's a very complex world," Birrell explains.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/detail?id=tag%3Areuters.com%2C2014%3Anewsml_TB3EA3R1CFHDQ%3A992676805">REUTERS/Robert Galbraith</a></span></p><p class="caption">Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Heathrow's AI models aren't just predicting when planes will land; it covers everything from when passengers will get to the airport and go through security to what happens behind the scenes, and even after their flight has left.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Birrell says that the system takes a lot of things into account:</span></p><p style="padding-left: 40px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> "We have simple things like passenger food carts on flights by airline. We have the scheduling and what's likely to happen with air traffic control. We work on weather patterns; we know what the jet stream is going to do 12 to 24 hours ahead of time. Our operations center actively monitors social media for incidents, we monitor roads and railways systems around the south of England, we monitor what's going on across Europe. In the last 48 hours we stopped flying over Pakistan; that impacts flight schedules across the middle east. We feed all that in with the rostering and resource planning constraints we have. It's building into a very sophisticated model but we're trying to break it down into something manageable and understandable."</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The predictions made by the model go to 20,000 staff across 400 different companies at the airport who need operational and scheduling data, Birrell says. Knowing how many people will be coming through immigration and when means the UK Border Force can staff enough desks. It predicts when aircraft will need re-fuelling or towing away from the gate - and it does it far enough in advance to staff to have a plan rather than just reacting to what's already happened.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"If a plane is going to be arriving late in two hours' time, if we know about it happening several hours in advance, if it's not a surprise, we can make it a much smoother experience. We can get buses out to certain aircraft to expedite transfers or rebook people automatically onto other flights," Birrell says. </span></p><h2><strong>Predictions, not paper</strong></h2><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Departing flights aren't all the same either. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"If a flight is leaving at 1 p.m., not all passengers are going to get to the airport two hours early; some will get there three hours early, some will only get there half an hour before and some will be coming from other flights. People behave differently depending on what destination they're flying to." </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The different patterns of passengers getting to the airport can cause queues for check-in and security; predicting passenger flow helps staff in the airport stores and departure lounges too. "We have 4,000 security officers and we need to plan the roster to have the right number of security lanes open to avoid queues."</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Jack Taylor/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Heathrow sits outside of London.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Planning security shifts used to be done using spreadsheets; now the same team is using Azure Machine Learning  - a managed cloud service that combines popular data science tools with automated systems that suggest the best machine learning algorithm to use - to predict how many passengers will be coming through the security line at every terminal in 15-minute intervals. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Managers see the forecast in Power BI dashboards so they can plan where to put staff in real time, rather than sticking to a fixed schedule, meaning that passengers are less likely to get stuck in a long security queue than they were two years ago. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Security is the biggest stress point for passengers; if we can provide a great service then they're less stressed as they come through the airport," Birrell says. </span></p><h2><strong>Coding without coding</strong></h2><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Working a security lane shift can be stressful too, and it usually involves a lot of paperwork: everything from shift schedules to reports to assisting travellers. Samit Saini spent 13 years working security at Heathrow; looking at X-ray machines and asking passengers if they had any liquids in their bags. He was frustrated by how inefficient it was to pull out the tattered sheet of paper with translations of standard phrases into different languages every time a passenger didn't understand him.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So he taught himself to use <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-powerapps-simplifies-business-app-development-2015-11">PowerApps</a>, Microsoft's 'low code' service for making your own smartphone apps without needing to be a developer, and made an app for that. Now his job is making apps using the giant data model of the airport; one app he's about to deploy will get rid of 30,000 pieces of paperwork security officers and managers have had to fill out every year, by moving to electronic signatures and auditing. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Birrell is as excited about that as the security staff.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> "If we can create an environment where security officers have all the data and they're not worried about paperwork because it's all happening in the background, they can provide a much better experience for the passenger so the passenger is less stressed and everyone is a winner," Birrell says. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Other areas of airport operations will also go paperless, leaving staff to concentrate on doing their job rather than filling out a form that says they did it. The amount of airport data in the Microsoft Azure cloud that can be used for analytics and predictions is about to triple, and teams or individual employees can use it make their own Power BI dashboards and PowerApps when they need them. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It's like the next generation of Microsoft Office, Birrell enthuses.</span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Heathrow Airport</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> "If you understand Excel, you can use these tools and get really exciting output and results. You don't have to ask IT to run a report for you or do a piece of analysis for you; you can do it yourself," he says. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Having an AI model that tells you what's going to happen can beat congestion and get flights out on time by turning planes around quickly - but only if the information gets to the right people around the airport. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Everything about your trip through the airport gets better because airport staff know what's going to happen and they're prepared for it. That keeps Heathrow consistently in the top ten airports for passenger satisfaction worldwide, and why that score keeps going up even though it's operating at capacity, Birrell says.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And when the third runway does arrive, the team at Heathrow plans to use what they've learned from the Azure AI model about how passengers move around the airport and through security to design new flows around the airport, without the disruption expansion usually brings. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p><p class="tagline">Get the latest Microsoft stock price<a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stock/MSFT-Quote"> here.</a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/game-of-thrones-arya-kills-night-king-battle-of-winterfell-season-8-episode-3-2019-5">16 clues that foreshadowed Arya's big moment at the battle of Winterfell in 'Game of Thrones'</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

The chief information officer of London's Heathrow Airport explains how it's using Microsoft-powered artificial intelligence to make sure flights take off on time - and passengers stay happy

