Spring has sprung! Now that the weather is warming up, people are starting to book their summer getaways. I thought I would flex my travel industry expertise today and share some top tips for flying domestically:
Do not rely on the airline to provide you with a decent beverage or snack. Pack your flask, empty water bottle, and bag of chips before you get to the airport. Yes, before! Don’t wait to buy it from a vendor in the terminal. A bottle of water should not cost $7. Fill up your own bottle in the terminal for free.
Speaking of price gouging - TSA PreCheck is actually well worth the $78. Is it a government racket in the form of an airport FastPass? Perhaps. But if there’s one racket you should participate in, it’s one that lets you avoid the indignity of forcibly removing your shoes in public.
If you aren’t willing to dish out the $78, I understand. Keep your dollars, but I urge you, please wear socks to the airport. Sandals are a mistake; your bare foot should not make contact with any airport floor in the continental United States. (I cannot speak for Alaska or Hawaii as I have not been yet.)
Steer clear of Spirit airlines, unless you are willing to part ways with your spirit.
When booking Alaska airlines, pay the extra fee to choose your seat. Sit as far away from the emergency exit as possible in order to lessen your chance of getting sucked out of the plane.
I do have one sincere tip that wasn’t sourced from the depths of my inner troll. One hack that allows me to travel in this inflated economy is credit card points.
I leveled up my points game this year and got the BILT card. I’m a big fan because I’m now passively earning points on my biggest monthly expense: rent. If you 1) have good credit and 2) are a renter, then you should 3) have a BILT card. I’ll prelude my little spiel by saying this post is not sponsored, however I’m able to earn bonus points on referrals. That said, I’d hype this card up even if there weren’t any referrals involved, because I think it’s nice that we (the disgruntled youth) can now benefit from paying rent in the form of flying for free.
How it works: upon approval, BILT provided me with an account number and routing number to input into my online rent portal. If your landlord still only accepts checks, BILT will send the check on your behalf.
They send you a sleek looking physical card as well:
To be as transparent as possible, there is one slightly annoying term / condition: you must have 5x total transactions on the card per billing period to earn points on rent. This hurdle can easily be hopped though. I did it by adding 4x recurring bills onto my card (utilities, internet, streaming, etc). I then turned my BILT card on auto-pay to ensure the entire balance is withdrawn from my checking account a few days after rent is charged.
Voilà! By next spring, I should have enough points for a flight to Europe.
This card makes perfect sense for me to use because one of their transfer partners is AirFrance. (I fly to France frequently to visit my family and eat copious amounts of cheese.) If you’re considering getting the card, I’d start by making sure their transfer partners are applicable to you and your future travel plans. You can find the full list here.
Any questions about transfer partners, potential flight routes, or my experience with the card itself? Feel free to email me!
And if you choose to get the card, I’d appreciate it if you use my referral link here. Or, use the button below.
Thank you and bon voyage, bébé.
Super helpful tips! I especially appreciated the info on Bilt, clearly a no brainer for building travel points for one of the largest monthly expenses. Most landlords won't take credit cards so this is brilliant. As are you. Keep 'em coming.