15 people share their best travel tip that most people don't know.

Traveling, like any activity, can be finessed in a skillful way.

While it might sound as simple as buying a ticket and getting on-board, those who have traveled regularly know there are lots of tips and tricks to save money, time, and be able to afford the energy and effort needed to see the world.

So whether you're already traveled and looking to do more, or you're daydreaming of your first big trip, it never hurts to have more knowledge at your fingertips.

In a popular Ask Reddit thread, people shared the best travel tips not enough people know.

1. From Huge-Recognition-366:

Try searching for flights in an air company’s original language. I once saved $700 booking tickets in Peru by using Spanish rather than English.

2. From ThegatiX:

Roll everything, fold nothing.

3. From dannyr:

If you're asking for an opinion, don't ask the opinion of someone who's being paid to provide it. Want to know where the best meal near your hotel is? The cleaner isn't getting a kickback from the nearest steakhouse, but the concierge probably is.

Want to know the easiest way to get to the airport? The front desk clerk is going to tell you to hire the hotel preferred transfer, but the barman will probably tell you what train to catch for 1/20th of the price.

4. From daveescaped:

Three things; 1.) bring an orange. If someone you are sitting next to smells bad you can open the orange up as a natural deodorizer. 2.) Bring a spare pair of socks and change socks after you are settled on your flight, train, etc.

Put the sweaty socks away in a plastic bag. Dry socks after a long day of travel feel luxurious. 3.) Stupid and Cheerful. A cop stops you in a foreign country? Stupid and cheerful. Never be belligerent.

A border guard says your papers aren’t in order? Stupid and cheerful. The airline says you are too late to board? Stupid and cheerful. Cheerful always works better than aggressive. And it transcends culture.

I knew an elderly couple who literally drove across Africa and “stupid and cheerful” was their advice. It’s far harder to punish someone if they simply claim ignorance and are smiling.

5. From SensitiveDolphin55:

For photo equipment or all kind of expensive stuff: put some duct tape on it. If it looks broken, nobody wants to steal it.

6. From SimonPennon:

Have a (distinct) hat.

I wrote about this on my travel blog a bit ago. Basically:

Meeting up with strangers / couchsurfers / tour group? You're the person in the hat.

When talking with officials, the act of taking off a hat shows obedience to authority and will make the interaction just that much smoother.

When you're tucking in for the night, putting keys, coins, that new bus pass, &c. in the (upside-down) hat so they don't get misplaced in a new place.

Similarly, the (upside-down) hat can be used to store pocket junk before you go through an x-ray checkpoint.

Does all the normal hat things. (Keep warm / cool, less sun, covers eyes, &c.)

A hat soaked in water can feel amazing on a hot day.

You can tuck a handkerchief (or even a napkin) up into a hat to give your neck and ears cover from the sun.

A rolled travel towel (don't panic and [...]) can be folded into a hat to make an impromptu pillow.

A hat on a chair or similar can help hold a spot when customs (or languages) are unfamiliar.

Finally, this is not a travel tip, but post-travel: if you buy a hat for a trip and limit souvenirs to pins & patches, you have created a little display that's a bit more interesting than 'here are photos on my phone'.

7. From Anom8675309:

Just because you're from another country doesn't mean everyone is happy to meet you.

8. From AliJoof:

Who you go with is way more important than where you go.

9. From fanglazy:

Chill at the airport. We are trying to get somewhere. Keep moving in lines. Take your friggin earphones out for flight/gate announcements.

Know what documents you need for checking in (passport), security (your ticket), customs (passport and sometimes ticket), gate (passport and ticket). Be a dick and you will get treated like a dick.

10. From lostsoul76:

Check out the Citymapper app if you're going to a new city/country. It was a godsend when I spent a week in Hamburg.

Give it an address and it'll show you several ways to get to your destination, including mass transit (train, bus) and rental options (bikes, scooters) if possible. A unit conversion app can be nice to have too, potentially.

11. From PebbleBeach1919:

When flights get canceled, don’t stand in line to talk to an agent. Call the airline.

12. From ActualWhiterabbit:

Nobody wakes up early. Like you can wake up before dawn and get fantastic golden hour pics when the city is empty then go back for breakfast and a nap before heading out for lunch.

The best city for this is Rome. No one is around and you can get wide shots that would never happen during the day and the lighting is better.

13. From Successful-Income-22:

I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here, but whenever I travel i go to the subreddit for the city I'm traveling to and search for a 'best food in the city' thread. Never let me down before. I've found some amazing hidden gems that way.

14. From nowhereman136:

Go to any hardware store and pick up a 3 port, 6ft extension cord. They are usually like $5 and pretty light. This will turn 1 outlet into 3 and move it in a more convenient position. You can now charge all your devices.

This is handy at airports where the outlets or charging stations are never convenient or fill up fast. If I stayed at hostels where I'm on the top bunk and the outlet is at knee level, this really helps.

Even staying in a hotel sometimes it's nice to just have the outlet on the nightstand instead of hiding behind the bed or dresser. Different countries have different types of outlets.

I wouldn't trust one of these things to run a hairdryer, but for charging your phone, camera, tablet, whatever, it should be fine with a little adapter.

15. From smosseTaugsqs:

I have two. One. There's this weird arm pillow sling thing you can get so you can actually sleep while flying in economy. I'm the ONLY one with it on every flight and everyone around asks me what that is. You can google it.

Two. If you're a frequent flyer like me, but you keep falling short to earn status / medallion because you don't fly enough, you can actually buy them from places like AirlineStatus(com).

On Delta, I didn't reach it for 2 consecutive years. Then, I just bought Platinum Medallion for like 3 hundred bucks. (It's resold corporate travel benefits but it shows up the same exact way in your app).

I also rarely hear about this among my friends. Good luck. Hope this helps for what it's worth.