<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="image-container float_right click-to-enlarge" style="width:400px"><div class="image"><a title_source="National Guard" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/515b4d80ecad04816a000011-960/army-soldiers-veterans-formation.jpg"><span class="click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a></div><p class="source"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/thenationalguard/5161482855/sizes/o/in/photostream/">National Guard</a></p></div>The Marine Corps recruiter never told me the biggest battle would be waged right here at home.</span></p>
<p>Whether it be to secure a disability pension for ills caused from <keyword id="6359526" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Military">military</keyword> service, or to cash in education benefits to go college, dealing with the Department of <keyword id="202626" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Veterans-Affairs">Veterans Affairs</keyword> is painful.</p>
<p>I am certainly not alone. There are <a href="http://cironline.org/blog/post/newly-released-data-reveal-extent-veterans-backlog-4324">more than 900,000 veterans</a> waiting in the V.A. backlog — a mostly paper-based system riddled with technology issues, long waits, and layers of bureaucracy. Since 2005, the case load has continued to worsen.</p>
<p>It's so bad that the wait time for claims at some offices has skyrocketed <strong>well over 600 days</strong>, <a href="http://cironline.org/reports/map-where-veterans-backlog-worst-3792">according to the Center for Investigative Reporting.</a></p>
<p>And while the U.S. military was able to adapt to changes on the battlefield (like the adoption of <a href="http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm3-24fd.pdf">counterinsurgency doctrine</a> in 2006), the V.A. has not.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">"This country is capable of drafting you, </span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">putting you in boot camp, teaching you to kill someone, </span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">and then <strong>putting you in a war zone within six months</strong>," writes Jim Strickland on the masthead of his <a href="http://www.vawatchdog.org/">VA Watchdog website</a>. "</span><em style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">So, why can't they process a claim that fast?"</em></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"><span>It's a pointed criticism of an agency that so far <span>has</span> failed to upgrade all of their systems to electronic, and is increasingly forced to </span><a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/04/veterans-affairs-backlog-files-were-stacked-so-high-they-posed-a-safety-risk-to-va-staff-1.html">file away claims for years</a> at a time <span>while </span><span>sustained war produces more and more.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">"It's sort of the old 'turn a P-51 into an F-18 while in flight' comparison," Brandon Friedman, former communications director for V.A., <a href="https://twitter.com/PaulSzoldra/status/313347784801669120">recently told me over Twitter</a>. "While VA is converting, the Department is still processing nearly 100,000 claims a month right now."</span></p>
<p>And Craig Newmark, founder of Craiglist and advisor to a <a href="http://craigconnects.org/military-families-and-veterans">number of veterans groups</a>, puts <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-newmark/veterans-disability-claim_b_2992824.html?utm_hp_ref=politics">it this way:</a></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span>The VA disability claims process has been like a car with the "check engine light" on for a decade or longer. Wasn't much of a problem until maybe around 2005, when the car filled up, and more people needed that ride. Vets needed a much bigger car back then, but that costs money, and <strong>no one in Washington stood up for that.</strong></span></p>
<p>But more importantly than pointing out the problem, Newmark offers solutions. In a piece <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-newmark/veterans-disability-claim_b_2992824.html?utm_hp_ref=politics">published Tuesday in The Huffington Post</a>, he offers technology recommendations, cross-talk between federal agencies (Ironically, the V.A. and the Military health system <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jon-stewart-obama-va-backlog-republicans-daily-show-march-27-2013-3">don't transfer records</a> very well), and changing the culture inside the organization.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-newmark/veterans-disability-claim_b_2992824.html?utm_hp_ref=politics">Newmark writes:</a></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span>Turns out that VA has 56 regional offices, each running the old paper-based system, that's like 56 cars that are breaking down, some badly. The challenge is to replace each old car with new ones, while gracefully transferring riders to the new cars. In practice, that means getting a lot of paper scanned into the new systems, a lot of work. Key to that is getting everyone on board.</span></p>
<p>Whether that happens is anyone's guess, but they appear to be trying. <a href="http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=2418">In a press release</a> on their official website, the VA says they have implemented a paperless system in 18 offices (as of Dec. 2012) with full deployment to the rest by the end of 2013.</p>
<p>That move goes along with VA Secretary Eric Shinseki's promise to end the backlog by 2015, although his pledge follows a <a href="http://www.stripes.com/blogs/the-ruptured-duck/the-ruptured-duck-1.160117/a-backlog-of-promises-on-va-claims-backlog-1.213593">'backlog of promises'</a> as Leo Shane points out at Stars and Stripes.</p>
<p>"It takes too long to make a claim, and the error rate is too high. <strong>The vets don't care about the process, they care about the outcome,</strong>"<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"> Secretary Anthony Principi <span>said</span> in 2001.</span></p>
<p>Sadly, he's still right.</p>

For US Troops, The Toughest Battle Is Waiting For Them Back At Home

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Alan Mak</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Two things stand out about Alan Mak, the 31-year-old MP for Havant who was elected to Parliament in the 2015 General Election.</p><p>One is that he is a proud Yorkshireman and the other is that his childhood experiences living above and working in his parents shop have had a profound influence on his political beliefs.</p><p>Business Insider met up with Mak for a chat over tea and crumpets about his passions for education and business, and his life as a new MP.</p><p><strong>Education</strong></p><p>Mak's passion for education stems from his own experience winning an assisted place scholarship to a private school. The Assisted Place Scheme was set up by Margret Thatcher to subsidise the cost of going to private fee-paying schools for talented children from lower income families. Tony Blair believed the scheme to be elitist and scrapped it. Mak says that winning the scholarship "transformed" his life and encouraged him to become a Conservative.</p><p>"Education is my big political passion passion, I am the son of immigrant shop keepers, quite a disadvantaged background, but through the power of good state education and later through an assisted place scholarship which Margaret Thatcher introduced, I got to have a fantastic education which transformed my life."</p><p>Lots of politicians talk about having passions for things, but Mak makes taking practical to steps to pursue his passions sound like a fact of life.</p><p>"When I came to London as a new graduate, I started working really hard in the city, but I was really passionate about doing something to help people more disadvantaged than myself. I had a primary school literally five minutes walk from my house, I just knocked on the door and said can I be involved, can I be a reading partner, can I help your breakfast club. And they said yes and obviously I became a governor and stayed with them for six year and it was a great experience," he said.</p><p>Just turning up to things and asking to help seems to be a common theme with Mak.