Travel Tips That Make Flying Easier and Save You Money

[00:00:00] Ben Walters: Does flying today stress you out with the loss of control and all the delays, and thunderstorms, and disruptions, and cancellations, and nasty interactions with others? Does it bring out an ugly side to you, where you just get in this cuckoo zone when you're flying and you get home and you're like, was that really me who acted like that in the airport? Do you wish traveling was fun again and that you enjoyed that sense of adventure you once had? If any of these things apply to you,

[00:00:28] Ben Walters: listen on to hear my tips and tricks to turn flying from dreadful to decent, to delightful.​

[00:00:41] Ben Walters: Do you ever feel stuck? The alarm goes off and you think, "Is this really my life?" Do you wish you could douse your relationships, or your career, or even your business with rocket fuel and throw a match on it? End the blah once and for all. They either launch or they burn up and you get to start over.

[00:00:59] Ben Walters: [00:01:00] I've been there and I see you. I'm Ben Walters, an entrepreneur, pastor, coach, and consultant. If you're ready to get unstuck and ignite your SuperPumped Life or Business, I'll give you the rocket fuel and the match. All you have to do is light it. 

[00:01:21] Ben Walters: In episode 14, I shared the story of how two missed flights helped me to meet my wife serendipitously in an airport in London, and many of you have reached out and you've actually said, well, you're just the luckiest guy in the world then, that, you know, doesn't happen for most of us. And then a lot of you have launched into all these horror stories of, kind of, summer travel nightmares, and so I thought, well, I don't know. Am I the luckiest guy in the world or do I have some secret sauce?

[00:01:50] Ben Walters: And I realized I actually do have a secret sauce. Anytime you do things enough times you get better at them. And I thought about how I started flying and when I was really young, I've been [00:02:00] flying a lot, for probably close to 40 years.

[00:02:04] Ben Walters: And so over that time, anytime you do anything that much, you become better at it and you, kind of, develop a way of doing that, 'cause nobody wants to do it as much as I have either for business or for leisure, and have it be just a miserable part of your life.

[00:02:21] Ben Walters: And so, I decided, you know, what let's jot some things down. And I went, looked back, I have this folder of all my old frequent flyer cards and I was looking at like, US Airways, America West, TWA Northwest, Continental. Then I could remember, like I flew on Value Jet and AirTran and there was one out west, it was called PSA Airlines, and I'd flown on all these planes.

[00:02:46] Ben Walters: And so I have gotten pretty good at this. And right now I've got, I'm approaching 2 million miles on Delta, I'm a, Diamond Medallion member, which is a very good level of status, but I've also flown, I was thinking about this. [00:03:00] I've flown Frontier, and Allegiant, and Spirit, and all these budget airlines as well. So don't think that, I don't know the, the grind of that as well.

[00:03:09] Ben Walters: So today I want to break this down for you in, what I would call, four easy parts. And some of this stuff you've heard before, but when you start putting all these little pieces together, it all adds up to being able to really take control of that flight process, even when things go wrong, and to make it good.

[00:03:27] Ben Walters: So, here's what I'm gonna say, pre-flight. These are some pre-flight kind of tips. First off, start with a very broad search on Google, or Travelocity, or Expedia, where you're looking at all the airlines. I really like Google Flights because you can, you can actually do interactive things with maps if it's a leisure trip, and you can, kind of, see what are your options there. And then once you've, kind of, narrowed down on your airports, and your dates, and all that. Well, and, and let me backtrack the more flexible you are on both where [00:04:00] you fly out of and your dates, the more likely you are to get a better fare, if that's important to you. So, like, where I live, in Cincinnati, I can also, within a two hour drive, I can go to Lexington, Kentucky, Louisville, Kentucky, Indianapolis, Columbus, or Dayton.

[00:04:14] Ben Walters: If I really want to be budget conscious, and this happens more when I'm flying with our whole family, where it's six of us flying, that gets expensive. Even an additional hundred or $150 a ticket could mean a thousand dollar difference. So, be flexible on how you do it, and that'll help you get the best deal.

