4 tips to save a buck (or two) at the airport

by Jason Barger on January 8, 2009

How many times this week have you heard someone start off a sentence with, “Well, in this economy…”?

It seems like the economy has become the scapegoat for anything and everything in our daily lives and certainly the center of our attention. So whether or not you’ve taken it a bit far and attribute your slightly soggy French fries to the depressed economy, the fact is that the state of the economy does have all of us thinking about ways to save a buck or two.

In a recent challenge to myself, I decided to see how far $20 would go in a 24 hour period in the airport. Next time you head to the airport, consider these small buck saving practices:

1. Newspapers. Before you purchase another newspaper for your flight, scan the gate area and notice all of the newspapers lying on the chairs. I never waited longer than a couple of minutes before I could find a newspaper waiting to be put to use.

2. Coffee. We’ve all been told by now how much money can be saved in an average week just by cutting out the gourmet coffee expense. As a coffee lover, I know this is difficult for some, but there are good options at a slightly lower price. Dunkin Donuts offers a great option.

3. Smarte Carte. If you’re not in a terrible hurry but need some assistance with your heavy luggage, don’t settle for the first Smarte Carte stand you find. Walk a couple of extra gates and keep your eyes peeled for a Smarte Carte that was abandoned. It will save you a quick $3.

4. Water Bottle. Instead of purchasing the $3 bottled water at each of your stops along your journey, bring an empty bottle with you and fill it up in the drinking fountains throughout your travels. Those $3 drinks add up quickly.

These small adjustments along your path will save you at least $10 per trip. For the frequent weekly traveler, this could save anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand over the course of a year.

“In this economy,” that may not be a bad idea.

Jason Barger is author of Step Back from the Baggage Claim: Change the World, Start at the Airport.

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Tagged as: economy, Jason Barger, Step back from the baggage claim, travel

  • Frank

    Next time you’re at the Airport, notice all the flight attendants with lunch boxes. I have an extra tote packed with FOOD. Heck, the airlines dont feed me either. Granola bars, peanut butter/jelly sandwiches, apples, oranges, banana’s, cereal (I buy Milk at the Airport), oatmeal (I use the coffee maker in the hotel to heat water). I know my layover hotels pretty well, so if they have a microwave, I know in advance to bring popcorn, soup, chilly or reheat a meal from the airport or home.
    You’re over-spending, Jason. $20 for just ONE day at the airport? Ask a flight attendant, many spend $20 on a 3-day trip! We’d rather bring that money HOME.
    I think my best accomplishment was $24 on a 4-day trip. Being from NYC, my cost of living here is insane, so going to work actually helps me save!
    Great article, Jason. How much of that $20 did you save?

  • DrWong

    Great tips, Jason – especially the part about bringing food from home (or from the hotel, if you’re staying at a Marriott Residence Inn or Hampton or Hilton Garden Inn!). I had a recent 6 am cross-country flight and my options were to either buy an onboard breakfast or buy food at the airport. Not knowing what the onboard selections would be, I spent over $20 on that breakfast – $8 for a hot sandwich, $6 for a small bowl of cut fruit, $2 for a 6 oz cup of yogurt, $2 for a half-pint of milk, and $2 for a small box of cereal, PLUS tax. It was certainly more expensive than the on-board breakfast, but at least I knew what I was getting. I knew I could have saved $2 by waiting until I got onboard and gotten a carton of milk from a flight attendant, but I would have had to wait an hour for the beverage service to begin.

  • Carrie Charney

    Bringing my own home-brewed gourmet coffee to the airport along with food saves me money. I wash and stow the container either before my flight or after.

  • Allen Graham

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences so that we can save money too!

  • http://grahamstravelblog.blogspot.com GrahamsTravelBlog

    The newspaper tip also extends, to a lesser extent, to books and magazines. I see these laying around all the time, all you have to do is look.

    On the magazine front, I’ve gone and subscribed to the magazines that I’m tempted to purchase at the airport. The subscription is usually paid for within the first 2 or 3 issues compared to buying them at the airport. The trick is remembering to bring them with you.

  • http://tripso joan braun

    Carrie – how do you get your home brew through security?
    Another food tip — I always carry a sandwich size tupperware type container. Doggie bag leftovers from a restaurant meal make great airport or airplane snacks!

  • Frank

    Ever experienced the way small moments impact our lives?
    ====================================================

    Looking forward to more articles related to your book! I think it was in the 90′s that I realized that I needed to search out MORE moments of joy rather then let the day influence my nerves. One of the advantages of being at the airport is that it’s full of life. what a great place to “people-watch”. The innocence of children, as they run to the window to look at the plane at the gate. Excited by its size, the activity on the ramp. I hate to admit this, but, I used to go to the airport on my days off and enjoy watching planes take-off, find a new time-table, watch flight attendants arrive from all over the world and admire their uniforms. I understand the innocence of children. Their first look into the cockpit. They are my favorite passengers……….because they remind me to look for those moments of JOY.

  • Frank
  • Frank

    And, I just bought it. January 15th arrival. I look forward to reading it.

  • Amy

    I also bring tea bags and my own coffee tumbler when I travel. Hot water is free in airports and flight attendants will also usually refill my cup for me.

  • AKFlyer

    Flight crew in uniform are exempt from the 3 oz/quart ziploc limit when they go through security. Maybe that’s how the other posters got their home-brew coffee and yogurt into the boarding area?

    I get frustrated both by the expense and by the inadequate food choices at most airports. I like to eat small amounts low on the food chain (especially when traveling) but most airport offerings consist of huge servings of highly processed fats and carbs. I take as much fresh fruit and veggies (e.g. baby carrots) plus nuts along as possible but getting adequate protein during long trips in and out of Alaska is challenging.

    Once in my hotel room, I whip out my brought-from-home ground Sumatra and coffee filters, which I substitute for the execrable coffee pods that are usually provided by the hotel. That, a banana, and maybe a Clif bar (getting sick of those!) is my breakfast — cheaper, faster, and more contemplative than the usual pre-meeting scramble.

  • Dee

    Jason said:
    “…bring an empty bottle with you and fill it up in the drinking fountains throughout your travels”.
    ————————

    I would think twice about filling a water bottle from a public drinking fountain. You just never know when people may have put their mouths (Slurped, licked, dribbled) on the spout.

  • Doctor Hemlock

    My local supermarket carries dried soups in cardboard bowls; I’ve also started seeing cereal in the same containers. They’re a bit bulky, but they fit at the bottom of my sales catalog case quite neatly, so I bring a half-dozen of them with me on all trips, along with a couple rolls in a zip-loc.

    On the plane, I just ask for hot water and have a nice bowl of hot soup. In the hotel, I make hot water with the coffee kit. Because i fly a lot of trans-oceanics coach, and because I sleep for almost the entire flight, I can get a hot meal down and be asleep before most passengers have unbuckled and started rooting around in the overheads.

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