Just got back from Nashville.

Outside of the party buses and bachelorette hordes taking over every inch of Broadway, I still love that city. Nashville never gets old.

That said, travel fatigue is starting to set in. I've been on the road every other week for two months straight. My body is telling me to stay home. My brain keeps looking at flights.

Which brings me to this week's question. Should I go to Dallas?

But first. Let's talk about something that's been all over Reddit lately.

A guy at Orlando airport tried a popular travel hack.

He stuffed his clothes into a pillowcase and brought it to the gate as a free personal item.

Frontier staff said no. It counted as a second bag. He'd have to pay.

He refused.

While he argued with staff, the plane door closed.

He panicked and offered to pay. Too late. They denied him boarding. He got so angry that Frontier called the police. Officers escorted him out of the airport entirely. No flight. No refund.

All because he didn't want to pay a bag fee.

Here's the thing. That story is funny. But it's also a reminder. Travel hacks sound clever until they aren't. And the downside is almost always worse than whatever you were trying to avoid.

Reddit has been going after the most overhyped airport tricks lately. So I went through them and ranked them for you.

Tier 1: Actually Works

Wear the jacket.

Stuff your pockets. Layer up. Wear a travel vest with a dozen pockets. Airlines cannot police what you wear onto the plane. Since you're wearing it, it doesn't count as luggage. This one is a legitimate workaround and people use it all the time.

Tier 2: Depends on the Airline

The neck pillow stuffed with clothes.

Pull out the stuffing, replace it with your clothes, wear it around your neck at the gate. Some travelers swear by it. But Southwest has said neck pillows must fit inside your personal item, not count as a separate one. So it depends on where you're flying. If it goes wrong, you're paying the fee anyway.

Tier 3: Don't Try It

The pillowcase. See above. The man missed his flight.

The frozen water bottle. The idea is that TSA allows fully frozen items through security. And technically, yes, that's true. But it has to stay frozen through your commute to the airport, the walk to the checkpoint, and the line. One Reddit commenter nailed it: "Even if it works, you'd still have to wait for it to melt before drinking it." You went through all that to smuggle in a bottle of water you cannot drink yet.

Dressing up for a free upgrade. This myth has been floating around for years. The idea is that gate agents will move you to first class if you look the part. A flight attendant went viral recently giving advice on exactly this. The catch? She worked on Norwegian's short-haul 737 routes. Single cabin. No upgrades to give out.

Boarding last to get a better seat. This sounds logical. Wait until the rush clears, then pick from the remaining seats. But overhead bin space fills up fast. If you board last with a carry-on, you risk getting gate-checked and losing your bag to the hold anyway. You saved no time and gained nothing.

The truth is most travel hacks were built for a version of travel that doesn't exist. No traffic to the airport. No line at security. No crowded gate. No delays.

Your trip is never that version. And the hacks fall apart the moment real travel shows up.