One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in travel is that different people have different flexibilities. Use this to your advantage. The ultimate example: I flew Dubai airlines. To say the least, it doesn’t allow as much checked-bagged weight as they allow in usa. My extra kilos would’ve cost me $980. I eliminated much of the weight but was still 1.5 kilos overweight and at $70/kilo I should’ve been charged 105 dollars. I approached a different clerk and he off-handedly said “Oh it’s only 1.5 kilos over. No problem.” And I was allowed on board. I KNOW the other clerks would’ve charged me the $!05 fee.
Another perfect example was I was in a French Gare (Train station) and needed my water bottle filled. I asked this woman working in a cafe if she could help me with that endeavor. She said (in french) “Yes, I’ll fill it, but my two other colleagues will not.”
This has been a HUGE lesson. Being a do-it-yourself guy, I hate dealing with customer service in general. But when I have to (which unfortunately, for traveling, is a lot — from flight attendants, to barristas, to ticket vendors) I’ll always remember and engineer ways to utilize the fact that some people are nicer, more leniant, and more flexible.