[00:04:33] Ben Walters: Then, you really need to consider, once you look at those fares, how many flights a day or a week there are on that airline between those two cities. So, for example, Frontier, when we were flying my brother back and forth from here, whose special needs, they only had a certain number of flights per week. So it was one per day, but only on certain days. And so if something went wrong ,and he's not able to connect in Denver, that's one of their hubs, he was [00:05:00] stuck for a few days. And so as you think about the window you have of when you're flying, you've gotta remember, okay, does that airline, it may sound like a great amazing fare, but if they cancel that, you know, Florida flight on Allegiant back home for you, how long are you willing to be there? Whereas some of the airlines may have 4, 5, 6, 10 flights a day to and from those cities. You're gonna have a lot more flexibility when things go sideways, and we'll get to that later, if there's more flights on your airlines. So that's the first thing I would say.

[00:05:32] Ben Walters: But the second thing is, so you've done this broad search on Google flights or one of those Travelocity, Expedia, but when you book, book directly with the airline, and here's why. First off, you're gonna get the best customer service. Second off, you have 24 hours to cancel with a full refund. I'm not talking 24 hours to cancel and then you get some flight credits. I'm talking cash back on your credit card or in your, in your pocket. So that really gives you some flexibility because sometimes you may [00:06:00] see a really good fare, but you haven't quite vetted it with everybody. And this happens sometimes with our, our kids, where I'll see a fair, and I know they're coming home roughly in that time range.

[00:06:09] Ben Walters: So I'll book a couple of 'em and then say, when our final's over and then, they'll say, oh, they're over on Wednesday at two, and then you'll say, okay, well the Thursday flight won't work, but the Wednesday at 7:00 PM will work. And so you can then cancel one money back to you and get that better fare.

[00:06:24] Ben Walters: So the other thing is if you're traveling the budget airlines, and you know you're gonna have checked bags, pay for those upfront,. That's the cheapest time to get those. If you try to do that at the airport, it's gonna be a lot higher fare. They're also trying to ding you at the airport, so if you think you're just gonna slide one through on them, that's part of their whole revenue model. So they're not gonna let you just slide through with a big old, walk-on carry-on bag, if you didn't pay for it. So if you're on a budget airline, frontier Allegiance, spirit, those types. Pay in advance for your stuff.

[00:06:56] Ben Walters: Another thing that's really important, even if you don't fly a lot, sign [00:07:00] up for the frequent flyer program of the airline you are going on, and that'll come with some perks on most airlines. So, like, on some now, you'll get free wifi on the flight, which is really cool. You also, of course, accumulate miles for free travel, and you may think, oh, I'm not gonna fly that much, but life has a funny way of throwing things at you, and all of a sudden you're traveling that route more than you think. And so let those miles accumulate up and that'll help you, not only get free travel, but also get some status within their program.

[00:07:29] Ben Walters: Second thing within that structure is download the airline app. That is the way they want you to communicate with them, and that is the best way they communicate with you. They're gonna send updates on that, you're gonna be able to check in for your flight on that, add bags if you need to, manage changes, all of that is right there on the app. Tons of information. So get their app. And then what I would encourage you to do this is, kind of, a boss move. If you're gonna be traveling fairly regularly on an airline, and I mean regularly if you're traveling two or three times a year, and that's not a [00:08:00] lot in my opinion, but get their credit card. Because a lot of them, there's an introductory either lower rate or, or free rate for the first year, and that's gonna get you free bags. It's gonna get you discounts on your onboard purchases, you're gonna accrue miles a lot faster. So if you have, you know, Southwest credit card, you're gonna get more with that because you have that.

[00:08:24] Ben Walters: These things kind of work together. The frequent flyer, signing up for that, and then the, credit card go together. Also, loyalty cuts both ways. If you wanna save a nickel every time you fly, and you have very little brand loyalty, they're not gonna have any loyalty to you. So it, it goes both ways. If you want them to really treat you well, you might have to pay a little bit more to be on your preferred airline.

[00:08:48] Ben Walters: Here is a key thing. Get TSA PreCheck. It is somewhere between 78 and $85 for five years. Now do the math on that. That's around $15.50 a year, up to [00:09:00] $17 a year. For not taking your shoes off, not taking your laptop out of your bag, not pulling out all of your toiletries. And I would say, on average, when I travel, the lines for TSA are somewhere between half and a third, the amount of time. So if the regular line is an hour. TSA is 30 minutes, maybe even 20 minutes, whereas you know you're gonna be spending more time. So it's just, it saves you time, it saves you hassle. That whole process of getting to security is so much easier. And what's cool about it is you don't even have to go to the airport to get your TSA PreCheck. You can do it at all kinds of places, including Staples and some other places that might be just around the corner from where you live. Get that.

