Recession Travel Tips #1

Travel, while certainly one of the greatest thrills out there, and one of my favorite things to do, is no longer cheap or easy. With recent energy costs through the roof, airfares which if bought well in advance, were little more than a night in the town. Add to that the extra but most necessary headaches and delays added for security, and travel is much more challenging and less carefree than in the past.

Nonetheless, there are still plenty of ways to save money. This is the first of an ongoing series of "Recession Travel Tips." Today we focus on saving money at the airport.

I’ve flown quite a bit over the last decade, but I haven’t flown since the most recent restrictions on carry on items. These restrictions really shoot in the foot most of my strategies for saving money in the airport, such as bringing my own bottled water from home and making sure I have a well-stocked carry-on with all my essentials in it (many of them are now banned).

Instead, I’ve adopted some new practices to avoid the ridiculously high costs I’ll face inside of an airport – and also at my destination if my luggage were to go missing. Here’s what I do to get around the new regulations – along with some of the better things I used to do.

I pack an empty water bottle into my carry-on luggage, then fill it at a water fountain inside of airport security. The empty bottle is completely fine within regulations, weighs little and then the bottle can easily be filled at a water fountain inside the airport. This saves a lot on beverage costs within the airport.

I pack some energy-rich snacks. Things like granola bars are very filling and energy-dense, perfect for keeping away hunger while in an airport. I can generally find good, healthy food on the other end of my trip so that I don’t have to pay for overpriced airport food. I also like to bring healthy snacks, as travel takes a toll on your body. The healthier the better, as you aren’t exercising much on planes.

I look for “travel size” toiletries for cheap – or free – wherever I can. I do much of my shopping at warehouse stores, where quite often you can find full size packages with “travel size” items attached to them for little or no cost. I’ve started to look out for these and then collect them, so I don’t have to pay a lot for a travel sized bottle.

Before trips, I actually refill the “travel size” shampoo and conditioner bottles. These are easily refillable with whatever shampoo I have – I just use a small bulb to suck out a little from a large bottle, then squirt it into the small one. That way, I don’t have to buy these again. Hint. Don’t try this with toothpaste.

I always keep at least two days’ worth of clothes in my carry-on. Nothing fancy, but something that will work. That way, if my luggage vanishes, I can wear these clothes in a pinch without having to dump cash on some clothes at a shopping mall. On shorter trips, I plan the entire trip solely out of my carry-on, though that may mean some ironing when I arrive at my hotel.

Food for Flights: Rule #1 – Don’t assume you will be fed on a plane, even for long flights. With today’s frugal airlines, many don’t serve meals, and some are now selling meals. Especially if you have a connection, assume you will not get a meal. I have flown from New York to San Francisco on with a connecting flight, and both flights were too short to qualify for a meal. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as airline food is rarely tasty or good for you. Bring a small insulated food pouch and freeze whatever part of the food can be frozen before as ice packs are not allowed except for medicine. Even if you make a grilled chicken sandwich, freeze the cooked chicken the night before, and it will last longer. And always bring some extra.

My top tip, though, is assuming that I will be delayed. By some estimates 50% of all flights recently have been delayed. I always pack a long book of some sort into my carry-on, always. and more than enough granola bars (along with that empty water bottle). I’ve been stuck in airports for many, many hours before and the last thing I want to do during that long wait is to get bored and then talk myself into buying stuff I don’t need.

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The Bottom Line

All of these tactics work with the new airport security regulations – you should be able to zip right in without skipping a beat and not have to open your wallet for needless things.