Getting there is supposed to be half the fun, but with the chaos and line-ups at today's airports, it often feels more like a battle to get to your destination.

Peter Greenberg, also known as "The Travel Detective," says he's convinced airports are designed by people who've never used them. Athough they're not people-friendly, he thinks there are ways to cut hours from the time you spend at the airport.

His first strategy is to avoid the crowds altogether. "If you're departing from an airport that's got an upstairs departure area and a downstairs arrival area, especially if you have an early morning departure...reverse it, head to arrivals, there'll be nobody arriving at that hour of the morning, you won't get stuck in traffic, and you just head upstairs."

After you've checked in, your next major obstacle is dealing with security, but Greenberg says "avoid those long security lines, it's very easy to see where the lines are, sometimes at airports they're outside the door, and go through another door, and go through security there and back around and you'll save between 10 and 15 minutes."

You can also speed up the process once you get to the front of the line. "My suggestion is to undress before you show up at the airport, making sure everything that's metal that's in your pockets, keys, watches, spare change, anything you've got, pens, glasses,  put them in a plastic bags, put them in your carry on bag."

Greenberg points to the fact that someone unloading their pockets of coins and keys can lead to a four-minute delay for the person behind them, eight minutes for the next person if the same thing happens, and so on and so on.

Once you arrive at your destination, you face the frustration of waiting for your baggage to roll off the carousel. You hope it arrives soon, rather than not at all, and with all your belongings intact. But Greenberg thinks that if you can't go with just a carry-on bag, there's a better way.

"If you're travelling within North America you can courier your bags ahead of time, there are about 17 separate services that will do this," he says. "You're going to save between two to two and a half hours of your life every time you travel."

Using this service means avoiding the line-up to check in your bags, avoiding the line-up at security afterwards, and avoiding the fear that your bags never get to your destination at all.

Using a courier service means your bags should be waiting in your hotel room when you arrive, Greenberg says, meaning you also avoid the heavy lifting involved in getting your bags to your destination.

Plus, although the service costs a lot more for overnight delivery, if you check the box for a three day advance you get a discount so it only costs $30 or $40 per bag, which Greenberg says is worth it if it saves you two and a half hours of time in each direction.

Finally, there's something you can do before you even leave for the airport. Greenberg says there's a more effective way to check if your flight is going to be on time, you just have to ask the question a different way.

Greenberg suggests asking for the tail number of the airplane that is assigned to your flight, and what the status of that particular aircraft is. That way you know "Oh, it's in British Honduras, I guess I'm not going to L.A. today. This is a way for you to have a head start on information that now gives you options to plan your life, so you don't get all the way out to the airport to find out you're not going anywhere."