[00:09:40] Ben Walters: And also, if you get that airline credit card, a lot of them will give you TSA and sometimes even Clear for free. Now, Clear has made a big push, but Clear is pretty expensive. It's around $200, a little over $200 a year. So unless you're traveling a lot, that probably isn't worth it for just a, leisure or moderate [00:10:00] business traveler. But TSA PreCheck is definitely worth it.

[00:10:04] Ben Walters: If you're going abroad often, get Global entry, that really expedites things. You can spend a lot of time waiting around, coming through customs and all that kind of stuff, immigration. And Global entry just expedites that whole process.

[00:10:17] Ben Walters: So now let's move on to one of my really, fun tips. If you have an early flight and you need to leave your car at the airport, I want you to look at airport park and ride deals, and here's why. A lot of times, let's say you're, you're gonna park at the airport for a week, right? And the cost is $15 a day, that's $105, right? And you're gonna have to, let's say you have a 5:30 AM flight, and the airport's 40 minutes from your house, you might be leaving your house at 3, 3:30 in the morning. Right? That's brutal. It's a brutal way to start your trip. But with these airport park and rides at these hotels, a lot of 'em will let you leave the car there for free with the one night you book there, [00:11:00] which is really awesome because you can go in there the night before, get yourself organized, get a little bit more sleep, and then there's a shuttle. So you just drag your stuff down to the lobby, jump on the shuttle, it takes you right to the actual terminal versus, in most of those parking at the airport, you've gotta park somewhere and then, either ride a shuttle then and drag all your stuff, or, you know, drag it through a big parking garage, that type of thing.

[00:11:26] Ben Walters: Really a cool deal. So consider that, pay at the hotel, leave your car there, let them shuttle to and from, just more sleep, less stress, it's easier. So that's kind of pre-flight stuff.

[00:11:38] Ben Walters: Now, day of flight. Let's move on to that. First off, pack light. You do not need everything under the sun. Here's a boss tip. You can do laundry along the way, or you can have people do laundry along the way. And what I have found is most of the time the limited amount of laundry you need to get you through the rest of a trip is way cheaper than that checked bag fee. You're gonna pay [00:12:00] $50 for a check bag fee, but maybe 15 or 20 to laundry your stuff, and you're traveling lighter. So that's way easier.

[00:12:07] Ben Walters: Here's one of my tips that I have some, conflict with my family about. I believe you should bring items you can donate or discard along the way. Now, what do I mean by that? It sounds crazy, right? You're just gonna bring, like, clothing that you're gonna then either donate or throw away along the way. ?Well, here's the thing. I like to work out when I'm, when I'm traveling, try and keep in shape, right? So you're going down to a, either a, a hotel, a workout center, maybe you're going for a run through the city. That stuff gets kind of gross, right? So each of us, at least in my world, have those t-shirts or pieces of clothing where you can't get rid of them. It's hard to part with them. But your wife's like, man, that's becoming pretty threadbare. It's, it's looking terrible. It's starting to have little holes in it and that kind of thing. What I do is I just throw that in a pile, and then when I'm traveling the next time, grab a few of those, [00:13:00] think about how many times am I gonna work out on that trip, and maybe there's a pair of tennis shoes that's getting a little thin in the soul, bring those tennis shoes. And guess what, instead of having then those dirty, smelly items, right? I can just pitch 'em along the way. What the cool thing is, is that then opens up room in my bag for either items like souvenirs I've picked up, or if I was at a conference and maybe there was a couple of cool books that I, I found that I wanna read, i've got that space for that. So really encourage you to take, items that you maybe don't care about as much.

[00:13:30] Ben Walters: My daughter and I were arguing about this, 'cause I said, think about if you're wearing a sweater, I was thinking about a guy and she said, well, women don't necessarily wear t-shirts under sweaters, but I said, most guys are gonna wear a t-shirt under that. So in the winter, wear that t-shirt that's thread bear under and then be done with it. It's, it's a really cool way to do things.

