Before heading to the airport for your next holiday, consider making a pit stop at a hardware store, this flight attendant suggests.
Cici, a TikToker who works as a flight attendant for a ‘major airline’, made a video revealing three surprisingly useful items you can buy from any DIY shop for your travels.
In the footage, which has so far racked up 596,000 views, the Florida native, 51, demonstrates how to use the everyday items – bungee cords, shoe covers and carabiners, which are the metal loops often used by rock climbers.
The shoe covers are handy to use when going through airport security, Cici, who goes by the TikTok handle ‘Cici In The Sky’, reveals.
Placing a pair of blue plastic shoe covers over her feet, she explains: ‘When you’re going through TSA (Transportation Security Administration), just slip your shoes off, put these on and walk through the security scanner germ-free.’
Cici (above), a TikToker who works as a flight attendant for a ‘major airline’, made a video revealing three surprisingly useful items you can buy from any DIY shop for your travels
Shoe covers can be used to ‘walk through the security scanner germ-free’ at airport security, Cici says
The savvy traveller, who has 374,200 TikTok followers, also suggests using the shoe covers ‘to protect your clothes’ in your suitcase.
They can also be placed ‘on your feet in your hotel room if you’re worried about germs’, she adds.
If you don’t have time to pick up shoe covers, shower caps also work, Cici reveals, saying: ‘That’s what I do, I take all the shower caps out the rooms and I use them as well.’
Bungee cords, meanwhile, can be put through the handle of your suitcase to secure all of your bags and travel items in one place, Cici reveals.
‘Attach your pillow to your luggage,’ she suggests.
‘If your handle breaks for some reason, just attach this here and just drag it,’ she says while threading the cord through a smaller handle on the suitcase and holding it at both ends to pull it along.
But those trying this hack should heed caution, as Cici warns that the springy cords commonly cause eye injuries.
Turning her attention to carabiners, Cici notes that these devices come in handy once you’ve boarded the plane.
She says: ‘Use these to attach your water bottle to your bag so they don’t fall on people’s heads when you put it in the overhead bin. It’s happened a lot.’
Bungee cords can be put through the handle of your suitcase to secure all of your bags and travel items in one place
Cici recommends that travellers use carabiners to attach their water bottles to their bags so ‘they don’t fall on people’s heads when [they] put them in the overhead bin’
Many viewers thanked the cabin crew member for the post and welcomed her tips.
‘Alissa’ wrote: ‘The shoe covers… it’s so smart. I always freak out about that.’
Globetrotter ‘shenanigans305’ said: ‘I travelled via plane two times a week for work and all over Europe and am now learning these tips from you. Travelling for fun now and will use them.’
Fellow airline worker ‘Leisure Lifestyle’ said: ‘I’m a flight attendant and I learned something here.’
Relating to Cici’s advice on carabiners, user ‘Bort’ added: ‘I’ll never forget my bottle falling out and hitting some poor guy in the head. Definitely have a bottle carabiner whenever I travel now.’
Others commenting on the video suggested further DIY items to take on holiday.
User ‘Jefiner’ suggested taking a ‘rubber doorstop for the hotel room’ while ‘Pinky’ commented: ‘Put tea lights in your luggage to put in the hotel bathroom. That way, you don’t have to turn on the bright light [when using the bathroom at night].’
And ‘Melanie’ said: ‘I always wear two pairs of socks through TSA so I can remove the outer pair after.’
In another recent TikTok video, Cici revealed why passengers should never fly on the day of an important event such as a wedding or birthday.
‘I cannot tell you the amount of people on my flights who have missed important engagements because of delays and it’s just not worth it. Fly in the day before, always,’ she says in the clip, which has gained 79,700 views.
To see more of Cici’s videos, visit her TikTok or her Instagram profile.