Woman Amazes Internet With The Best Travel Hack That ‘No One Wants To Do’

Hate long flight journeys that entail extended layovers in different cities? Well, one woman goes out of her way to book a flight with a stopover in order to travel more “for less.”
The passenger, TikTok user @funkshe, spoke about her love for layovers in a viral video, which has over 175,000 views since it was shared on May 31.
A message overlaid on the video reads “The best flight hack no one wants to do.”
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The woman in the clip says: “I’m booking flights right now and something that I love to do is look for [an indirect flight with] one stop and filter [the search engine] for the longest duration, so that I can have a whole day in some random city where the layover is and travel more,” with a note saying “(for less $)” across the screen.
She explains: “Why would I take direct flight to London [the capital of the United Kingdom] from JFK [John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City], when I could take a 36-hour flight with a one-day layover in Montreal [a city in the Canadian province of Quebec] or Oslo [the Norwegian capital]?”
“Who’s down to do this?…” the poster asks in the caption shared with the post.
The viral post comes as travel is projected to reach “record highs” this year, with global tourism spending expected to hit U.S. $2 trillion, according to a December 2023 survey by Euromonitor International, the market research firm.
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Air travel has seen no signs of slowing down, showing continued growth in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era, after grinding to a halt during the height of the outbreak due to safety restrictions in place.
According to a July report by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), total passenger demand in June was found to be up 9.1 percent, compared with the same month in 2023.
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Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general, said in the report: “Demand grew across all regions as the peak Northern summer travel season began in June. And with overall capacity growth lagging demand, we saw a very strong average load factor [the percentage of available seats an airline sells on its flights] of 85 percent achieved in both domestic and international operations.”
“North American carriers saw a 6.6 percent year-on-year increase in demand,” according to the report, and “capacity increased 8.6 percent year-on-year, and the load factor was 88.7 percent, the highest among regions.”
The woman in the viral clip says that going on flights with a layover was how she was able to discover places like Moldova during a layover of around 30 hours in the Eastern European country on a flight from Istanbul in Turkey to Paris, the French capital.
It’s also how she was able to visit Riga, the capital of Latvia, another Eastern European country, on a flight from London to Oslo.
She notes: “But I only do this when I’m traveling by myself because most people I travel with are absolutely not down to do this.”
TikTok users wondered about what the poster does with her luggage while she’s exploring a city during a layover. The poster notes in a later comment: “Often the airport stores it [your luggage]! Or I just take it with me if I’m traveling light.”
TikTokers praised the woman’s way of maximizing her travel adventures through flights with a layover.
“I always do this lol I love it,” said @zaine.hc.
DMBMtnsOceans wrote: “I do this whenever I go solo. It’s like a vacay within a vacay!”
“Yesss! That’s how I got to visit Madrid and Amsterdam for cheap,” noted pasaria.
“This is how I ended up being in Lisbon during their big festival week. Best layover ever,” said @seatek45.
Asim wrote “I never thought of this. Thanks for sharing. I’ll have to give it a try.”
Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via TikTok and email. This video has not been independently verified.
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