</p><p><strong>One Young World</strong></p><p>Back in 2010 he saw an advert near his work for a Summit being held by One Young World, an organisation that aims to inspire young people to create a positive change in their communities. Mak turned up to the summit, enjoyed it, became a member of the advisoree board and is now one of their ambassadors.</p><p>He says he liked One Young World because is encourages action: young people are encouraged to start a charity project, build a business or stand for election. Mak was still in his 20s when the the organisations co-founder <span>Kate Robertson took him to meetings with sponsors. "T</span>hey always wanted to have a senior person like her, but also an emerging leader like myself to really show them what one young world is about," Mak says.</p><p>His association with One Young World also gave Make some exposure in the media spotlight, something to which he is clearly not adverse. "I was in Vanity Fair, profiled in a number of other business magazines like Management Today," he told Business Insider.</p><p> <strong>Community Work</strong></p><p>The Big Society, the Conservative Government's somewhat neglected flagship policy from 2010 to empower individuals and communities to take a bigger role in society has dropped out of vogue, but Mak confesses to being a "big fan."</p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span>"I was a big fan of the big society and magic breakfast, the charity that I was proud to be a trustee of having actually won a big society award from the Prime Minister." The magic breakfast charity sets up breakfast clubs to feed hungry children without using taxpayers money. "<span>I also got to carry the Olympic torch as a result of my work," Mak adds.</span></span></span></p><p>He is evangelistic about his philosophy that people can commit to doing good in the community, no matter what their career path is, and wants a new generation of young people to follow in his footsteps.</p><p>"As a millennial I'm in a very fortunate position to be able to both combine enjoyment of professional work with also a commitment to doing good in the community. I think that they are no longer mutually exclusive."</p><p><strong>Business</strong></p><p>At the age of only 31 and with a postgraduate degree at Cambridge and six years at a top city law firm under his belt, Mak has somehow also managed to squeeze in a career as a tech entrepreneur. He started a consultancy that aimed to help small businesses raise money and was an Angel Investor in the online retail site StreetHub and electronic receipt company Paperless Receipts. Mak says his drive for business started at a young age.</p><p>"My business career starts at the age of nine or ten, helping in my parent's high street shop up in Yorkshire. My parents ran a high street shop for over twenty years. We actually lived above the shop, so we had a short commute. It meant my parents would work all the time, because their work was just downstairs. It taught me some good values about hard work, about being able to relate to all sorts of different people who came into the shop...<span>I'm one of the key cheerleaders for business, small business in particular, in Parliament" Mak says.</span></p><p> <strong>Being a new MP</strong> </p><p>To observers its clear that Mak hasn't been shy about getting stuck into life as an MP as he regualrly turns out an He is also the first ever "British Chinese" MP. Mak says that he's received nothing but support from MPs across the political spectrum who tell him his election has been positive for Parliament and the Country. "The Prime Minister mentioned me in his first speech of this parliament," Mak adds.</p><p>"I think some people will consider me that. Whilst I may not have chosen that role, it's one I've assumed and am very happy to carry it out," he says after clarifying that his constituents are his first priority.</p><p>Mak may be painting a rosy picture of his short time in Parliament, but the truth is he has been on the receiving end much harsher criticism than many of the new intake. Business Insider asked him whether he was affected by accusations made by a political blog that he fabricated quotes on his CV and overstated his business success to he constituents.</p><p>"I wasn't affected by it," he says. "I think that when someone new and different appears on the scene, then the left wing often like to think they own some of the BME votes and here was someone on the right who was confounding all their expectations. And I think that bred some resentment."</p><p>With the tea and crumpets finished, Mak needed to dash off to show a group of school children from his constituency around Parliament. "I love showing them around," he says as he leaves. "It still gives me a thrill to be here." </p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jeb-bush-green-screen-reddit-photoshop-battle-2015-10">The internet went crazy with a photo of Jeb Bush in front of a green screen</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="pnYmFkeDriHeYbRpuyMwTAmunY0f65yw" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

The first British-Chinese MP eats crumpets and tells us what it's like being a millennial

<p class="p1"><div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"></div><p class="source">Adam Ludwin</p></div>Adam Ludwin sees a lot of startups as a principal at RRE, a venture capital firm that's invested in companies like Moda Operandi, Makerbot, Braintree and Business Insider. </p>
<p class="p1">As such, he sees broad trends in entrepreneurship; he knows what every founder is working on, which spaces are the most crowded, and which types of startups investors are looking to financially back.</p>
<p class="p1">Two of the biggest trends right now are: </p>
<ul>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><strong>Social photo and video apps</strong> -- Think Viddy, SocialCam, Cinemagram and Snapchat. All emerged as Instagram was getting acquired for $1 billion and Pinterest was receiving a billion-dollar valuation.</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><strong>Reinventing the iPhone's default apps</strong> -- I<span>nstagram re-invented the Camera app and found success. Spotify is often used instead of Apple's "Music." Evernote is a good alternative to "Notes," the new Mailbox app is preferred to "Mail" and apps like Sunrise and Fantastical are better than "Calendar."</span></span></li>
</ul>
<p class="p1">Ludwin founded two companies prior to joining RRE, and now he's trying his hand at another one. He's co-founding an iPhone app with a friend from Los Angeles, Devon Gundry.</p>
<p class="p1">And guess what? </p>
<ul>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">It's a social photo app called <a href="https://bitly.com/WbwBij">Albumatic</a></span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">It's trying to smother one of Apple's default apps, "Photos."</span></li>
</ul>
<p class="p1">"I really don't want to like another photo app," I told Ludwin as I looked at the app. He laughed and said, "Neither do I."</p>
<p class="p1">But as I stalked recent photos of CrunchFund's MG Siegler on a trip to Cabo with his girlfriend, I found myself warming to <keyword id="1765878" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Albumatic">Albumatic</keyword>.</p>
<p class="p1">Albumatic is a social, beautifully-designed alternative to Apple's "Photos," an album app most people forget they have on their iPhones. <span>Ludwin calls Albumatic an "organizational layer" for photos, separating them by event, location, and featured people.</span></p>
<p class="p1">"There were seven or eight of us all taking photos of Devon's new baby," Ludwin explained Albumatic's origins. "All together we had taken 100 photos, but they were all siloed in each others' devices. There are endless places to share photos -- via text message, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter -- but there's no good, social way to bulk combine camera rolls and image galleries."</p>
