New player's guide - do's and dont's

EDIT: I update this list when other players suggest corrections or provide tips. If you find an error please post below so I can fix it. Thanks.

I'm a relative new player so some of you veteran fliers will will want to make corrections to this list. I'm listing what I have learned though trial and error. Second - I'm a mid to high maintenance player so if you only access the game say once daily to do maintenance ( a low maintenance player), this guide will have some tips that will not help you.
This guide is for the person who is strapped for real money. Now I'm not saying one should not support the developers who make this game - YOU SHOULD! They do a great job and should be rewarded for their work. What this guide is for is when you don't have the funds to support them but you want to play.

This list is mainly directed to a player is in the level 1 to 30ish area. Second - This game is about the journey, NOT about getting somewhere. Third - if you see something wrong - tell me so I can update it.

I play the game on an Samsung Galaxy Tab A android tablet. For some players on other platforms things like videos may not be available to you.

1. Time is your friend. You will have to wait for stuff. Get used to it.
2. There is no "goal" in this game. It is a journey. Some people complain they can't "level up" quickly. Again, get used to it. Remember - enjoy the journey of the game and make it your own.
   
3. Green backs - On the lower levels - NEVER, NEVER, NEVER use for anything when asked by the game like an upgrade or a speedup. Save them for later so you can get land.
   
4. Gold - NEVER, NEVER, NEVER use to speed things up construction time of a new building. Remember - time is your friend. You need the gold for other more important things.
   Note: On higher levels this may no longer be available if you decide to do the speedup, but on lower levels it most certainly is. I just tested this with a power plant and if I spend 20 gold it will complete construction right away.
   
5. When you need stuff you have the option several times a day to watch a video ad first. DO IT. (Note: windows devices do not have the video option). On upper levels it is difficult to get the item you need and this may be your only option to complete said building or quest.
6. Neighbors - GET THEM AS FAST AS YOU CAN. They make all the difference. I wish I did this early on. It would have saved me loads of trouble.
   
7. Weather:
   • Build your weather station asap
     
   • If you have loads of neighbors then weather is a non factor for you will always have enough gifts from neighbors to deal with weather incidents.
8. Land EVERY guest plane and hears why:
   • You will get fuel or passengers and ALWAYS get experience to level up.
   • You gather hearts so you can visit more neighbors when your level goes up. (Note, you will cap out at 9 hearts and can visit a max of I think 12 neighbors to get stuff)
   • Bonus stuff - I get LOTS of items by landing planes. Right now I already have 6 smart houses that have a high passenger per hour ratio from them.
   • I NEVER have to wait to repair a plane for I have so many spare part items to repair planes from the bonus stuff I got from landing planes. In fact to this day I've never added a second slot to repair planes.
     
   • You can earn fuel even when your max fuel allotment is met. Right now I'm at 97/89 and that is ONLY due to landing guest planes
9. Gifts:
   • If you want a specific gift - try sending what you want to your neighbors*. On average you have a %50 chance of getting back what you want. Its best to do this to lower level neighbors. like level 30 and below and even then don't abuse it.
     
   • If a neighbor sends you an item - send them back what they sent you IF AND ONLY IF they keep sending you the same thing over and over. It is likely they need this item themselves.
   • Send as many gifts you can each day.
   * NOTE: Be careful on who you send gifts to. Many higher level players do NOT want certain items for they have a glut of specific items. Look to see if the player in question has an account here and see if they need something specific.
10. You really only need one runway. It may seem better to have multiple runways but don't do it. Most of the time your runway will sit idle and will not make you gold.
    Note: there is discussion on if the drop rate for items goes up for multiple runways. To each their own. I do not think this is the case for I noticed no difference when I tested it.
    
