1 Million Dollars

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

How to Save Money While Flying

Flying is just getting more and more expensive, but what can you do if you need to travel far? Personally I have found southwest and jetblue to be the cheapest for airfare but still check Kayak.com just in case there is a great deal. Sign up for southwest and jetblue tweets and check them before booking, because a lot of those deals cannot be beat. Before deciding on what flight to go on, check for baggage fees. It may be cheap to ship your bag via fedex/ups/usps or go with the slightly more expensive airline that has free check baggage. Both southwest and jet blue have free check baggage (jet blue allows one free bag, southwest two). Other airline, like Hawaiian, may charge for the bags, however they may allows you to check in online and pay less.

Once you have found the cheapest rates for flying are there still other ways to save money? Sure, there are. You can bring a empty water bottle or travel mug so you can refill it with water once you are inside the security check point. You should also bring snacks like fruit or granola bars to snack on and avoid paying the crazy prices at the airport. Bring a book or ebook to read so you do not get tempted to buy anything at the shops. My DH and I did that but I read all the books I brought during the flights to San Jose and to Hawaii. However, we happened upon a used book store in Hawaii and bought a couple more for the trips back to San Jose and on to Buffalo.

If you are flexible let the gate attendants know they can bump you and you can get credit towards a latter flight. They may also give you food credit or a night at a hotel room depending on the wait for another flight. This does not always work, it worked once for us but the last three times I have asked, it has not worked. Do not rely on it.

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