<p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">When you join Albumatic, it helps you find other users on Facebook, in your contact list, or nearby via the iPhone's GPS. </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">From then on, when you and a friend are near each other, you can create and join albums together. </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">No invites codes are sent back and forth; friends see albums as you create them through push notifications, and they can either "watch" it if they aren't nearby, or they can join the album if they're witnessing the same event. Like Instagram, people can favorite or comment on photos.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><div class="image-container" style="width:590px"><div class="image"></div><p class="source">Albumatic</p></div></p>
<p class="p1"><span>Like Path and Foursquare, each user has a profile page that displays their albums, photos and activity. Here's what it looks like:</span></p>
<p class="p1"><div class="image-container" style="width:590px"><div class="image"></div><p class="source">Albumatic</p></div></p>
<p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Only your friends can watch/subscribe to your albums, so strangers won't be able to creep into them (I was only able to "watch" photos of MG's trip to Cabo because Ludwin is friends with him. I wouldn't have been able to do that on my version of the app).</span></p>
<p class="p1">Albumatic could be good if you want to witness a friend's spring break trip you can't make, or a wedding you weren't invited to. Subscribing to an album is like being there in spirit, and you can watch the event unfold in real-time without having to wait for Facebook uploads after the fact. </p>
<p class="p1">It's also good for weddings you <em>are</em> invited to, where every friend has a camera and is snapping their own shots. Instead of uploading and tagging each camera roll separately on Facebook, you can join forces and see everyone's photos at once on Albumatic.</p>
<p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Here's what the album view looks like in the app:</span></p>
<p class="p1"><div class="image-container" style="width:590px"><div class="image"></div><p class="source">Albumatic</p></div></p>
<p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">One problem with Albumatic is, if events are too big (think South by Southwest), it's possible to have too many people join a single album. If a bunch of friends of friends of friends are at a concert or event together, they could all end up joining the same album and contribute thousands of photos that the album creator never cared to see.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Ludwin calls this idea "album hijacking" and admits it could be a problem. He and Gundry have contemplated capping the number of people who can join albums. He says Siegler has already hijacked one of his from a San Francisco trip.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Here's a view of all the people that have joined or watched an album:</span></em></p>
<p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="image-container" style="width:590px"><div class="image"></div><p class="source">Albumatic</p></div><br /></span></p>
<p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Also, there's no way to remove or "untag" a photo of you once it's in Albumatic, and anyone who's subscribed to the album can see it. Ludwin says the only current solution is to ask the poster to take down the image.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Here's what the group camera roll looks like in Albumatic:</span></em></p>
<p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="image-container" style="width:590px"><div class="image"></div><p class="source">Albumatic</p></div></span></p>
<p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">For now, Ludwin will remain at RRE and involved in companies where he's on the board: HowAboutWe, Moda Operandi, Kik Interactive, Paperless Post and VYou. </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">RRE will also be investing in Albumatic, although a round of financing hasn't closed yet.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Ludwin realizes photo-sharing is a packed space, but after months of mulling it over and researching Albumatic's competitors, he's confident in his startup. </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">When asked why he picked such a crowded space he replied, </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Simple: the problem was still unsolved!"</span></p>

RRE Investor Adam Ludwin Has Decided To Start A Company, Albumatic, In The Most Crowded Space Ever

<p dir="ltr"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/etkWXamdFTU">Unsplash/Rob Bye</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Instead of insulting your intelligence with "hacks" like "pack light," or "bring an empty water bottle," we've put together a list of tips and tricks that will help even the most seasoned jetsetter avoid the inevitable hassles of frequent flying.</p><h3>1. Sign up for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry</h3><p dir="ltr">Essentially an express lane for the proactive, these programs are pre-approvals from the US Customs and Border Protection that designate you a low-risk traveler. As long as you're not a convicted criminal, you're good to go after little more than some light paperwork and a quick in-person interview.</p><p dir="ltr">Essentially, <a href="http://www.tsa.gov/tsa-precheck">TSA PreCheck</a> ($85) makes US domestic travel simpler, allowing you to keep your shoes, belts, etc. on and cut security lines, while <a href="http://www.cbp.gov/global-entry/about">Global Entry</a> ($100) makes returning from an international trip easier, eradicating paperwork and lengthy processing lines.</p><h3>2. Book two one-way flights</h3><p>Sometimes flying two different airlines and booking two one-way tickets is cheaper than booking a round-trip, plus it may get you better arrival and departure times as you mix and match flights. Some flight-booking sites, such as <a href="http://www.kayak.com">Kayak</a>, already do this for you, but you should do your homework and check the airline websites yourself for even better deals.</p><h3 dir="ltr">3. Book non-US airlines if possible</h3><p dir="ltr">Foreign carriers have better amenities than US ones, even in economy, where they often provide you with hot towels, pillows and blankets, and even - gasp - full cans of soda.</p><h3 dir="ltr">4. Understand code shares</h3><p dir="ltr">Make sure you know how flight partnerships work before booking a flight on a partner airline for miles. Some partnerships will offer the same mileage; others will give you less. Others again may calculate miles based on the amount of money you paid for the ticket, rather than the distance flown.</p><h3 dir="ltr">5. Get upgrades by booking an economy ticket with a Y or B booking code</h3><h3 dir="ltr"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattweibo/5191841451/in/photolist-9yBAiE-rEnmPo-8UMxzM-9yAGpj-5M66kq-9PTeSR-64xDv4-8Vn3a2-85rddF-9PVWxh-qPRDP9-8iuv9k-9PVWib-5YjLNB-8eWtsM-8cx3cU-6mxb5V-7agnhd-7sdPNU-6dMP2d-rxyTjW-5KDCjB-rkY3E1-8qwF5E-6YfuYu-8692SG-5XsA8s-5NzwHs-5JhPTz">Flickr/Matt Weibo</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></h3><p>Ask and thou shalt receive (when possible). <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/experienced-business-travelers-reveal-their-favorite-travel-tips-2013-10#get-upgrades-on-flights-by-booking-an-economy-ticket-with-a-y-or-b-booking-code-13">Basically just requesting an upgrade when booking should get your ticket marked with a Y or B booking code</a>, which, according to <a href="http://www.travelnerd.com/">TravelNerd.com</a>'s Amy Lee, means the flier is looking for an upgrade. In other words, should there be any open seats in the next class up from what you booked, you should get a complimentary upgrade. This works best if you're a frequent flier and loyal to the carrier you're booked on.</p><h3 dir="ltr">6. Pretend you're somewhere else when booking to score discounted fares</h3><p dir="ltr">Where a ticket is purchased, called its "point of sale," can affect its price thanks to something called "regional pricing." Basically, the price of a ticket will be lower in a country with a lower standard of living or when travel companies are trying to break into a new country, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-travel-better-2014-12">according to travel industry analyst Henry Harteveldt</a>.