[00:13:50] Ben Walters: Another idea if you're traveling with multiple people is reduced bags by sharing. Not everyone needs their own bag. Like, you may decide you're gonna have two checked bags, but let's say you [00:14:00] have three people. Three people probably can get it in there. Or you could all go with huge bags, three full bags that are two thirds full, and it's just that much more to manage, that much more to pay for.

[00:14:12] Ben Walters: Here is a critical tip. If you are traveling, dress up. We are walking through airports of just complete slobs, people in, pajamas, and sweatpants and shower caps, and I can guarantee you, when you need something, your look makes a big difference. I know they would say it doesn't, but if you look sharp, if you look put together, if you look like you respect yourself and you respect this process of travel, it goes a long way. And I can remember I was telling my son this, he's in college and he'd be like, oh, who cares if I wear a backwards ball cap and a pair of gym shorts. And he had a couple of things go wrong, and not much, he didn't get much action in getting any help. 'cause here he is, like 18 or 19 [00:15:00] and he looks like a, a clown, as I would call it.

[00:15:03] Ben Walters: The next times, he just threw on, it's simple, he threw on, like, a golf shirt, and a pair of khakis, or even a khaki shorts say. I would call it golf attire, right? Nothing fancy. He wasn't in a suit, or anything with a tie. But when things went wrong, guess what? They were like, okay, this kid's somewhat serious. We have to take him serious, and he actually got some things worked out that I don't think he would've got worked out in his backwards ball cap. So dress up, also dress in layers. So you never know if it's gonna be hotter than blazes or colder than the Arctic. So, you know, have layers be able to kind of peel off things and go from there.

[00:15:38] Ben Walters: Another important thing in advance, know your alternate routings. On your airline and others. Because once the stuff starts to go south, in cancellations and delays, that's not the time to start your research, because time is of the essence, and I'm gonna get into that a little bit later.

[00:15:57] Ben Walters: Now here's another boss tip. If you have an early [00:16:00] flight, let's say you're flying, you're at a hotel right now and you're flying home on a 6:00 AM flight, right? Don't check outta your hotel at 4:30 in the morning. Now here's why. First off, most of you should have mobile check-in and check-out. So whatever the check-out time officially is, 11 or noon, that's when you've paid for that room. And here's the deal, a lot of those early morning flights get canceled. And what happens when that gets canceled? Let's say you have a 6:00 AM flight out and it gets canceled, or you're pushed back till a 2:30 or 3:00 PM flight. If you still have that room, guess what? Jump right back on that airport shuttle, head right back to the room, then you can decide, do you want to get another little bit of sleep? Do you wanna pull out your laptop and do some Zoom meetings? You have, kind of, a workspace carved out for yourself because you still have that hotel room. You could even decide, you know what, I'm gonna go back there, put my stuff down, go for a run, throw away all your donatable stuff 'cause you don't need it, remember you brought stuff you don't care about, so it's not smelly. You utilize [00:17:00] that all the way through.

[00:17:00] Ben Walters: And if you do get on the plane, if you are like, okay, I'm definitely not going back to that hotel, do the hotel a favor. Go on your mobile app, check outta the hotel at 6:30 in the morning. They'll like that, but that's your room. Keep that asset until the last possible minute.

[00:17:16] Ben Walters: Now here's a kind of a tip. I want you to travel with as little as possible, and ideally not check any bags, but if you struggle with luggage, if you are older, or you have a lot of kids, or you have some mobility issues, check your bags. It's just gonna make life so much simpler for you.

[00:17:36] Ben Walters: Now, here's my onboard tips. If you need overhead space, meaning you've got that big rolling bag, right? You need a board as early as possible, and you want to pick the first space available as you go down the aisle. Just 'cause you're in row 32 doesn't mean your bag has to go on row 32. The boss move is as soon as you see an open spot, not in first class and not in Comfort+ 'cause that's reserved and you're gonna get [00:18:00] in a little bit of trouble for that. But beyond that, it's a free-for-all in coach. So just jam that bag in wherever you can find a spot. 'Cause if you wait till the very back of the plane, and then have to try and swim upstream, pretty good chance you're gonna end up with that gate-checked bag and you're gonna be waiting for it at your destination.

