Tag Archives: airplane

Road Warrior Hydration

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I’ve been traveling a lot lately.  Some for fun.  Some for work.  Some for family obligations.  And when I travel—whether it be by car, bus, train, or airplane—there are two things I always bring along:  my travel coffee mug and my re-usable water bottle.  For air travel (as I’m doing while I write this) they have to go through security empty.  For a car trip they always start full.  But I’m always glad I have them—not just for the travel itself, but also for the time I am away from home.

When in a hotel, there is often free coffee available.  I’m partial to hotels that offer free breakfast, so that’s always a chance to fill my travel mug.  Some hotels offer a coffee pot in the room, so that’s another chance to fill that cup.  Hotel doesn’t have any free coffee options?  That happens, but when you bring your own mug, a cup of joe costs less than if it comes in a disposable cup at most places (including Starbucks, Sheetz, Panera, and many others). And it’s much better for the environment not to be using all those single use cups!  While I’m at my conference this week I’ll fill my 20 ounce cup at the conference breakfast each day, and that caffeine fix will keep me going through the morning sessions for sure.

Hotels always have a water source as well.  And I’m not just talking about the tap in your room’s bath.  One of the best kept secrets in hotel life is the water cooler in the exercise room.  Whether or not you choose to lace up for a treadmill run, you still have access to that nice, cold water to fill your bottle.  Fancy hotels may have a cooler of cucumber or fruit laced water in the lobby. And I’ve started noticing water integrated into the juice dispenser or a stand-alone bottle filler at those hotels with the free breakfast.  Bottle filling stations have been popping up in more and more places over the last several years.  I started seeing them in airports about ten years ago—long before the one you know best was installed in the Katz Building.  But I’ve run into them in malls, convention centers, and arenas.  I expect that upward trend in filtered bottle fillers will continue, as the world tries to steer itself away from single use plastics.  I’m pretty certain that my conference this week will provide me with coolers of ice water from which I can keep my bottle filled this week.  Hydration is important!

Do you have a go-to travel mug and refillable water bottle?  If not, it’s probably time to look into it.  They’ll save you money as well as keeping you hydrated and caffeinated!

 

Secure Your Own Mask First…

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When you fly on an airplane there is always a safety speech before takeoff.  And the thing that has been ringing in my head since my last flight is, “Please secure your own mask before assisting others.”

airplane-air-mask

That one sentence pretty much sums up the last half of 2016 for me.  I’ve always prided myself on getting out the Moneywise Tip of the Week regularly.  And last semester I failed big time.  I know many of you noticed I was missing from my office quite often throughout the semester.  It was rough for me health-wise (and I’m very grateful for the health insurance that made that manageable!).  I was run through test after test and in and out of the hospital.  And I wasn’t writing the Moneywise Tip.  I was busy securing my own mask before I could assist others.  You simply can’t effectively help others if you are in risk of not keeping yourself going.

But I’m healthy now.  I’m running again and eating the right foods and happy to be available to help students as much as I wish I could have last semester.  Prepare yourself for a full semester of regularly scheduled Moneywise Tips!

The “secure your own mask” bit also hit close to home in a different way over the holidays.  It seems like every charity I’ve ever donated to was reaching out for an end of year contribution.  And I wanted to assist others.  But the year’s medical issues were challenging financially.  So rather than stretching myself to assist others as much as I would have liked, I smiled, politely said no, and proceeded with securing my own financial mask.  It won’t be this way every year.  And it’s ok to say no to charities if you’re not feeling particularly financially secure yourself.

I am certain that 2017 will unfold differently for me.  But it’s only because I secured my own mask first.  Now I can proceed with assisting others.

 

Cutting the Cost of Air Travel

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Travel used to be fun.  It was easy to get onto an airplane. Security didn’t take an eternity.  You could keep your shoes on.  There used to be room for your knees and elbows on a plane.  They used to give you food if your flight was more than an hour or so.  You could check bags for free.  But everything is different now.  Flying is not fun.

Because flying is not very comfortable anymore, my general rule of thumb is that if I can drive the distance in eight hours or less, I don’t even consider flying.  But I’ve been known to opt for driving distances that take up to 12 hours.

When I do need to fly, there are several tricks I use to save money.

First, buy airline tickets at least a month in advance when possible.  The closer you get to your travel date, the more expensive the ticket will become.  And for some unexplained reason, tickets seem to be cheaper on Tuesday and Wednesday than on other days of the week.

Second, consider multiple airports.  It’s often possible to save hundreds of dollars by driving a couple hours to a different airport.

Third, don’t pay to check a bag if you don’t need to.  If you can get everything into a carry-on, you can save up to $50 round trip. But sometimes checking a bag is necessary.  Some airlines (Southwest!) will let you check a couple of bags for free.  Others may give you a discount on bag check fees if you are a member of their loyalty program or if you use their rewards credit card or if you check in online before you get to the airport.  Do a little research about your options before you pay the bag check fees.

Finally, food and drink can add up quickly when you’re in planes and airports.  Just like you can save a fortune by brown bagging your lunch to school or work, you can save a lot of money by packing a sandwich and some snacks when you fly.  Also, bring an empty water bottle with you when you travel.  I never go anywhere without my trusty Nalgene bottle.  It goes through security empty and I fill it on the other side.  No need to buy a drink.  And the trend must be catching on.  More and more often I find handy bottle filling stations in airports.

Water station

Travel is not much fun.  But destinations are wonderful.  And travel doesn’t have to be ridiculously expensive if you’re smart about it.