</p><p dir="ltr">Harteveldt says you can find different ticket prices for the same flight on <a href="http://www.expedia.com/">Expedia.com</a> and <a href="http://www.expedia.co.jp/">Expedia.co.jp</a>, the Japanese version, as well as for internal foreign flights on an international carrier's website by changing your "residence" to the airline's home country. The only thing to watch out for is that you'll be seeing prices in local currency, so make sure to do the math and convert them.</p><h3>7. Clear those cookies</h3><p dir="ltr">A little thing called "dynamic pricing" means that no, refreshing a window 147,554 times will not make a flight cheaper, but it may actually make the price go up as it changes based on demand. While most people like to get around this by using incognito windows, clearing your search history and cookies is a safer bet.</p><h3 dir="ltr">8. Know that you have a 24-hour window to get a refund</h3><p dir="ltr">Even nonrefundable flights generally have a 24-hour window during which you can cancel them without having to pay a fee. In other words, pull the trigger and book a flight, then keep tracking it for another day to see if a better rate pops up, in which case cancel and rebook. Or put your airfare on hold on carriers like <a href="http://www.aa.com/i18n/utility/hold_mktpg.jsp?anchorLocation=DirectURL&amp;title=hold">American Airlines</a>, <a href="https://www.southwest.com/assets/pdfs/corporate-commitments/customer-service-commitment.pdf">Southwest</a>, and <a href="https://www.virginamerica.com/cms/legal/guest-service-commitment">Virgin America</a>, which all have free 24-hour hold services. United has something called a <a href="http://www.united.com/CMS/en-US/products/travelproducts/Pages/FareLock.aspx">FareLock</a> starting at $6.99 that lets you wait up to a week before booking, while <a href="http://www.optionsaway.com/">Options Away</a> ($4 to $45) can hold flights for up to three weeks.</p><h3 dir="ltr">9. Fly on a Boeing 767</h3><p dir="ltr">If you're deciding between similar flights and one is on a Boeing 767, take that one, as the aircraft has fewer of the dreaded middle seats than other planes.</p><p dir="ltr">If you can't get on a Boeing 767, check out <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-the-best-seat-on-every-flight-2015-5#ixzz3caWpmgCf"></a>our <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-the-best-seat-on-every-flight-2015-5">comprehensive guide to getting the best seat on every flight</a>. Your best bet is checking <a href="http://www.seatguru.com/">seatguru.com</a>, which has up-to-date seating charts for every single flight and gives you the inside scoop on whether a row doesn't recline, whether a seat is too close to the bathroom, or whether there's any extra legroom to be had.</p><h3 dir="ltr">10. Download your airline's app</h3><p dir="ltr">Most airlines (including Delta and United) have invested some significant cash into developing apps that provide you with real-time updates on gate changes or delays, so you can hit up one of those Xpress Spas without worrying about missing vital information. Even better, the app also allows for paperless boarding at most airports.</p><h3>11. Keep a go-bag of essential items</h3><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/javajoba/4013349543">Flickr/javajoba</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Instead of wasting time squeezing your favorite shampoo into TSA-friendly 3.4-ounce bottles, or packing and unpacking the same toiletries over and over again, keep a go-bag of your favorite items at the ready. That way you don't have to think about what you may need or scramble at the last minute.</p><p>Pro tip: Try ordering samples of your favorite products online for free travel-size toiletries.</p><h3 dir="ltr">12. Keep an extra set of cables and chargers ready</h3><p dir="ltr">Forget racing around your apartment pulling cables out of outlets. Instead, keep a small, zippered, and water-resistant bag of electronics, batteries, and chargers packed, and never think about them again.</p><h3 dir="ltr">13. Pack a squishy carry-on</h3><p dir="ltr">Checking a bag is amateur hour, but taking this trick to the next level is using a duffel or some sort of squishy bag as your carry-on. Having a malleable bag that can be smushed into the overhead bin means it is less likely to be taken from you at the gate.</p><p dir="ltr">Or, even better, outfit yourself with the right gear, such as <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-airline-industry-proposes-perfect-size-carry-on-bag-2015-6">this "perfect"-size carry-on,</a> which will fit <em>every airline's</em> size requirements.</p><h3>14. Roll clothing up, then use air-compression plastic bags to squeeze air out of them</h3><p dir="ltr"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Shutterstock</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>We have <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/packing-tips-2014-5">tons of packing tips</a>, but one of the best is to roll rather than fold clothes to maximize space and minimize wrinkling, then use space-compressible plastic bags to push excess air out of the clothes for even more space. If you're not into the idea of rolling your clothes, packing them in tissue paper or dry-cleaner plastic should also reduce wrinkles.</p><h3 dir="ltr">15. Pack one color scheme, and make sure it's a dark one</h3><p dir="ltr">Try to pack clothes that are all in the same color family, preferably dark. This means all of your clothes will match and you don't need to waste time worrying about putting together outfits. Also, dark colors hide stains.</p><h3 dir="ltr">16. Use shoes for more space</h3><p dir="ltr">Use your rolled-up socks as shoe trees, preserving your shoe's shape inside the suitcase while maximizing space by using that inside of your shoes.</p><h3 dir="ltr">17. Pack shoes foot-to-toe at the bottom of your bag</h3><p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/packing-tips-2014-5">Putting the heaviest items at the bottom, </a>near the wheels of a suitcase, ensures that your bag is balanced. There's nothing worse than a bag that keeps tipping over as you're rushing to the gate.</p><h3 dir="ltr">18. See extra cities free</h3><h3><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jfgornet/13283313123/in/photolist-meNsd4-qK2cxh-rPzCqZ-f9PtPC-4Cgdqu-gWRoT9-eMZc6J-iUiY32-95WN85-4fTfu1-pyYjBS-5dC5HA-sbAJyx-qwftZy-nUa1PD-gbKkJ8-6ztt7c-rYfoR-2j7iS-9bQnRV-a1oWAi-7wfrB6-67sJEX-AJf9t-71cbBm-ehtt9m-652E8h-8C48ss-4Cc1yv-3PdSP3-a3moBM-6pSZfS-Nr741-nbQRWY-4NiyqD-r8pWTL-eUGpKe-bgARqT-6rRXsg-6vNE1R-5WQYxp-8SSNoT-okvuJ4-fgUwxT-88NpAp-6qwe5w-nmGZhU-fuYNsr-4wRFtv-6C4WZW">Flickr/Jean-François Gornet</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></h3><p dir="ltr">Why not add a free stopover (any connection that's more than four hours domestically and 24 hours internationally) to a flight you've already paid for? Some airlines - and you'll have to <a href="http://www.hopper.com/articles/1048/get-free-international-stopovers-on-these-airlines">check first </a>- offer free stopovers, generally in their hub city, meaning you can visit an extra destination or two without purchasing any extra tickets. This is especially great if you do it on a business trip while using a company-paid flight.</p><h3 dir="ltr">19. Volunteer to get bumped off a flight</h3><p dir="ltr">If your flight is overbooked and you have no pressing plans, volunteer your seat to make some extra money. That said, be smart and negotiate your compensation - <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-youre-entitled-to-if-you-get-bumped-off-a-flight-2015-6">it helps to know what you're entitled to</a>. Ask for cash, or make sure flight vouchers don't have tons of stipulations and blackout dates that would make them impossible to redeem. Also, make sure that even if you're the first to volunteer, you'll get the same amount of money as the last one to, as compensation often increases as the airline gets more desperate for people to give up seats. That said, double-check that you will not be on standby on your next flight or in any position to get stranded where you are (for example, if you're giving up a seat on the last flight out for the day).</p><h3>20. Check your credit cards for perks</h3><p dir="ltr">You might already be entitled to perks without knowing it. From covering your insurance when renting a car to hotel-room upgrades and access to airline lounges, many credit cards you may already have come with special advantages and freebies.</p><h3 dir="ltr">21. Choose the best credit card for travel</h3><p dir="ltr">Travel perks differ, so you need to figure out what your priorities are, like whether you want to earn more miles or get foreign transaction fees waived. