I have to give credit to my wife for finding this “off-topic” gem.
In what could be one of the greatest travel short cuts of all time, she had found this gem while browsing “Pinterest” showing how anyone can program an elevator to go directly to their desired floor and eliminate the annoying stops along the way. This comes in REALLY HANDY when you are on a high floor and want to get to the lobby without being the “local” elevator stopping on every floor.
Not sure if this will work on every elevator, but it may be worth a shot!
This coding is apparently built into some elevators as a safety mechanism which allows emergency workers to access any floor without interruption.
The instructions are self-explanatory in this image:
This was also posted on Lifehacker a few years ago. I think the first time I read it, I got pretty excited. Unfortunately (or fortunately), it doesn’t seem to work on all elevators (if any at all). The ones I’ve tried (and of course I do this in non-busy buildings) haven’t worked at all. I imagine that this would only be the case with some of the newer elevators. But I would imagine that if this was the case and it did work on every elevator, it would cause a lot of problems in the world. haha. especially at a busy hotel. I’d be interested to know if anyone has gotten this to successfully work at a particular hotel, and which hotel they were at… (then again, I feel like that’s asking to open pandora’s box..)
As a retired emergancy services worker I don’t think this is going to work on most US elevators. We had a key issued to us to do this exact same thing. We could lock out any or all floors and hold it on the floor we wanted it held. As someone pointed out this looks like a overseas elevator where it’s more likely to work? Check US elevators they all have emergancy lock out key holes and this one it seems to be missing.
I will use this every chance I get, HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!
For those who are viewing this a great “all about me” trick, please remember that there are many others, including handicapped and/or with mobility issues, who are the ones you’d be cheerfully leaving behind.
This would be an extremely selfish and insensitive thing to do, imho.
CNET covered this a few years back. Apparently the trick works only on certain models of elevator. This video shows various elevator hacks.
http://cnettv.cnet.com/elevator-hacks/9742-1_53-50076238.html
Cool trick. Can’t wait to try it. But what’s really strange is that the building has a 13th fl but no 14th fl. Some buildings avoid having a 13th fl but I’ve never heard of skipping a 14th fl.
@Larry – In Asian cultures, 4 14 and 24 translated tend to have negative connotations (bad luck, death, etc). The picture may be from an asian building elevator.
@MichaelW – Some are saying it may not work, others are saying it does, especially on Ben’s blog. Definitely must be a YMMV thing.
I’m going to definitely give it a try! lol
Seems like your post inspired a post by another BA blogger! Weird…
I love lifehacking as much as the next person, but I honestly hope this doesn’t work/doesn’t spread. We’ll read about some tragedy in a few years where a birthing mother couldn’t get down from her floor or office workers couldn’t escape a postal employee because none could get an elevator. Cool trick but the selfishness and potential risks to others kill the fun.
This doesn’t actually work.
Sorry but this seems a little greedy.
Many elevators also have a “Call Cancel” button that will do the same thing.