So you’ve made it past the long lines, your bags are checked and your flight doesn’t board for another half hour. Suddenly, a low rumbling comes from your stomach: you’re hungry, and a Terminal B Starbucks bagel doesn’t sound half bad.
I just hope you’re prepared to fork over enough cash to pay for a Seinfeld reunion–because you’re at the airport, where the value of the Dollar is significantly lower. Hmm, maybe they’re preparing you for your European trip.
At any rate, use this checklist to avoid overpaying at the airport.
Eat before you leave, pack snacks
According to the Huffington Post, food is more expensive at the airport because airport restaurants have higher operating expenses. This explains why those McDonald’s fries cost a small fortune, but it doesn’t mean you have to pay for them.
You can easily avoid this cost by eating before you leave for the airport. That way, you won’t be tempted by the array of overpriced choices available.
Make sure to pack snacks, too. As long as it’s not liquid or gel, you’re good. Here are some filling snacks that won’t take up too much room in your carry-on:
- Granola bars
- Pretzels
- Dried fruit
- Nuts
- Beef jerky
- Cheese sticks
- Trail mix
- Dried cereal (some flights may even have milk)
Exchange your money
Need to exchange currency doing your fancy overseas trip? Do it before you go. Transaction fees for currency exchange are notoriously high at airports. When you land in another country, you’re probably going to need cash for transportation to your hotel.
Before your trip, consider exchanging a hundred bucks or so at your local bank. This will tide you over until you reach an ATM or bank at your destination
Better yet, open a credit card with no foreign transaction fees, and use that! But hey, that’s a different money saving topic for a different money saving day. Let’s move on, shall we?
Pack headphones
With all the airline fees we have to pay, you’d think they’d toss in the dumb headphones. Not always. Most flights I’ve taken offer free headphones to use, but some don’t. Just toss a pair in your carry-on.
Find out if it’s cheaper to check bags online
Some airlines charge less if you check your bag at the airport. Before you leave, find out if you get a discount for checking your bag online. You do? Well, do it, then.
I try to avoid checking a bag altogether, but if you have to do it, there’s no point in paying extra.
Pack an empty water bottle
Last month, reader Michelle emailed me her own airport money saving tip:
“What I do now is bring an empty water bottle with me through security, and then fill it up with water at the water fountain when I get inside the terminal. If you have a thermos, that works too – and also reduces waste!”
Michelle knows what’s up.
Save web pages before you leave
Sometimes I have to work while I’m traveling (boo). Because I write for the Internet, this usually means I need the Internet. Checking my email at 30,000 feet blows my mind. But it’s also really expensive. So whenever I can, I pick the web pages I want to work with, and then I save them for offline viewing before I go.
So all of my resources are there, and I don’t have to pay to connect to the Internet. Wi-Fi is cool and all, but if you can, do without it.
More like Why-Fi, am I right? Yikes, sorry.
Pack medicine
Meandering through the airport = instant headache. And at those little airport gift shops, even single-packet pills are expensive. It can’t hurt to pack a few doses of OTC headache meds.
Airport spending is a quick way to go through a chunk of your travel money. But with a little preparation, you can avoid the crazy prices at the airports.
Photo by Luke Ma.
“Why-fi”- Ha! I think the idea of packing an empty water bottle is brilliant. I’ve been in the position where I have to chug a full bottle of water before I get to security, but never actually thought to take an empty bottle through. I will say we always pack a ton of snacks, because not only is all the food they have in an airport junk, it’s way too expensive. And I hate to admit it, but I have held up lines at the airport (once) when I found out I would have to pay $50 for a second checked bag. I ended up squeezing it all into one and grabbing a bunch of underwear/socks and throwing them into my wife’s purse to make sure it would all fit. Not my finest moment, but I didn’t have to pay that outrageous fee!
Haha well $50 for a bag is crazy, I don’t blame you! Yeah the water bottle thing kinda blew my mind–I don’t know why I never thought about that.
Ahh, I love travel tips! I learned about the water bottle trick when I brought a Nalgene full of water (derp) up to the security check. They said I could either drink it or leave it. There was NO way I was leaving my favorite Shrek-green water bottle behind so I chugged a good liter in 2 minutes. Needless to say, I bring it empty now!
I wouldn’t have left that behind, either! Yep–definitely bringing an empty from now on 🙂
Love the wi-fi tip…wish I would have thought of that!
I travel for work frequently, which means dragging equipment with me (I teach sugar art…you should see what security does when they see all the pvc pipe I pack for rolling pins…bomb sniffing dogs every time). Most times the $50 bag charge is cheaper than UPS or FedEx to ship it!
Wow–I bet that’s a pain. Really cool job, though!
Hi Kristin – thanks for mentioning my tip! I actually read this a few days ago but forgot to leave a comment!
By the way, some credit card rewards plans let you check in a bag for free. I have a Delta SkyMiles American Express card and I always get 1 free bag to check-in as a result. People traveling with me can check-in one free bag, too!
Hi Michelle–no problem. It was a great tip, and I like your credit card advice, too. That’s a great deal!
Love this! Great tips, Kristin. Michelle’s contribution is timely — I was super bummed to find a water bottle fill-up station at my gate in SanFran after I’d just purchased a SECOND water bottle to stay hydrated. Epic budget fail. I’ve also learned that some in-flight snacks are sometimes cheaper than what’s offered at the airport. For example, a bag of Chex Mix at an airport store is typically $3.99, while the same bag is offered for $2.99 on Frontier.
Thanks, Kendal! And don’t worry, I’ve made that same mistake. I’m actually surprised the Chex is cheaper on the flight. But maybe it has to do with that whole operating expense thing. Boo. I miss free food on flights! I pay a couple hundred bucks, they can’t toss in a sandwich or something? I’m hungry.