11. Fuel, fuel, fuel:
    • I will most of the time will gift fuel for I know the % chance of the person gifting fuel back is really good. On average I will get over %50 fuel gifts back each day. Yes, I "could" setup a fuel ring but for me, the gift method I use works out fine.
    • Fuel station - I do the 3 unit fuel for 10 gold constantly. You can get up to 18 extra fuel units per hour doing this. If you will be gone for more than an hour, do the 10 units but never do more than that for it is a waste of time UNLESS you know you will be away for 8 hours or more. Remember - this is for mid to high maintenance players, not once a day players.
    • Refineries - when you can, get them. The small will add 15 units when you first get it and only cost you gold. If you want to spend greenbacks, get the large refinery. When you upgrade them, you get more fuel
      
    • Speeding up flights - unless you are doing the daily mission or something specific and it ask for it, DON'T. This just waste fuel and it will take you time to build your fuel back up.
12. Land:
    • Use gold to get it AS LONG AS YOU CAN USE GOLD TO GET IT. Each time you buy, the price for the next lot goes up if you gold. That is OK. Remember - time is your friend and you can build up gold from anything that gives gold. Green backs are a lot harder to get so save them for later when you want land and they are the only way to pay for it. When land is on sale and up to Expansion 80 land only cost 10 greenies if you decide to use greenies
      
    • Keep the airport side as small as you can. You can make more gold per hour on the city side.
    • If you use greenbacks for land - WAIT for the %50 off sale. They happen every 2 or 3 weeks on the weekend. When you get to higher levels - well worth it.
13. Daily reward - Right now I try to earn them for I do not have buildings that give me free stuff. When you get to the higher levels and have buildings that give you bonus stuff - it most likely won't matter anymore.
14. Duty free store - I have it fully upgraded but I don't run it. The reason is I may need the good elsewhere so the store just sits. You may want to wait until later to get a duty free and save the land for something more important. Many players hate the thing for they think of it as a waste. What I've found is every so often after you neighbors have given you the right stuff you can do a max drop run on it. That makes the building somewhat valuable but if you can do it only a week or so apart, it is really crappy.
    
15. Space port stuff - Build it ASAP. Get launching as fast as you can but be forewarned - The more neighbors you have, the more likely you will be successful in your launch. It is extremely difficult on lower levels simply for yo don't have the stuff you need to launch. That is where your neighbors come in).
    • Mission control center - not sure if this is a bug or not but the game says it needs a road yet I can still launch. So far I've left it without a road and I've not had an issue.
    • Space ports - Get a green pad and get started.
      
    • IMPORTANT - In my experience the fastest was to assemble collections for items to have a successful rocket launch are neighbor's planetariums and flying to destinations that drop items for launches.
16. Quest - make sure when a new quest open it and click OK so it is active. It make no difference if you are really trying to do it or not.
    
17. Roads and building placement -
    • You only need one square to have a needed road for an item.
      
    • Look in the forum for post on how to maximize land usage.
18. Do the math on how much gold an item gives you per hour. For the items that do a high amount but only once per day - I avoid them for now. When I get enough real estate where I can devote some land for that, I will but for now, I want the high gold per hour stuff. Again, this is for a high maintenance player.
    
19. Warehouse - This thing is GREAT for parking certain buildings. One thing you can park in there is things that generate power. Right now I'm upgrading all my power items to coal plants. I'm taking the older stuff and moving them into the warehouse. If I need them, I can take them out and use them in a pinch until I get the stuff I need to put them away again. Remember - parking a building in the warehouse will usually cost you gold.
    
20. Sending out flights - I keep as many flights in the air as I can. They bring back stuff I can use. Yes I have to wait but that is OK. You will usually run out of fuel before all your flights can be sent out. In that case you have to build up fuel again before sending out the next plane.
    
21. Hangers -
    • If you have repair part items, then the hanger level makes no difference on repair times. Use the repair part item to get your planes in the air fast.
    • Don't waste gold on higher level hangers UNLESS you want your planes you send out to load faster. Personally I don't mind waiting.
22. Just because an item is cheap does NOT mean you should use it. For example power. Yes the power plant is only 100 gold. It only gives you 6 electricity and that sucks. Use the Wind Turbine which give you 10 per square until you get to level 20 and then switch to Coal stations which give you 15 per square. Take any Wind Turbines you built and warehouse them. You may need them later in a pinch.
    
23. Decorations - use them on buildings that generate a high passenger output per pickup. For example I have 2 Trees next to a house of disturbance and that gives me 9 extra on each pickup.
    
24. Planes - For each destination group I plan to fly the same type of plane from all my hangers to that group. The goal is to get all the stars I can so at the higher levels I can actually fly to them. Higher level destinations require a certain level of stars so you have to work the flights to get them.
    
