CiCi told Business Insider that over six years ago, she left her career in real estate and became a flight attendant. Today, she works for a major airline. For privacy reasons, CiCi asked BI to omit her full name and the airline she works for. BI was able to verify CiCi's employment.
"I have loved it," CiCi, who posts about her job under the username @cici_inthesky, said. "It's a completely different lifestyle than what I have lived for the past 20-some years."
One of the biggest lifestyle changes has been how she packs, and she said she's not the only one who makes mistakes when organizing a suitcase for a flight.
Nearly every day, she witnesses passengers making mistakes with their carry-on bags. Here are the common — and avoidable — mistakes CiCi sees.
CiCi said the biggest mistake she's seen is when travelers pack their bags so full that they can't lift them into overhead bins.
A person lifting their luggage into an overhead bin.
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CiCi said she constantly sees passengers who can't pick up their carry-on bags and require help from other passengers or a flight attendant. When it comes to her role as a flight attendant, CiCi stressed that lifting suitcases is not part of her job.
She doesn't want to risk hurting herself by lifting someone else's bag, and airlines often have policies preventing flight attendants from lifting passengers' suitcases, meaning that if a flight attendant gets injured while helping with suitcases, they may not receive worker's compensation.
CiCi said passengers should be confident and comfortable lifting their luggage.
Plus, some airlines, like Frontier Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, have rules about how much your suitcase can weigh. If your bag is overstuffed and weighs too much, you might have to check it at the gate. This can add unwanted time to your travel.
CiCi said she commonly sees passengers bring more than two bags on the plane.
A person pulling two bags through an airport.
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CiCi said she passengers will often walk up to their gate with a roller suitcase, a backpack, and a purse — that's one too many carry-on bags, according to airline rules.
This can result in gate agents asking passengers to consolidate their belongings into two bags, which adds time to the boarding process. Plus, this can cost a traveler money if they can't fit everything into two bags and need to pay for an extra carry-on.
Passengers whose essentials aren't easily accessible can cause boarding delays.
CiCi said to keep things like your book in your personal item, not your carry-on suitcase.
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CiCi said passengers who need to access their carry-on suitcases can sometimes cause delays in boarding. She recommends packing everything they need for a flight in their personal item.
"People put things that they need on the plane — like their book and their earbuds or whatever they're going to need — inside their suitcase," she said. "It's not easy to access."
Passengers who must get in their suitcases and sift through their belongings during boarding can block other passengers from their seats and cause delays.
Waiting until they're in midair to get items from their suitcase is risky, too — turbulence could've shifted the bags in the overhead bin, which might cause them to fall and injure someone.
CiCi said her advice is to ensure all your flight essentials are in your personal item, which will be within reach during the flight.
Many passengers don't pack liquids correctly.
A person transferring toiletries into smaller containers.
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The changing altitudes an airplane experiences cause gases to expand during a flight, which can, in turn, cause toiletries or water bottles to leak in your carry-on.
CiCi said she sees this frequently, but she has a few tips.
First, squeeze as much air out of the bottle as possible. She said this would help prevent expansion.
Perhaps most importantly, she said, choose travel-sized containers wisely. CiCi said that she's tried dozens of travel-sized containers designed to prevent leaks and that the ones she's had the most success with have screw-on caps instead of snap tops since these create a tighter seal.
Passengers make the mistake of not packing a reusable water bottle.
A person filling up their reusable water bottle at an airport.
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CiCi said it's important to stay hydrated on a flight.
This will help travelers save money and stay hydrated.
She said some travelers forget to pack their own snacks.
A woman eating an apple on an airplane.
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CiCi said turbulence during the summer can get intense since high heat causes more convective turbulence in the sky. When there's a lot of turbulence, flight attendants are sometimes required to remain seated.
CiCi suggests passengers bring their own snacks. She said that in addition to fruits like apples and oranges, she always has a few bags of nuts in her luggage.
Finally, CiCi said she sometimes sees passengers packing heavy items instead of wearing them on the plane.
A woman wearing a jacket in an airport.
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CiCi said that if you're flying with just a carry-on, wear your heavy items on the plane instead of packing them.
She said she's sometimes shocked to speak to passengers who are traveling far with just a carry-on and wearing light airplane attire.
That's not what CiCi does. She said that on a recent flight to Italy, she wore her bulky rain boots, a sweater, and a jacket — even though she was flying out of hot, humid Florida. She added that this saved her a significant amount of space in her carry-on and allowed her to pack more outfits for her trip.