[00:18:16] Ben Walters: Now here's the other thing. If you've got a long flight, a four or five hour, eight hour, fifteen hour flight, and you don't need overhead space, why are you getting on that plane an hour early or 45 minutes early? You can wait 'till the end. There's no requirement. Even if you're in boarding group two or one, even if you're in first class, you don't have to get on that plane, and sit there for the hour while everybody else boards if you just don't like that. So decide when you're gonna get on. Just don't miss your flight. I've done that.

[00:18:50] Ben Walters: Here's another tip. Put your bag in the right way. I see more and more people putting their bag with like six inches on one side and eight inches on the other, and then guess what? We run out of overhead space. [00:19:00] Put it snug against either those dividers in the wall or against other bags. Put it tight and orientate it, right? Don't put it long ways. If it's supposed to go straight in.

[00:19:10] Ben Walters: Another important thing, help others out. If it's a mom, if it's, you know, mom traveling with kids and a baby, be of some use. You know, can I carry that bag? Can I put that up? The elderly is another case. I'm amazed the number of older people who are bringing these huge heavy bags onto planes and then, they can't get it on, but the flight attendant can't get to 'em, like, help some people out here. It's okay.

[00:19:34] Ben Walters: Another thing to remember, it's okay to ask for more than one snack. Or more than one drink. If they say the choice is a Biscoff Cookie and pretzels, you could say, can I have both? And then on your snack, people get dehydrated on planes all the time, it's okay to say, I want a, a Coke, and could I have a glass of water with that? I guarantee you, nine times outta ten, nobody has a problem with it. So stay hydrated and stay [00:20:00] fed so you don't get hangry.

[00:20:01] Ben Walters: I would also say get up and walk around on your plane. Some people, like, they're cemented into their seats. That's not good for you. Your body needs to move. If your Apple Watch's telling you time to stand, it means it's time to stand.

[00:20:13] Ben Walters: So get up. Get moving. You can walk around, go to the galley, and what's cool is in the galley they have extra food and drinks. So you can go to the galley and say, hey, I'm gonna get a couple glasses of water, and they're fine with that. Or, do you have any more of those Biscoff Cookies That kind of thing.

[00:20:27] Ben Walters: One final tip on the plane. Be willing to move seats to help families out. It's so stressful if you're a family, and that's gonna be our next podcast, is traveling as a family. But, you know, you've got your 8-year-old in one row, and you're in this row with your 4-year-old, and then your spouse is clear at the back of the plane, that's tough. So let's say you're the seat next to the kid. Just tell the flight attendant or the dad or the mom, hey, I, I can switch with you. And man, that builds good karma in the world. But do you know the other thing? And they don't tell you [00:21:00] this 'cause they, I guess don't always, they can't always do it, but a lot of times when you're willing to do that, guess what? They'll move you up to either Comfort or to first class. So they'll be like, we really appreciate ,that you've given up your seat here, come up front. So it's kind of a good way, it's a win-win. And worst case, if you go back into 32B and you've got a middle seat, hopefully the world makes it right with you.

[00:21:22] Ben Walters: So those are some travel tips and we will get into more about when things go sideways next time, and we will also on the third podcast get into this idea of traveling with kids. And some people say how hard that is, but we will get into that. I wanna just kind of go back and review a few things

[00:21:44] Ben Walters: Book directly with the airline, get in their frequent flyer program, and ideally get their credit card if you're gonna be traveling with them a lot. You want to pack light, you want to pack some things that are, you're able to get rid of or be prepared to do laundry. It's okay. It's easier [00:22:00] than being stuck with a bunch of stuff that you can't carry, that you don't want. And then, when you're on those flights, be kind to one another. Help each other out, take care of one another. And I guarantee you that the good you do will come back to you manyfold. 

[00:22:15] ​

[00:22:20] Ben Walters: Thanks for joining me today on the SuperPumped podcast. If you enjoyed today's show as much as I did, I have three quick next steps for you. First, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube to make sure you don't miss future episodes. Next, leave me a review in your podcast app and tell your friends about the show so others can find and benefit from the SuperPumped community.

[00:22:44] Ben Walters: And finally, to put the ideas from today's show into action, visit us at SuperPumped.com to view the show notes, book a complimentary consultation, or take our free business launch readiness assessment. Keep well and I'll see you next [00:23:00] time.