How to Best Travel the Multiverse
Tips to make your summer travel a little less painful
Karen and I were traveling last week and let me tell you, it’s a minefield out there. We’ve been getting hundreds of airline, hotel, Airbnb and car rental cases so we suspected we would likely return with some battle wounds of our own. Us Karens aren’t immune to horrible experiences, but we’re going to share some tips that can help make traveling as smooth as possible.
Put an airtag, tile, orbit or some sort of tracker in your baggage so you can see where it is if it gets lost. Has anyone else seen the videos of the Toronto Airport and the sea of endless baggage from AirCanada? We have a client whose bag has been lost for 25 days and counting. They can’t tell her where in the world (literally) her bag is. Thankfully, you have rights as a passenger to get reimbursed for lost luggage and purchases made to replace your items. AirTags aren’t just for tracking your kids or ex-boyfriend (just kidding, don’t do that😅). Adding a way to track your bag should it get lost can help the airline locate and get your bag back to you faster in the event of a baggage delay.
Carry on when you can and have enough to last you a day or two if something happens. If something should happen to you checked bag, make sure you’re prepared and have enough essential items to get you through your first day or two of your trip. Make sure you carry-on all prescriptions and other necessary items. Pack a change of clothes, your phone charger, any glasses or contacts and if you’re going somewhere you’ll be swimming, your bathing suit. There’s nothing much worse than getting to the beach and realizing that perfect bathing suit you bought is stuck in Alaska for 3 days and you can’t go in the ocean.
Make sure you know your airlines rules. Every airline has their own fee schedule and policy, but its super important you know what the policy is for airline you’re flying.
Traditionally, checked baggage has an allowance of 50# per suitcase. On Spirit, however, you only get $40 and you don’t get a carry-on for free. Anytime Karen’s suitcase is overweight, she’s throwing pounds of crap into her carry-on in the middle of the airport trying to make weight like a UFC fighter. On Spirit, that option is going to cost you. Either you pay to bring a carry-on, or you pay their overweight baggage fees. I hope you’re sitting down for these…I wasn’t when I heard them and had to grip the ticket counter for support.
Checked and carry-on bag fee—varies depending on where and when you purchase them.
When we booked, the checked bags were $31 and the carry on was $52 so it was a no brainer to just check a bag, but sometimes it’s the other way around.
Overweight bag fee— bags weighing 41-50# incur an extra $50.
bags weighing 51-70# incur an extra $75.
and bags weighing 70-100 incur an extra $100.
Oversize bag fee – depending on the size and shape of your bag, an oversize bag will run you an additional $100-$150.
It’s also important to pay attention to the kind of ticket you have. First class and coach aren’t they only options anymore. Some airlines have started using two different ticket types for the same seat. For example, on United, Basic Economy is a cheaper option, but it does not include a carry-on bag or choice of seat assignment whereas Standard Economy does. Don’t get caught off guard at the airport, check before purchasing your ticket that it will fit your needs.
Make the personal item work for you. A personal item is more than just a purse or backpack. If you’re only going away for a long weekend, you may be able to get all your stuff packed in a weekender bag and forgo any bag fees. As long as your bag fits under the seat in front of you on the airplane, it’s considered a personal item. Again, check with your specific airline for the specs and maximum size allowed for a personal item.
Purchase (or check the price) at the airport before you book online. When Karen’s flight home was canceled (when she was already at the airport) she knew better than to trust Delta again. There was a direct Spirit flight the next day, so she decided to book that instead. Knowing there are certain fees airlines don’t charge if you book at the airport, she decided to go over to the Spirit ticket counter to book her flight instead of doing it online. She pulled up the flight on her app and went over to the ticket counter. There was a $28 difference. If you’re nice to the agent (which you should be--they didn’t cancel your flight) they might even let you pick your seat for free, which saved Karen another $16. Purchasing at the airport saved $44. We know not everyone is able to pop over to the airport whenever they need to, but if you’re able to, give it a try. Try to go during off hours to avoid peak crowds and most airports have 1-hour free parking for passenger pickup, so park there to avoid paying for parking.
If you forget something essential (or your bags get lost) check with your hotel before buying. Karen forgot to pack toothpaste and a few other items. I suggested heading down to CVS to grab them, but she told me she had it covered. She called down to the hotel concierge and within a few minutes, we had a dental kit (toothbrush, toothpaste, and mouthwash), razor, shaving cream and a comb. The items provided may vary from hotel to hotel, but most have these basic supplies readily available.
Notify immediately if you have any issues. Especially with Airbnb, make sure you contact the host AND Airbnb immediately if something is wrong. Also, only communicate with your host through the Airbnb chat platform. These messages are able to be monitored by Airbnb and can be evidence should you need them to step in. If you’re staying at a hotel, be sure to report any problems to the hotel staff as soon as the arise.
Take pictures of your rental car if you have to drop off after hours. We’ve all been there before, you have a late (or super early) flight and the car rental counter isn’t open at drop off. Protect yourself from any issues and record a video walkaround of the car in the lot when you drop off. If something happens in the hours between drop off and when the attendant checks the car, you can have proof that you left it in fine condition. Also, don’t forget to check the car before you take it and be sure you have them document every dent or damage on the car, better to be safe than responsible for someone else’s damage.
Notify the hotel of any special requests BEFORE you arrive if possible. We thought outrageous minibar prices were just in the movies—boy were we wrong. The hotel we were staying at had a weighted minibar. This means if you so much as move something, you get charged for it regardless if you put it back. We needed to use our fridge for food, but it was packed with stuff and had no room to put anything else in it. There was zero chance we were paying $16 for a 12oz bottle of Fiji water (you read that right, $16—GTFOH) so we called down to the concierge and asked if they could just come take the stuff out of the fridge so we could use it. They claimed they couldn’t do it because we already had checked in and the weighted system would charge no matter what. They said if we requested it be done before we had checked in, the could have accommodated it. I didn’t believe them at all, but we let it go. Karen ended up getting sick from a piece of pizza that sat out too long (ya know, because we had no room in the fridge) and said she wanted to go throw up on the concierge’s desk. In any event, try to make any requests before you check in.
Pack snacks and go to the grocery store if you’re able to. If you’re trying to travel on a budget, or are somewhere that is particularly expensive, try to shop and have some goodies on hand. If nothing else, have some snacks in your room so when its late night and you have a craving, you don’t have to pay 150% markup on food delivery apps.
Have you had a travel nightmare? Let us know in the comments and you might be featured in ‘listen to this shit’ on our TikTok, the place where we talk about the most egregious things we’ve heard.
Good luck out there. We hope your summer travel goes smoothly, but if it doesn't, you know who to call.