Try This Genius TikTok Hack That Makes Leaving The Airport Less Stressful

After a long flight, it can be really comforting to know a friend or family member is waiting for you just beyond the baggage carousel to pick you up and take you home. However, that comfort can easily dissipate when your ride is texting you that the arrival gate is jam-packed with other cars, leaving them with no place to pull over. Sometimes, airport traffic is caused by maintenance crews, as it did at Vancouver International Airport in 2022, resulting in a 1-mile line of cars waiting to enter, per Daily Hive. Other times, we can thank the popularity of Uber and other rideshare companies for the frequent bursts of airport traffic.

Luckily, TikTok has come up with a hack that works around the ever-growing arrivals gate traffic to get you out of the airport stress-free and on your way much faster. Solo traveler and content creator Lindsay Mukaddam, under the handle @onegirlwandering, shared a video on the platform to her over 125,000 followers where she says directly to the camera, "Come to the departures level if the arrivals level is completely slammed with cars." Why the departure level? How does this airport TikTok hack work? Let's take a closer look. 

TikToker Lindsay Mukaddam says in the caption of her video, which has been liked over 15,000 times, "I may look like crud after a 20+ hour travel day, but at least I don't have to wait a moment longer to get home." How does she manage to get out of the airport so quickly and without stress? The key, she says, is getting out of the arrivals area and heading to the departures level "because then the person who's picking you up can get up here with no issues, and they don't have to wait in line."

If you think about it, the departures level does tend to have a quicker turnover, with cars leaving as soon as their passenger is dropped off. Mukaddam clarified to Newsweek that she found out about this hack thanks to the Austin, Texas airport, which "actually has signs during busy travel times encouraging travelers to use both levels for pickups and drop-offs," Mukaddam explained. "Not everyone pays attention to this, but those who do listen to this advice have a shorter wait time."

However, she does note that "this trick isn't going to work at all airports" since not all have separated arrival/departure levels. Nevertheless, this is definitely a must-try hack, so make sure to advise your Uber to come pick you up on the departures level before they arrive.