1) Bring a short extension cord with multiple outlets, so you don't have to fight with people in boarding lounges to charge your gear. This will also make you a hero at conferences too...<p>2) If you're going to begin a long term run of traveling look into the possibility of doing airline status challenges. I had started a job that had me flying 5K miles a week -- while I still would have earned it later, getting elite status in a month using the challenge meant better seats, better treatment, and more miles earned on all those subsequent trips.
a few of mine:<p>eat a bag of peanut m&m's as soon as you sit in your seat, then use an eyemask and drift off as the announcements are made. The sugar coma from the candy will send you off to dreamland for at least the first hour of the flight. Use earplugs and snag a window seat if you want to increase your odds of sleeping longer. Or, buy a big meal in the terminal and eat it as soon as you are seated for an even bigger food-coma-induced slumber.<p>If the person in front of you leans their chair back when your'e trying to work, it's convenient to have a fake sneeze ready to unleash. I prefer to let my lips smack a bit and let a few droplets of saliva spray out (while making a sneeze sound). They will bring the chair back up for the rest of the flight. If they start to look ready to lean back again, start sniffling.<p>If you're wearing a coat or blazer, be sure to ask to have it hung at the front of the plane in the special closet reserved for this purpose. There may not be seats in first class, but there is usually room for your jacket.<p>If you want to avoid an armrest hog, the best way is to allow your body to touch theirs a bit too much at first with a subtle lean-in and leg adjustment, so they decide to withdraw to obtain more personal space. When they do, the armrest is yours. Don't relinquish it. A few sniffles sometimes help here as well.<p>Wear a warmup suit, flip flops and socks when traveling. This is the optimal outfit, particularly a hoodie, because you can use it to get extra darkness/privacy if you need it.
My favourite trick: If you have a "print your own" check-in card, print it with low DPI so the barcode on it can't be read with the scanner. On some airports they will send you back to get another one from the check-in desks and let you come back into a priority queue. On one airport I often use this is MUCH faster than the standard queue. (<5 min. -vs- 10+ depending on the queue)<p>Of course it doesn't work everywhere and don't try it if you're almost-late.
<i>So go ahead and find an aisle seat near the back.</i><p>It might get you good legroom, but it might also get you proximity to a smelly lavatory with a broken door.<p>It also puts you behind the engines of most commercial airliners which means more noise.
My advice for getting over jetlag: put yourself on the local clock immediately. If you fly a red-eye, get as much sleep as you can on the plane - then when you land in the morning stay awake the whole day and don't go to sleep until after 10pm! If flying west, do the same - put yourself on the new clock and go to sleep no later than 11pm or midnight. Also in both situations - get some good exercise the first day at a hotel gym or pool. Also if you have access to one, use a sauna!