25. Greenbacks on buildings - Just don't do it. It will seem like a good idea but don't. You need them for land later.
    
26. Building upgrades -
    • If you don't have the item you need, watch the video if available. It may take a few days to upgrade the building but you will get there.
      
    • Never upgrade a building on impulse. Carefully decide what is the most important and do that first. For example if your Terminal is level 5 and it cost you 180000 gold to upgrade it yet it only cost you 50000 to get land and you have 200000 gold on hand - get the land.
27. Population - upgrade the town hall early so that you have enough people to man the buildings. Also there are buildings that give bonuses.
    
28. Terminal upgrades - right now I have a level 4 terminal. For 80,000 gold I can get it upgraded but that is a low priority. I need land much more so I can earn more gold per hour and have buildings that kick me more passengers. Remember - a building can provide you passengers (like a storage battery) but not be able to give you the passengers for your terminal is full. As soon as you send a flight, you now have space to send your passengers from the building(s). I've been doing this for a while now and it works out fine. Also, landing guest planes adds to the total number of passengers I have ready to board my planes so the need to upgrade the terminal is less. I've had at times over 300/180 passengers ready to go and that doesn't count the buildings ready to provide additional passengers when I got under the 180 threshold.
    
29. The game will pester you to build the Airship dock. Don't do it early on. The reason is simple - The game WANTS you to spend greenbacks. DON'T. It will NOT help you. Remember - you need land first and foremost. Planes bring you items and you only get them when your planes are in the air and return.
    Note: There are items in the Airship store you can buy with coin that will help you but they are usually needed for higher level flights or the Mystery Bonus item that cost 8000 gold.
    
30. Helping others with their cities - DO IT. I will usually go for fuel UNLESS I have a specific quest I'm doing. Remember - Fuel is usually a high priority for you.

I will post more tips that I learn but this is my first list. Enjoy and if you have the cash - support the developers. They really do a great job.

-M

 

[volly]

I'm level 64 now so here are few more things I've learned:

1. Don't sell building unless you have more than 6 of them. Keep 6 on hand at all times.
   
2. Use the warehouse to store buildings from events to free up space like the University building. The next time the back to school event comes around, you can pull them out and that makes it MUCH easier to complete the event.
3. Greenies - wait for them to be on-sale before buying them from the bank.
4. Upgrade your fuel station ASAP
5. Through the rabbit hole event - If you build a few card hangers, you can't use them after the event NOR can you store them in your warehouse. I have a spot of land on the airport side set for them out of the way. I know when the event comes around next time I will have a leg up on completing it.
6. Events
   
   • You may not be able to complete an event. Be prepared for that.
     
   • Don't use greenies to complete events. Lately I've notices Gi has tweaked some events so that it is really difficult to complete an event unless you do use greenies.
   • I only do events that has a reward building that will increase population.
7. Red launches - you can get all items for starting a launch from flying to destinations EXCEPT the stuff from the Distant Prospects collection that drops the Infrared Telescope. You have to get them from your rocket gardens or from Planetariums.
   
8. Planetariums - the drop rate for stuff from them has been nerfed so you have been warned.
   
9. Tokens - use them FIRST AND FOREMOST to get "Grand Hotels". The reason is it increases your population by 300 for each one you get. With 6 hotels, you get an increase of 1800 on your population and that is huge when it comes to increasing gold production and additional buildings.
   
10. Town hall - its good to upgrade it early on so you can increase your population.
11. Group your buildings. If there is one thing that I hate with neighbors it is a messy city and having to search for a building. If you group your buildings, it makes it easy for your neighbors to find stuff. They will be more likely to give you stiff if your city is friendly to them.
    

 

[volly]

reserved

 

[Bob69bob]

I would say that most of the pointers here are for very early stages of the game. Most veterans will soon point out that quite a few of your points are not quite correct or there are in fact better ways. I'm not trying to shoot you down. I admire your desire to try and help others following you. If you're new in this forum, you haven't begun to scratch the surface of the knowledge base of what people have discovered before you. Read, read, read Good luck! I've listed my thoughts on your list. It wasn't long ago that I was around the level you are at and my game went ballistic with the feedback and help from people in this forum. Cheers .
Maybe someone can provide a few links to the points I make?

