No Frills Airline
Posted on June 16, 2008
In light of last week’s multiple airline stories ranging from $15 for the first checked bag to $2 sodas I thought I would start the new week off with a few tips that will come in handy now that everybody and their mother will be just packing carry-ons.
Here is the list
- First, get yourself two good 20″ soft-side suitcases. These will fit in most overheads and on smaller planes you can check at the tarmac. Why make sure it is a soft-side? They squish better…
- Look into a courier service. Legendary travel expert Peter Greenberg once told me at dinner that he never travels with his bags. Just Google “Ship your luggage” and you will have many options to choose from.
- Pack smart- one suit and several dress shirts or blouses along with a variety of ties and scarves can make for a lot of choices on a business trip.
- Skins - I really want some of these and plan on getting some. Shoes are most definitely the bulkiest items to deal with. These revolutionary kicks provide you with one hard shell that fits your foot, and then you buy the skins to slip over them. You could pack gym shoes, dress shoes and casual dinner shoes all in the same space of a traditional pair of dress shoes. The downside is they are hard to find. But I am on the hunt.
- Pack your own snacks and buy your water and sodas at the airport – past security… Some airlines, I won’t mention names but they know who they are, have gotten so lazy they will not even offer a beverage service if the flight is an hour or less. And others will charge you now just for a soda. BTW, in Europe they will serve full beverage and snacks on a 30 min flight for free. Makes you wonder why our service in the States is so bad…
- Pack multiple sets of quart bags for your liquids. That way if you’re home for a day and out the next you don’t have to worry about unpacking and repacking – I just grab my other pre-packed bag and go.
- Be an A-Lister – If you fly Southwest you will need a good place in line so use your smart phone to check-in from the road. It is as easy as browsing to http://mobile.southwest.com. You can print your pre-assigned boarding pass at the airport.
- Check the overhead bins on both sides. Sometimes they are larger on one side of the aircraft than the other.
- Be nice and use your space under the seat. We will all need and appreciate the bin space so don’t use more than you need.
- Don’t carry more than you can lift. Most flight attendants can’t or won’t help you. Oh, and if you see some poor soul on crutches give them a hand. Trust me it is not fun having an entire row of first class passengers and a flight attendant look at you in wonderment to see if you can actually get your backpack up there by yourself.
If you can still manage to keep a sense of humor about this whole situation, check out this YouTube video that is being sent around now:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCz8he36hsk.
Who knew Carol Burnett was a prophet?
Travel Safe – Will
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