Money saving travel tips

My pops had full kidney failure last weekend and almost died so I had to hop a plane and spend several days at the VA. Anyhoo here are some of my travel observations from the past couple of days...

Thermacare heating pads are wonderful to wear on the plane. You will feel toasty and your back will love you. Makes suffering thru a red-eye and sitting in those horribly cramped seats a little easier especially when you have big Marines kicking your seat or a someone next to you sleeping on you lol. It is kind of a bummer when a Thermacare falls off in the lavatory and into a puddle of urine (the adhesive doesn't work so great for whatever reason) but I did bring extra free ones :) Oh neck and menstrual cramp relief Thermacares work great on your back too!

Bring along free Fisher nuts for your flights. Nuts typically cost $4.50 in the airport and free way trumps that. Also your seat mates will love you forever especially when food and beverage service is delayed by turbulence.


Bring Nescafe coffee sticks and a reusable coffee travel container instead of paying for high $$$ airport coffee. You can always ask a concession stand for hot water. Or you can drink your coffee cold which certainly won't kill you.

Pack light and only carry a backpack so you don't have to tip anyone to carry your bags for you or pay to check your luggage. A lot of airlines are now asking you to check your carry on at the gate so if you absolutely need to bring more stuff you might be able to skirt the fee to check a bag by checking yours at the gate since the overhead bins are usually always full now. 

If you need to purchase a last-minute emergency airline ticket, check Travelocity.com and then book thru the individual airlines directly. Same goes for rental car price comparison shopping. When you're looking to book a ticket always search with flexible date options so you can see what days will score you the lowest fare.

WiFi is NOT free in the ATL airport! but it was free in the CLT airport which is nice. I signed up for free socks and other freebies while I was waiting around. Unfortunately I couldn't get it at the hospital but I was able to get it off of my I-phone which was weird.

Costco usually has the cheapest gas for when you need to fill-up your car rental, but you can always ask around to find the cheapest  local gas station to save $. You can also ask for a rental car discount if you forget to print one off and they will give it to you.

If you're visiting someone in the hospital, walk a few blocks to find food if you want to avoid hospital food (and the general hospital scenery and get some fresh air in a different environment.) I was able to keep my parking spot (which I would've lost) by just walking a few blocks. Saved me a ton of $. If you need to eat out while you're traveling hit up the local spots to save $ on food.

Trader Joes has 2 buck chuck (at least in California not here in GA.) I did have a beer at the airport on the way home (really needed one) and it was about $10 bucks after tip EK! Course while I was sitting there drinking it I was thinking how I really could've had 5 bottles of wine for the same amount.