How to be front of every queue when you travel this summer

Words: Hannah Ralph

A lot depends on whether you’re a glass half full or half empty kind of person – whether peak season travel is seen as an inevitable exercise in patience or a perfect stage upon which to release the tactician within. Much like a great Scrabble player creating opportunities on a crowded board, you can use the summertime crunch to show off your spatial intuition, your composure under pressure and your uncanny ability to find the secret side entrance while crowds flock to the front.

And why should you miss the (many) delights of the season – nursing a cold Negroni on a hot Naples night or jumping off the sun-soaked boardwalk into a bracing Scandi lake – on account of a few potential queues? That’s why we’ve tapped into the collective wisdom of several industry experts and frequent flyers to find out how they outpace the seasonal surge, so that you can leave the masses in your wake. 

It’s about who you know, not what you know

When the most exclusive restaurants are fully booked and the maître d’ is turning people away at the door, I strongly recommend befriending the hotel concierge. Who better to open doors than some of the most connected people in the city? A hotel concierge’s network is unrivalled – these professional relationships can be a big reason they get the job in the first place. Over the years, I have, for instance, built a trusted network of restaurant contacts, and these relationships make all the difference when securing highly sought after reservations. Being part of Les Clefs d’Or (‘The Golden Keys’: a professional association of hotel concierges, which is demarcated by a pair of keys on a concierge’s lapel), means if a guest is looking to try a particular restaurant, our global concierge network is always ready to help. A quick message in our group chat will find the connection we need and, once that link is made, the reservation is booked.
Joe Fox, head concierge at Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill, London

Nail the business travel basics

Business travellers spend years honing their airport efficiency, so it’s a tip in itself to mimic what they’re doing. As a business traveller myself, I’m usually flying early in the week to avoid those inevitable weekend rushes; I also have all my apps and subscriptions nailed for the immigration desks of wherever it is I’m heading – particularly for the USA, where my TSA PreCheck® and Global Entry come in extremely useful to let me skip past those long queues. Both of these require a bit of work to sign up to but are worth it if you fly often enough. You can always spot a business traveller at security: pre-separated liquids all under the required amount for that airport, a separate laptop bag, not wrestling with their clothing or tech. You can also spot us at the gate, since we’ve likely prioritised airline loyalty long enough to be welcomed into those shorter Zone One queues to board. This often has the knock-on effect of being able to choose seats at the front of the plane, meaning business travellers are usually the first ones to hit the immigration desks.
Kevin Garrison, Silver member, Florida

The early bird catches the worm

Florence, New York, Tokyo – there’s no escaping that most city centres are way more chill first thing in the morning (my early commute, for instance, presents a very different London to the one it becomes by midday). If, like me, you’re the kind of person who likes to wander, look up at spectacular architecture and sit down for a coffee, then head into the tourist heart of your chosen city when locals are heading to work and your rival fellow tourists haven’t yet made it to the breakfast buffet. You’ll be able to amble without being sardined onto a pavement, and notice side streets and squares that will later be blocked by tourist traffic. Then, as the day picks up, head out into the trendier suburbs – those that take an Uber or decent stint on public transport to reach.
Helen Whitaker, editor of High Life magazine, London

Paris: the city of love (and strategic shortcuts)

Even pre-booked, timed tickets for the Palace of Versailles can involve long waits, particularly in peak summer months. A clever alternative is to book a table at Ore by Alain Ducasse, located within the palace. Guests dining here can enter directly, bypassing the main queues. While a lunch is a treat, even a simple coffee and croissant grants access. La Galerie Dior, meanwhile, is one of Paris’s most in-demand cultural attractions, with tickets selling out daily and queues stretching along Avenue Montaigne. Instead of booking in advance, ask your hotel concierge to secure a billet coupe file (skip-the-line ticket), allowing you to glide straight into the exhibition. 
Camilla Davidson, travel specialist for Red Savannah, France