1. Good point.
2. Greenbacks for reserve hanger? Maybe, but you'll want some in store for when land can no longer be bought with coins.
3. I can't remember ever having the option to speed things up with gold?
4. Videos aren't available on all formats. If you do have them, USE THEM.
5. Land guest planes, especially early on.
6. Gifting - if you plan to stay and use this forum, you will want to change your thoughts on this significantly. If you send me a gift I don't want or need, you'll get NOTHING back. Do it often enough and you'll have one less neighbour. Read the threads on profile signatures (sigs) and you'll get fr better results. Message people, use the gifting/needs threads. Ask for what you want, send what they want. DON'T WASTE GIFTS.
7. One runway is fine early on but very tedious. I now have 4 on all 5 of my accounts. Veterans will tell you that the chances of getting good drop rates are increased when multiple aircraft land together and you rapidly tap them all together. (I have never seen the evidence, but it does seem to be the case).
8. Fuel is king. Note that not all players can gift F20 though (in my opinion a really unfair bit of game code, but that's the way it is). 3 fuel/10 mins is what I did for the first couple of months. You'll soon tire of it as you progress and won't need it quite as badly.
9. Real estate - correct. Use go,d for as long as you can. Hold on to the greenies.
10. Daily rewards - if they're easy, do it. Sometimes very hard work for collections that don't mean much in the early stages. Speed ups using fuel? Don't get carried away unless you have the stock and it suits you to do it anyway.
11. Duty Free - don't do it. Don't even buy the store. Once bought, it cannot be removed/sold/stored. It's a waste of valuable land and has terrible output. Another gift waster with people chasing items for little reward. By far the worst component of the whole game. If you haven't bought it yet, DON'T! 95% of players regret even thinking about it.
12. Space ports - a good guide is that your first launch pad should be RED! That means a lot of work getting your Mission Control Centre to level 3 first and then buying a red pad. Don't be fooled into buying blue and green first. (There's an infinite amount of knowledge in these forums about space launching).
13-17 nil
18. Higher level hangers will load aircraft faster but not vital early on.
19-21 nil
22. I like spare hangar slots. Others would rather sell and rebuy airplanes than store cost is relative to the level that you're at. I buy and sell all aircraft up to jets without a second thought but my cash flow now allows that. Greenies are for land. REAL ESTATE, REAL ESTATE, REAL ESTATE.
23 nil
24. Town Hall needs upgrading early. Once you get to mid levels, there are much easier and cheaper ways to increase population. Search out adventure maps. Silver coins from red launches will get you a Grand Hotel (+300 population!). Again, veterans will say these are a waste as well and you should focus on adventure maps. Each to their own.
25. Terminal upgrades. Keep doing them. More pax mean more chance of keeping planes in the air. As you level up, you'll realise that pax producing buildings are way more important than coin producers. Once you start red launches, coin buildings will be insignificant. Tower upgrades are key... each new tower allows for a new hanger and, subsequently, a new aircraft to fly.
26. Airship dock - you'll need it. There are a couple of things that can be bought with coins instead of greenies. 1) adventure maps 2) mystery bonus. Mystery bonus for 8000 coins might be expensive now, but they're a bargain! And VERY handy
27. Helping others! Absolutely. You'll discover that this is what this forum is exactly about. I point you back to dot point 6 again. Spend long enough here in these forums and you'll most likely begin to delete neighbours that aren't in here. Gift what they need, not what you want

edit: I just received a like for this post, which is quite pleasing. Not so much as it validates my post, but the best way to learn the many intricacies of this game is reading as much as you can in this forum. It is the greatest resource for (especially newer) players available. My only caveat to that comment, is that many features of the game have changed significantly in the last few years. Much of the information in this post is very out of date and no longer correct. Hopefully, anyone that is reading it now will be able to work out, fairly quickly, the points that are no longer relevant. Cheers 🍻.

 

[volly]

THANK YOU!!!!!
Like I said - I'm a newbe and I'm only going off what I have learned. The stuff you added and the corrections you made to mine - This is great!

