Travel tip: Pack this, and airline and hotel personnel will bend over backwards for you.

In honor of Valentine’s Day, here’s a secret weapon that will woo customer service agents faster than Cupid’s arrow: chocolate. Mimi Almeida, a frequent traveler in her role as director at All Performance Associates, LLC, says she always carries chocolate and a smile. Together they have saved her numerous times. As she walks into a tense situation with a customer server staffer, she leads with the line, “Do you like chocolate?,” then reaches into her bag.

Almeida’s weapon of choice is Trader Joe’s Chocolate Passport label, which is high quality, individually wrapped and inexpensive. As she says, “Not a bad investment if it gets you out of overweight bag fees, moved up into premium economy, or to your destination on an oversold flight! And bringing a smile to someone else’s face is a big plus, too!”