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sc/best-travel-credit-cards-2015-3">One of the best travel credit cards</a> is the <a href="https://creditcards.chase.com/credit-cards/sapphire-preferred-card.aspx">Chase Sapphire Preferred Card</a>, which gives you 2 Ultimate Rewards Points per $1 spent on travel and restaurants, as well as 1 point per $1 spent elsewhere. It also waives those pesky foreign transaction fees, offers a signup bonus of 40,000 points when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months of opening an account, and boasts 20% off travel when you redeem points for airfare, hotels, car rentals, and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards. That said, it charges an annual fee of $95.</p><h3>22. Get into the airport lounge, even if your ticket says economy</h3><h3 dir="ltr"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/winnie_quan/2120092585/in/photolist-4em2Er-7djgcK-eRiYhT-boqLC7-7do7HN-7do7Aq-7bcAh3-6cAWoM-6YTSQs-b7fWzc-b7fWrX-b7fWNM-b7fVpe-b7fWFZ-b7fWVK-b7fW2D-r2vG7N-qn5f4u-r2vKkG-rj48Gz-rgL669-riXic4-6XGQhh-p9MKFz-6jhR9N-dbdGGh-8jLEzQ-eRcY9v-tmzw9-dPVpsm-4yugjr-7aCX8b-6egahL-6tX3RU-7dQXY8-8SQp3q-dPPNsx-7dUTqj-mTLkp2-mTLs6Z-mTNgV3-mTLkqK-mTLpxF-6Dhfow-5Y5tTP-7doTys-6pWJJn-7azaSF-3Si2rB-6egajq">Flickr/Quan Shen</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></h3><p>Most people don't know that airport lounges often sell day passes, allowing you to pay to access them. While they are pricey, purchasing them in advance online often gets you steep discounts.</p><p>You can also get a <a href="http://www.prioritypass.com">Priority Pass</a> ($99 to $399 a year), which gives you access to 700 airport lounges around the world.</p><p>Finally, there are lounges that aren't affiliated with any airlines, and thus also allow you to pay for access.</p><p dir="ltr">If you don't want to pay, however, check your credit card to see whether it gives you lounge access (such as the <a href="https://www.americanexpress.com/us/credit-cards/platinum/28000?extlink=ps-us-ccsg-google_CH_Platinum_Exact">American Express Platinum</a>, which gets you into Delta and Centurion lounges), or play the long game by being loyal to a specific airline and attaining elite status.</p><h3 dir="ltr">23. Get elite status faster</h3><p dir="ltr">As a frequent traveler, getting in on a loyalty program is imperative. <a href="http://www.airfarewatchdog.com/blog/7651336/insider-tip-to-fast-gold-status-in-the-star-alliance/">A trick</a> allowing you to fast-track the process, however, is collecting miles on lesser-known partner airlines that may give you the same elite status for fewer miles flown, such as Aegean Airlines, a Star Alliance Member.</p><h3 dir="ltr">24. Save money staying connected</h3><p dir="ltr">Both in-flight internet fees and roaming charges are exorbitant. Bypass them by getting a subscription to <a href="http://www.boingo.com/retail/">Boingo</a>, a Wi-Fi hotspot provider that ranges in cost between $4.98 a month for access in the Americas to $59 a month for worldwide coverage.</p><p dir="ltr">In line with checking your credit cards for perks, know that if you have an <a href="http://amex.boingo.com.">American Express Platinum Card</a> you can get a free Boingo subscription.</p><h3 dir="ltr">25. Minimize jet lag by sleeping right</h3><h3 dir="ltr"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bvstarr/7109267121">Flickr/BVStarr</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></h3><p dir="ltr">Jet lag - aka when you cross time zones faster than your body can adjust, thereby mucking up your circadian rhythm - usually takes one day to adapt to per time zone crossed when traveling west and about a day and a half when going east. But you can cut down on this recovery time by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-beat-jet-lag-2015-4">loading up on sleep before your trip </a>(the more rested you are the less a lack of sleep will affect you), as well as starting to shift your meals and bedtime closer to those at your destination. This takes some forward planning and resoluteness, but if you can, start going to bed an hour earlier each night and getting up an hour earlier each morning a few days before heading east, and an hour later each night/morning for a few days before heading west.</p><h3>26. Minimize jet lag by eating right</h3><p dir="ltr">Yes, experts recommend <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-beat-jet-lag-2015-4">laying off booze and caffeine</a>, as they dehydrate you and make jet lag worse. In terms of food, eating meals when they would be served at your destination helps adjust your circadian rhythm. What you eat matters too - heavily processed food like that served on planes dehydrates you, so the best thing to do is either skip a meal or two or eat healthy snacks or foods that are high in protein.</p><h3 dir="ltr">27. Get food faster by ordering a special meal</h3><p dir="ltr">This involves some advanced planning and probably not-so-regrettably forgoing the meal everyone else is getting, but by requesting a special meal (kosher or vegetarian, for example) you will usually get served before everyone else, and can go to sleep sooner, without waiting for the full dinner service. Plus, rumor has it that those special meals are better anyway.</p><h3 dir="ltr">28. Head to the departure zone for a cab sans line</h3><p dir="ltr">If you see a massive line snaking around arrivals, do a quick 180 and head to the departure zone. People will be getting dropped off by cabs, which you can simply snag without any competition. Of course this depends on how an airport is set up - it might cost more time than you're saving to take a train to another terminal - but hey, you win some, you lose some.</p><h3 dir="ltr">29. Make free(ish) calls abroad</h3><p dir="ltr">You can make free calls with Skype or Google Voice using its app or the Hangout app. All you need is some Wi-Fi, so buy a local SIM, or get <a href="http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/international.html#fbid=HY5BIu_Mjtd">120MB for only $30 on ATT</a>, for example.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/frequent-flyer-travel-hacks-2015-7">8 travel hacks even frequent fliers don't know</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="ZzMTM4djoMoeLreZT0851l11TuCSOysu" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

29 travel hacks that even frequent fliers don't know

<p dir="ltr"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Instead of insulting your intelligence with "hacks" like "pack light," or "bring an empty water bottle," we've put together a list of tips and tricks that will help even the most seasoned jetsetter avoid the inevitable hassles of frequent flying.</p><h3>1. Sign up for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry</h3><p dir="ltr">Essentially an express lane for the proactive, these programs are pre-approvals from the US Customs and Border Protection that designate you a low risk traveler. As long as you're not a convicted criminal, you're good to go after little more than some light paperwork and a quick in-person interview.</p><p dir="ltr">Essentially, <a href="http://www.tsa.gov/tsa-precheck">TSA PreCheck</a> ($85) makes US domestic <keyword id="6354692" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Travel">travel</keyword> simpler, allowing you to keep your shoes, belts, etc. on and cut security lines, while <a href="http://www.cbp.gov/global-entry/about">Global Entry</a> ($100) makes returning from an international trip easier, eradicating paperwork and lengthy processing lines.</p><h3><span id="docs-internal-guid-4028c674-d9d7-0adb-b7ba-e7a11fbfb981">2. Book two one-way flights </span></h3><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-4028c674-d9d7-0adb-b7ba-e7a11fbfb981">Sometimes flying two different airlines and booking two one-way tickets is more cost-effective than booking a roundtrip, plus it might get you better arrival and departure times as you mix and match flights. Some flight booking sites, like <a href="http://www.kayak.com">Kayak</a>, already do this for you, but you should do your homework and check the airline websites yourself for even better deals.</span></p><h3 dir="ltr">3. Book non-US airlines if possible</h3><p dir="ltr">Foreign carriers have better amenities than US ones, even in economy, where they often provide you with hot towels, pillows, and blankets, and even - gasp - full cans of soda.