Navigating the airport like a boss

There’s light at the end of the tunnel! And you know where that light is coming from? Airports. That’s right – we’re almost back to a world where we can travel by air freely where the skies are literally the limit! I personally could not be more excited.

Let’s be clear though. COVID-19 is far from an afterthought and continues to wreak havoc on parts of the world where nothing less than total vigilance is warranted. But the end feels much closer than it has for months, doesn’t it? So, when you feel ready for travel once more, this post is intended to give you a few bite-sized tips on how to walk through those airport doors and carry yourself like a total badass (like we so aspire to be 🙂)

1 – Check your dang bag! (and do it for free)

The last thing you need to be worrying about is having to board the plane early to ensure you’ve got room in the overhead compartment to stow your 20-pounds-too heavy-carry-on. Check it in and experience the airport as the carefree haven of good food, overpriced shopping, and endless exploration it’s meant to be. Don’t be chained to hovering by your gate waiting for that highly-anticipated ‘and now we’ll be boarding Group B’ announcement. 

But what about those pesky checked baggage fees? If you don’t have the benefit of status on an airline to get baggage fees waived, fear not! The easiest way to get free checked bags on most airlines is to apply for their co-branded credit card. Be smart and be selective. Do you have 1-2 airlines you tend to travel most? Check out their credit cards to see if they offer waived checked baggage fees as a card member and potentially get the added benefit of an annual companion fare, a lump sum of airline miles as a sign-up bonus, or both! 

Due to my fierce loyalty to both Alaska and Delta Airlines, I’d be remiss not to mention their consumer credit cards, both of which offer waived bag fees, an annual companion fare, and great sign-up bonuses that will have you in great shape for upcoming travel this year! Even several unbranded travel credit cards offer airline fee reimbursements that will help subsidize luggage fees, regardless of airlines. Check out a few of my favorite cards and associated application links here (these links will help you and me earn miles if you get approved!) 

2 – Get CLEAR and PreCheck and never worry about TSA lines again

Let’s be honest. There are few sights at the airport more dreadful than a security checkpoint line that snakes back and forth more times than you can count. Remember that McDonalds meal you were gonna try to snag before boarding? Forget it. The next 30 minutes of your life are going to be right here, sandwiched between other anxious travelers, moving slower than molasses through the line. Unless…?

There’s a better way! Now, just getting TSA PreCheck, the DHS’s expedited screen service, would get you about 80% of the way there. You’d reliably spend less than 10 minutes in security at almost every airport regardless of the time of year. But why stop there? My favorite airport hack of all time is the invaluable TSA PreCheck + CLEAR combo which will reliably take your airport security time down to 1-2 minutes. My personal record, actually, is car-to-gate in 80 seconds flat thanks to this killer combo.

CLEAR is a private company, heavily funded by Delta Airlines (among other investors) to implement biometric identity verification at airport security checkpoints. Not all airports have it. Should your home terminal be lucky enough to have CLEAR, though, you owe it to your future traveling self to check it out. 

The experience is simple: after your initial onboarding, you’ll always be greeted by a friendly CLEAR team member who will escort you to a branded kiosk, get you verified via retinal scan or fingerprints, and then escort you right past the TSA officer directly to the front of the PreCheck line! How cool is that?! 

It’s pricey but worth it. The lifehack? Get a CLEAR family plan with a Delta Airlines status member as the primary member (score a great discount). Split up the full $200-300 annual cost among 4 family members for a very affordable airport luxury. Try it free for two full months before committing! You. Will. Love. It. 

3 – Unwind, sip, and reflect at an airport lounge

If I start down this path, this post will turn into a small anthology. Let me just say this: once you discover the world of airline lounges, the airport experience is transformed from an annoying chore a few times throughout the year into a coveted luxury oasis you’ll be dreaming about on the regular. 

Getting access isn’t always easy. It typically involves pledging your loyalty (and your coins) to an airline by flying them often and earning elite status. The other route is to shell out some hefty annual fees on top-notch credit cards to earn access. Both avenues get you access to different lounges of varying qualities. Both are worth it. Most important, though, is to assess if lounge access is something that’s important enough to you to shell out some serious time and dough for. 

Your other option is to purchase a day pass at a lounge front desk (most run between $30 and $60 per person) or bum off a friend with lounge access by traveling together and being their ‘guest’. Good luck! 

4 – Use technology to your advantage

I think we’re officially beyond the days of printing out our airline boarding passes at home (but I may be wrong!). 

Personally, our digital nomad lifestyle prevents us from having too many physical ‘things’ on us, so we are all digital all the way! So, let’s wrap with a few rapid-fire tech tips for the airport:

• Download all the major airline apps and get signed in so you get boarding alerts, digital boarding passes, seat assignments, live upgrade lists, etc. via push notifications
• Use TripIt! This app is awesome for consolidating travel plans and even cooler while in the airport. The app is chock-full of airport maps, lounge guides, and more useful info for day-of travel (especially when you get hangry and start wondering where the nearest restaurant at the airport is!) 
• Carry a great (not just good) battery pack so you don’t have to be ‘that person at the airport frantically running around hunched over looking for an outlet. We love our TOZO travel battery because it packs a lot of power, is remarkably portable, and can literally charge our laptops + cell phones while still having juice leftover. 

That’s it! Even if you give one of these tips a try, I think you’d be hard-pressed not to have a better airport experience than you thought. Crazy enough to try them all? Amazing – let us know what nirvana at the airport is like and drop us a line 🙂 Thanks for reading. See you in the open skies!