The impossible made possible?

Flying can be a tiring, stressful, and costly business, but the final destination is more often than not totally worth it all, isn’t it?

Our tips for flying! This was our flight from Iraq.

All of the above can be easily navigated – tiredness eventually fades, stress can be combated by being up to date with your flight information before you leave, organised, and making sure everything is in place, and costs can be cut with a bit of shrewd thinking, and more pre-planning. You might have just had the experience of backpacking through Iraq and need some comfort on your next flight.

In the air – how do you save money on the flight?

Have you noticed that the price you see for that ‘bargain’ flight is often not the price you end up paying? Yes it annoys us too – Check in costs, taxes, fuel surcharges, and even luggage costs can seriously inflate that seemingly cheap flight, and in the end the cost isn’t that cheap at all. It’s always a good idea to find ways to cut that cost down slightly if at all possible, and a good way to do that is to look at travelling with hand luggage only.

Now, before your eyes widen and you think ‘she cannot be serious!’ think about it.

Decent meal onboard but at what price?

If you’re going away for a long weekend, a city break, or a week in the sun, then booking your flight with an airline that offers extra hand luggage allowance, such as British Airways, Monarch or Jet 2, with their generous 10kg allowance, means you can pack more in, and you can get away with the extra money for a suitcase, which can sometimes be as much as £40 return.

Of course, you have to be very careful with your packing needs, and your liquids in your hand luggage, being aware of the 100ml rule, but this is easy to get around. Buy your toiletries and liquids at the airport, once you’re past security, and think serious mix and match for your clothing. Wear your heaviest items, such as your heaviest shoes and jacket, and buy one of those lightweight bags or trolley cabin cases to store your things in.

It can be done. I’ve done it, and I’m one of the heaviest travellers around (remember I carry travel books and my laptop!)

If you’re heading off for more than a week, then obviously you’re going to have to bite the bullet and add a suitcase onto your booking, but if you do fall into the bracket above, then it is more than worth trying to at least slim down your packing needs, for the sake of saving a bit of cash. It’s much better in your pocket after all.