</p><h3 dir="ltr">4. Understand Code Shares</h3><p dir="ltr">Make sure you know how flight partnerships work before booking a flight on a partner airline for miles. Some partnerships will offer the same mileage, others will give you less. Others again might calculate miles based on the amount of money you paid for the ticket, rather than the distance flown.</p><h3 dir="ltr">5. Get upgrades by booking an economy ticket with a Y or B booking code</h3><h3 dir="ltr"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></h3><p>Ask and thou shalt receive (when possible). <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/experienced-business-travelers-reveal-their-favorite-travel-tips-2013-10#get-upgrades-on-flights-by-booking-an-economy-ticket-with-a-y-or-b-booking-code-13">Basically just requesting an upgrade when booking should get your ticket marked with a Y or B booking code</a>, which, according to <a href="http://www.travelnerd.com/">TravelNerd.com</a>'s Amy Lee, means that the flier is looking for an upgrade. In other words, should there be <span>any open seats in the next class up from what you booked, you should</span> get a complimentary upgrade. T<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">his works best if you're a frequent flyer, and loyal to the carrier you're booked on.</span></p><h3 dir="ltr">6. Pretend you're somewhere else when booking to score discounted fares</h3><p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-7ecc9e3a-fcf6-7900-8a8f-bdccdf7bc67b">A ticket's "point of sale," in other words where it is purchased, can affect its price thanks to something called "regional pricing." Basically, the price of a ticket will be lower in a country with a lower standard of living, or when travel companies are trying to break into a new country <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-travel-better-2014-12.">according to travel industry analyst Henry Harteveldt</a>. </span></p><p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-7ecc9e3a-fcf6-7900-8a8f-bdccdf7bc67b">Harteveldt says you could find different ticket prices for the same flight on <a href="http://www.expedia.com/">Expedia.com</a> and <a href="http://www.expedia.co.jp/">Expedia.co.jp</a>, the Japanese version, as well as for internal foreign flights on an international carrier's website by changing your "residence" to the airline's home country. The only thing to watch out for is that you'll be seeing prices in local currency, so make sure to do the math and convert them.</span></p><h3>7. Clear those cookies</h3><p dir="ltr">A little thing called "dynamic pricing" means that no, refreshing a window 147,554 times will not make a flight cheaper, but, in fact, may make the price go up as it changes based on demand. While most people like to get around this by using incognito windows, clearing your search history and cookies is a safer bet. </p><h3 dir="ltr">8. Know that you have a 24-hour window to get a refund</h3><p dir="ltr">Even non-refundable flights generally have a 24-hour window during which you can cancel them without having to pay a fee. In other words, pull the trigger and book a flight, then keep tracking it for another day to see if a better rate pops up, in which case cancel and rebook. <span id="docs-internal-guid-7ecc9e3a-fd08-23ae-aaa4-087557cf38d9"><span>Or, put your airfare on hold on carriers like </span><a href="http://www.aa.com/i18n/utility/hold_mktpg.jsp?anchorLocation=DirectURL&amp;title=hold"><span>American Airlines</span></a><span>, </span><a href="https://www.southwest.com/assets/pdfs/corporate-commitments/customer-service-commitment.pdf"><span>Southwest</span></a><span>, and </span><a href="https://www.virginamerica.com/cms/legal/guest-service-commitment"><span>Virgin America</span></a><span>, which all have free 24-hour hold services. United has something called a </span><a href="http://www.united.com/CMS/en-US/products/travelproducts/Pages/FareLock.aspx"><span>FareLock</span></a><span> starting at</span><span> $6.99</span><span> that lets you wait up to a week before booking, while </span><a href="http://www.optionsaway.com/"><span>Options Away</span></a><span> ($4-$45) can hold flights for up to three weeks.</span></span></p><h3 dir="ltr">9. Fly on a Boeing 767</h3><p dir="ltr">If you're deciding between similar flights and one's on a Boeing 767, take that one, as the aircraft has fewer of the dreaded middle seats than other planes.</p><p dir="ltr">If you can't get on a Boeing 767, check out <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-the-best-seat-on-every-flight-2015-5#ixzz3caWpmgCf"></a>our <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-the-best-seat-on-every-flight-2015-5">comprehensive guide to getting the best seat on every flight</a>. Your best bet is checking <a href="http://www.seatguru.com/">seatguru.com</a>, which has up-to-date seating charts for every single flight, and gives you the inside scoop on whether a row doesn't recline, whether a seat is too close to the bathroom, or whether there's any extra legroom to be had.</p><h3 dir="ltr">10. Download your airline's app</h3><p dir="ltr">Most airlines (like Delta and United) have invested some significant cash into developing apps that provide you with real-time updates on gate changes or delays, so that you can hit up one of those Xpress Spas without worrying about missing vital information. Even better, the app also allows for paperless boarding at most airports. </p><h3>11. Keep a go-bag of essential items</h3><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Instead of wasting time squeezing your favorite shampoo into TSA-friendly 3.4 ounce bottles, or packing and unpacking the same toiletries over and over again, keep a go-bag of your favorite items at the ready. That way you don't have to think about what you may need or scramble at the last minute.</p><p>Pro tip: try ordering samples of your favorite products online for free travel sized toiletries.</p><h3 dir="ltr">12. Keep an extra set of cables and chargers ready</h3><p dir="ltr">Forget racing around your apartment pulling cables out of outlets. Instead, keep a small, zippered and water resistant bag of electronics, batteries, and chargers packed, and never think about them again.</p><h3 dir="ltr">13. Pack a squishy carry-on</h3><p dir="ltr">Checking a bag is amateur hour, but taking this trick to the next level is using a duffel or some sort of squishy bag as your carry-on. Having a malleable bag that can be smushed into the overhead bin means that it is less likely to be taken from you at the gate.</p><p dir="ltr">Or, even better, outfit yourself with the right gear, like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-airline-industry-proposes-perfect-size-carry-on-bag-2015-6">this "perfect" size carry on,</a> which will fit <em>every airline's</em> size requirements.</p><h3>14. Roll clothing up, then use air-compression plastic bags to squeeze air out of them</h3><p dir="ltr">We have <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/packing-tips-2014-5">tons of packing tips</a>, but one of the best is to roll, rather than fold clothes to maximize space and minimize wrinkling, then use space compressible plastic bags to push excess air out of the clothes for even more space. If you're not into the idea of rolling your clothes, packing them in tissue paper or dry cleaner plastic should also reduce wrinkles.</p><h3 dir="ltr">15. Pack one color scheme, and make sure it's a dark one</h3><p dir="ltr">Try and pack clothes that are all in the same color family, and preferably dark. This means all of your clothes will match and you don't need to waste time worrying about putting together outfits, and dark colors hide stains.</p><h3 dir="ltr">16. Use shoes for more space</h3><p dir="ltr">Use your rolled up socks as shoe trees, preserving your shoe's shape inside the suitcase, but thereby also maximizing space by using that inside of your shoes.</p><h3 dir="ltr">17. Pack shoes foot-to-toe at the bottom of your bag</h3><p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/packing-tips-2014-5">Putting the heaviest items at the bottom, </a>near the wheels of a suitcase, ensures that your bag is balanced. Nothing worse than a bag that keeps tipping over as you're rushing to the gate.