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Unless you are living
abroad, you trip will more than likely include
some type of air travel. Most people are
very familiar with air travel, but we have
listed a few things to consider that you may not
have considered.
Also be sure to review
our pages on baggage weight restrictions and how
to possibly get around them:
Airline Size
& Weight Restrictions
/
Beating Bag
Restrictions.
Airline Fares &
Ancillary Revenue
In the airline
industry, ancillary revenue is
revenue from non-ticket sources, such as
baggage fees and on-board food and services.
You may find some
great flight deals but when you add in other
options, your great deal may no longer be a
great deal.
For example, we
recently found a round trip flight on
Norwegian Air from Denver to Paris for a
total of $420...a great deal! Having
flexible days, we found this fare by
adjusting our days of departure and return
slightly to obtain the lowest fare possible.
Optional services
were available such as checking a bag,
pre-reserving a seat and ordering an
in-flight meal, all for about $50 each.
By selecting these options, our great deal
of $420 would now cost a whopping $720.
If you are traveling with others, multiple
that by the number in your party. For
just 2 people, that's an additional $600.
| |
Departure |
Return |
Total |
Fare |
Grand Total |
|
Pre-Reserved
Seat: |
$50 |
$50 |
$100 |
|
|
|
In-Flight
Meal: |
$50 |
$50 |
$100 |
|
|
|
Checked Bag: |
$50 |
$50 |
$100 |
|
|
| |
$150 |
$150 |
$300 |
$420 |
$720 |
Fortunately we are
Traveling Lite and Traveling Smart.
We are not checking a bag, don't care where
we sit and will be bringing our own
sandwiches and snacks for the flight; saving
the two of us $600.
Think about it, for
two people traveling together, do you really
want to spend $100 on a coach class airline
meal? If you are like us, we would
rather spend that $100 on a nice meal out in
some exotic location.
Arrive Early
Our advice is to arrive early at the airport
leaving no chance of missing your flight.
Check-in lines could be long and security wait times
even longer. It may be better to wait an extra hour at
the airport rather than trying to time
things exactly to minimize the wait time.
Automated Check-In
Many airlines have
automated check-in stations that may be used
helping to avoid long lines at the check-in
desk. The check-in stations may work
differently, but in general you should be
able to insert a personal credit card to
find your reservation even if it is not the
card used to purchase your tickets.
Once inserted and your reservation is found,
simply follow the on-screen prompts to print
your boarding pass.
If you are checking a bag or traveling
internationally, you would not be able to
use the automated check-in station.
Selecting your seat
Most people do not
want a center seat and would prefer either
the window or isle. We have listed
some things to consider if you have the
option of selecting your seat location.
Window Seat
Sitting next to the
window will provide some addition support
when sleeping. It's easy to prop your
pillow against the window or side of the
plane which you may find more comfortable
when sleeping.
Isle Seat
Having an isle seat
makes it much easier to get out of your seat
for bathroom breaks or to stretch your legs
as you do not have to climb over people or
ask them to move to let you out. The
other advantage of an isle seat is you will
be able to easily stretch one leg in the
isle and perhaps both if you sit at an
angle.
Exit Rows
Typically exit rows
should have additional leg room. You
may be asked if you are physically able to
open the door in an emergency. If not,
you may have to relocate to another row.
Depending on the aircraft configuration, it
may have double exit doors in the center of
the plane. Each row should have
additional leg room, but if you are seated
in the first row, your seat may not recline,
or may have limited reclining capability.
Other Rows
If you are able to
display a seat map, you may find that some
rows provide additional leg room. This
of course depends on the configuration of
the aircraft. Sitting in the center of
the plane in the row before the lavatory may
have several feet of leg room especially if
there is also an exit door at that location.
The downside is that you will not have any
under seat storage in front of you and
during your flight people may be standing
there. In a dark plane, you may
actually get stepped on if people cannot see
your feet or stretched out legs.
Low Cost Carriers
Low Cost Carriers (LCC)
are basically no frills airlines offering
inexpensive flights with no additional
services, or a-la-carte services that may be
purchased separately and in addition to your
air fare such as priority boarding, meals,
extra carry on, specific seat, etc.
Now days, just about anything you can think
of can be purchased in addition to your
fare.
One specific carrier
we will mention is
Ryan Air. We used to fly Ryan Air
often while we lived in England. They
frequently offered flights throughout Europe
for 10 GBP or less (about $20 USD at the time). Where they
made there money was by charging additional
taxes and fees. So, that fare you
found for just a few dollars would end up costing
you around 40 GBP ($80) round trip.
Still a great deal, but you can see how it
works.
Alternative
Airports
You may also find
that LCC may not fly out of some major
airports. For example, Ryan Air does
not fly out of London Heathrow but rather
out of the three other minor airports located around
London: Gatwick, Luton, Stansted. So
depending on where you are, you may have to
do some driving or take the train to get to
an airport serviced by them.
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