Traveling Smart – and Cheap(er)

One good thing about the bad economy is that there are bargains when it comes to airfares.  Even without a lot of notice, one can find a good priced ticket to most destinations.  However, that bargain can quickly add up to a lot of money when paying for check on baggage.  Many photographers need to travel with 2-4 bags of equipment with each bag costing more on a steep sliding scale.

However, many times it ends up being cheaper to purchase an extra ticket.  This not only gives you an empty seat next to you, it also gives you two extra bags to check on. I am a Continental Elite member, so I can fly with two checked bags, each up to 70 lbs. for no additional money. But, if I had two additional bags, (4 total) I would pay extra for each bag on each leg of the trip. This can quickly add up.  For example, anything over the two bags would cost me $80 each additional bag, each leg.  So those two extra bags would come to $320 for a roundtrip. So, if my ticket cost me only $198 then I’m better off by buying an extra ticket than I am paying for excess baggage.  It’s perfectly legal – musicians do it all the time because they don’t want to check in their instruments and buy the extra seat for that purpose.

So, do the math when planning your itinerary – you may end up with a savings plus more mileage in your frequent flier account.