</p><h3 dir="ltr">18. See extra cities for free</h3><h3><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></h3><p dir="ltr">Why not add a free stopover (any connection that's more than four hours domestically, and 24 hours internationally) to a flight you've already paid for? Some airlines - and you'll have to <a href="http://www.hopper.com/articles/1048/get-free-international-stopovers-on-these-airlines">check first </a>- offer free stopovers, generally in their hub city, meaning that you can visit an extra destination or two without purchasing any extra tickets. This is especially great if you do it on a business trip and using a company-paid flight.</p><h3 dir="ltr">19. Volunteer to get bumped off a flight</h3><p dir="ltr">If your flight is overbooked and you have no pressing plans, volunteer your seat to make some extra money. That said, be smart and negotiate your compensation - <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-youre-entitled-to-if-you-get-bumped-off-a-flight-2015-6">it helps to know what you're entitled to</a>. Ask for cash, or make sure that flight vouchers don't have tons of stipulations and blackout dates making them impossible to redeem. Also, make sure that even if you're the first to volunteer you'll get the same amount of money as the last one to, as compensation often increases as the airline gets more desperate for people to give up seats. That said, double-check that you won't be on standby on your next flight, or in any position to get stranded where you are (for example, if you're giving up a seat on the last flight out for the day).</p><h3>20. Check your credit cards for perks</h3><p dir="ltr">You might already be entitled to perks without knowing it. From covering your insurance when renting a car to hotel room upgrades and access to airline lounges, many credit cards you may already have come with special advantages and freebies. </p><h3 dir="ltr">21. Choose the best credit card for travel</h3><p dir="ltr">Travel perks differ, so you need to figure out what your priorities are, like whether you want to earn more miles or get foreign transaction fees waived. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sc/best-travel-credit-cards-2015-3">One of the best travel credit cards</a> is  the <a href="https://creditcards.chase.com/credit-cards/sapphire-preferred-card.aspx">Chase Sapphire Preferred Card</a>, which gives you 2 Ultimate Rewards Points per $1 spent on travel and restaurants, as well as 1 point per $1 spent elsewhere. It also waives those pesky foreign transaction fees, offers a signup bonus  of 40,000 points when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of opening an account, and boasts <span style="color: #000000;">20%</span><span style="font-size: 1em; color: #000000;"> off travel when you redeem points for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards</span><span style="font-size: 1em; color: #000000;">.</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> That said, it charges an annual fee of $95.</span></p><h3>22. Get into the airport lounge, even if your ticket says economy</h3><h3 dir="ltr"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></h3><p>Most people don't know that airport lounges often sell day-passes allowing you to pay to access them. While pricey, purchasing them in advance online often gets you steep discounts.</p><p>You can also get a <a href="http://www.prioritypass.com">Priority Pass</a> ($99-$399 a year), which gives you access to 700 airport lounges around the world.</p><p>Finally, there are lounges that aren't affiliated with any airlines, and thus also allow you to pay for access.</p><p dir="ltr">However, if you don't want to pay, check your credit card to see whether it gives you lounge access (like the <a href="https://www.americanexpress.com/us/credit-cards/platinum/28000?extlink=ps-us-ccsg-google_CH_Platinum_Exact">American Express Platinum</a> which gets you into Delta and Centurion lounges), or play the long game by being loyal to a specific airline and attaining elite status.</p><h3 dir="ltr">23. Get elite status faster</h3><p dir="ltr">As a frequent traveler, getting in on a loyalty program is imperative. However, <a href="http://www.airfarewatchdog.com/blog/7651336/insider-tip-to-fast-gold-status-in-the-star-alliance/">a trick</a> allowing you to fast track the process is collecting miles on lesser-known partner airlines that might give you the same elite status for fewer miles flown, like Aegean Airlines, a Star Alliance Member. </p><h3 dir="ltr">24. Save money staying connected</h3><p dir="ltr"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Both in-flight internet fees and roaming charges are exorbitant. Bypass them by getting a subscription to <a href="http://www.boingo.com/retail/">Boingo</a>, a Wi-Fi hotspot provider that ranges in cost between $4.98 a month for access in the Americas to $59 a month for worldwide coverage.</span></p><p dir="ltr">In line with checking your credit cards for perks, know that if you have an <a href="http://amex.boingo.com.">American Express Platinum Card</a> you can get a free Boingo subscription.</p><h3 dir="ltr">25. Minimize jet lag by sleeping right</h3><h3 dir="ltr"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></h3><p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-7ecc9e3a-fcf7-e2f9-8f1b-dc2b8383d88a">Jet lag - aka when you cross time zones faster than your body can adjust, thereby mucking up your circadian rhythm - usually takes one day to adapt to per time zone crossed when traveling west, and about a day and a half when going east. However, you can cut down on this recovery time by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-beat-jet-lag-2015-4">loading up on sleep before your trip </a>(the more rested you are the less a lack of sleep will affect you), as well as starting to shift your meals and bedtime closer to those at your destination. This takes some forward planning and resoluteness, but if you can, start going to bed an hour earlier each night and getting up an hour earlier each morning a few days before heading east, and an hour later each night/morning for a few days before heading west.</span></p><h3>26. Minimize jet lag by eating right</h3><p dir="ltr">Unfortunately, experts recommend <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-beat-jet-lag-2015-4">laying off booze and caffeine</a> as they dehydrate you and make jet lag worse. In terms of food, eating meals when they'd be served at your destination helps adjust your circadian rhythm. What you eat matters too - heavily processed food like that served on planes dehydrates you, so the best thing to do is either skip a meal or two, or eat healthy snacks or foods that are high in protein. </p><h3 dir="ltr">27. Get food faster by ordering a special meal</h3><p dir="ltr">This involves some advanced planning, and probably not-so-regrettably forgoing the meal everyone else is getting, but by requesting a special meal (kosher or vegetarian, for example) you will usually get served before everyone else, and can go to sleep sooner, without waiting for the full dinner service. Plus, rumor has it that those special meals are better anyway.</p><h3 dir="ltr">28. Head to the departure zone for a cab sans line</h3><p dir="ltr"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">If you see a massive line snaking around arrivals, do a quick 180 and head to the departure zone. People will be getting dropped off by cabs, which you can simply snag without any competition. Of course this depends on how an airport is set up - it might cost more time than you're saving to take a train to another terminal - but hey, you win some, you lose some.</span></p><h3 dir="ltr">29. Make free(ish) calls abroad<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"> </span></h3><p dir="ltr">You can make free calls with Skype or Google Voice using its app or the Hangout app. All you need is some Wi-Fi, so buy a local SIM, or get <a href="http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/international.html#fbid=HY5BIu_Mjtd">120MB for only $30 on ATT </a>for example.<span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bungee-jumping-qing-long-canyon-china-2015-6">This guy absolutely loses it as he bungee jumps off a tower in China's beautiful Qing Long Canyon</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="1tYnhidTrV6Xf-kAvO_fN8LpAY5TNCk8" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

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