 

[volly]

I wonder if it be worth to have a do's and dont's depending on what lever one is at and what one has....That would be REALLY helpful.

 

[Kesh]

I would agree with Bob except point 7. - there are no exact numbers that can confirm or decline that more runways will get you with better droprate.
@volly - there are no do and don'ts level related (yes you need coins at the early stages, but there are better/faster way to get them - so you can put few buildings which produce coins early in the game - try to find those that are closely related to your gameplay). But never at expense of any other building (passenger or any other).
For point 12 - you'll need green pad - but you will learn here that you will not do many of them in early stages.
Landing guest plane - yes but not every plane - it is in general good thing but later you'll find it not so important.
Daily tasks - even I don't do them when you need to speed up.
Green notes are exclusively for land expansion in most of early stages - focus on expanding as much as you can on city side - keep airport side as smaller as you can depending on your needs and requirements (you'll find many neighbors here and you can see how their airports look alike).
Most important thing is - just ask (here everyone is willing to help and that is what makes this forum great).

 

[SactoDave]

@volly,

#12...I did not start my space program until level 30 something, I wish I had started MUCH earlier, it is the key to most of my progress.

 

[Bali Hi]

I think one of the most important thing you missed is "Never upgrade a building on impulse".

Check airport city wikia and your warehouse stock first before you spend thousands/millions of coins and click "upgrade".
Ideally, you should be trading with your neighbours on your required items before you upgrade.

This is especially important for Repair Base, as sometimes the Repair Base breaks down if upgrade is not completed.

 

[volly]

everyone - this is great. I'm really appreciative of all the input. I'm learning loads! Thank you

 

[Wired Parrott]

#11 Just to add the items for the duty free are not used for anything else so use them up if you have them.
Then you can look at that waste of space for eternity.
I think Bob corrected most of the glaring mistakes but as stated read, read, read there is a wealth of info
buried in this forum. Also do get that signature up you will then never have a need to send or receive in
return. Always better to receive and send exactly what others want/need without crossing your fingers for luck.

 

[Eric The Great]

#0. Use the Wiki and this forum to learn about every type of item. And when I say this forum, do searches on what you don't understand. Look at old threads, filter out the information for what has changed but use these to learn. It takes work but the good news is you have plenty of time since it takes a long time and a lot of patience to succeed at AC.

 

[volly]

Everyone, I'm going through and editing my first post. I'm thinking the tips I suggest would be for levels 1-30ish. If anyone else wants to make suggestions that be great. I can't tell you how wonderful it is the feedback I'm getting on this thread and the how great & helpful the community is here.

 

[benfly123]

Tip to newer users. Don't neglect the repair base. Make sure you upgrade it before you get the next plane or you will have a plane that you cannot use.

 

[Cosmic Blue]

For level 7 repair base, you cannot buy it before you buy the condor.

Macou the first condor destination provides the required detectors.

Please do not fly to any other condor destination until level 7 repair base is completed or you risk break down.

I learn this the hard way.

 

[Kesh]

For level 7 repair base, you cannot buy it before you buy the condor.

Macou the first condor destination provides the required detectors.

Please do not fly to any other condor destination until level 7 repair base is completed or you risk break down.

I learn this the hard way.

I build level 7 repair hangar without buying condor.
But, yes, you should upgrade it before flying to any destination except macau.

 

[Bob69bob]

I build level 7 repair hangar without buying condor.
But, yes, you should upgrade it before flying to any destination except macau.

Same here. Repair base has been at level 7 for months and I've never bought anything bigger than a falcon. All done with gifts rather than flying for items.

 

[Cosmic Blue]

@Kesh and @Bob69bob

that is fine if you have neighbors who were able to gift the required item before.

the reminder is for those players whose neighbors do not have the gifts required or have graduated to the next level and lost that particular gifting opportunity.

 

[Fencat]

Reminder for people on mobile devices (sadly not an option for you windows players ), the 5 free video offers per day is a great way to upgrade buildings

 

[Phyllo]

Reminder for people on mobile devices (sadly not an option for you windows players ), the 5 free video offers per day is a great way to upgrade buildings

I hope that we'll get that option soon as well on windows. It works in other games, so why not in airport city?