Queue hopping? More like queue spotting

I know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but I’m certainly judging a queue by its occupants before I decide which one to join. When presented with the array of eGate queues at London Heathrow, for instance, I run a very quick assessment of those in it. While a queue may look long, the people in it are spaced out, making it appear longer than its shorter, but more bunched-up neighbours. I’m looking (particularly at the eGates) for families or mini groups gathered together, or for travellers who will need to take off a million accruements before they’re anywhere near ready to present themselves to camera. I also recently read that our brains naturally tend to go toward the right when choosing queues, making the left lanes less occupied – I’ll add this consideration to the list now, too. 
Hannah Ralph, travel writer, Manchester

Locate the secret entrance…

My best secret for skipping the line at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is to go, not through the main entrance, but via the Uris Center for Education at 81st Street and Fifth Avenue. By using this entrance, it’s exactly the same as the main one, but you’ll skip the lines inside. 
Nick Gray from @nickgreynews, Austin

Plan a tactical aperitif

If you’re keen to try a restaurant with a walk-in only policy, or to go somewhere you just haven’t managed to get a reservation for, do some Google Map scouting beforehand and pin a cocktail bar or two close by. This means, if the restaurant gives you a 45-minute wait for a table, you give them your contact details, and head straight to the bar you pinned earlier for a martini or two – warming yourself up for the big dinner ahead. Also remember that when a restaurant says 45 minutes, they’re usually being conservative, so you could be in for something like a 30-minute wait if you’re lucky.
Alex Marsden, Blue member, Liverpool

Explore an attraction from back to front (and shop at lunch)

Once rides open at a theme park, head to the back of the park first, avoiding long queues at attractions near the front, and make your way forward during the day. Book your parking online in advance (it’s often cheaper than paying on the day) and download the park’s app for queuing times, show times, a map of the resort and more. At places like LEGOLAND Windsor, consider a ‘Reserve and Ride’ pass for peak or super peak days – it means you can virtually queue for one ride at a time, leaving you free to do something else whilst you wait. Here, rides might not open until 10am, but you can arrive at the park at 9:30am and explore Mainland first. Finally, if you’re wanting to purchase LEGO from the LEGO Shop, head there around lunchtime when it’s quieter; it can get very busy at the end of the day when everyone is leaving the park. 
Lizzie from Our Midlands Adventures, Birmingham 

Resist the rush altogether

There’s a lot of talk about booking seats at the front of the plane in order to be off quickest, to get to immigration faster and to be reunited with your hold bags in record time. How about taking it slow, instead? At the back of the plane, you won’t find me standing up when the seat belt sign goes off – equally you won’t find me waiting around for my bags to arrive at the carousel. Sometimes, by the leisurely time I get there, my bag can be the only one swinging around. If you have the luxury of being able to take things slow when you first arrive at a destination, let the crowd before you do its thing while you do yours, and then glide in on the jet stream behind it. 
Angela Carlton, Blue member, London

Refine your Disney strategy

There are a few ways to beat the crowds at Walt Disney World Resort, Orlando, but purchasing the multi-pass is probably the least expensive and most efficient way to do it. The pass gives you guaranteed, advance access to three ‘Lightning Lanes’, which are available at most attractions in each park. These three selections (made up of your most desired rides) should be made far in advance of travel, and it’s key to stack your times as early and close together as possible (say, 9am, 10am and 11am). Then, as soon as you’ve tapped in for that first ride, another Lightning Lane credit drops into the account, meaning you should line up another ride – fast. Go in with this pass, this knowledge, and a note of which rides you want to prioritise, and you can end up maintaining a seamless flow around the park until final fireworks.
Kari Becker of Marvelous Mouse Travels, Illinois

Switch summer destinations for winter classics

I know Brits are meant to love a queue, but isn’t the whole point of holidaying abroad to break away from our home-grown habits? My tip: swap stifling and sweaty tourist hotspots this summer by visiting a typically ‘wintertime’ destination instead – say Switzerland or Austria. And before you begin to exhibit another British characteristic (moaning about the weather), let me change your perception. Switzerland and Austria can quite easily reach heights of 30°C in July and August. And while there’s no beach, they instead offer crystal-clear lakes with jaw-dropping Alpine backdrops and altogether fewer people.
Hannah Brandler, editor at large, Business Traveller, London

Want more tips for staying ahead this summer? Check out our other expert articles:

• EU borders are changing in 2026. Here’s what it means for you
• Ask the expert: How to get the best hotel room (without paying more)
• Ask a Club member: how to make the most of the airport lounges