The Travelite® FAQ

Budget master Clark Howard posted the following at his Web site today:

If you don’t fly often enough to earn elite status with an airline, a new offer from United Airlines might be just your ticket. When you purchase a ticket online at United (or at check-in and later this year at airport kiosks), you will be offered the opportunity to upgrade your coach ticket to United’s “Economy Plus,” or a coach class seat that gives passengers an extra five inches of legroom along with a 25% mileage bonus. What’s more is that this Premier Travel option lets passengers check two pieces of baggage at no charge and use premium security and boarding lines (available at 70 U.S. airports). A second option, Premier Travel Plus (offered in 15 cities) gives passengers double mileage, access to United’s Red Carpet Club airport lounges and other benefits. United offers the following pricing examples: Washington D.C. to New York: $47 one-way Premier; $84 Plus one-way. Los Angeles-San Francisco: $56 each way Premier; $95 each way Plus. Chicago-London: $158 each way Premier; $285 each way Plus. San Francisco-Tokyo: $167 each way Premier; $298 each way Plus.

Note the text I’ve highlighted in red. If you normally check your luggage in when you travel, this promotion will save you upwards of $50 per one way trip, with the added convenience of quicker security and boarding lines. If you have long legs or you plan to do some work on your laptop during the flight, the extra few inches in seat pitch in the United Premier section of the aircraft (the front rows of coach where they’ve added a few more inches of space between rows, behind business class).

Be mindful that this only applies on one leg of your trip. If you want this convenience on your return flight as well as your outgoing flight, you’ll need to shell out money a second time.

Susan U. had a great idea after she read my review of the Baggallini Teenee wallet purse:

Loved the review of the Teenee Baggalini and am thinking what a nice little Christmas gift that would make—to get the Baggalini, and add the Moleskine notebook and Pilot mini pen.  I’m psyched!  I know several people who would love it and I think If I shop right can put it all together for around  $25.  What a great idea!

I thought it was a nifty idea so I thought I’d share it with everyone.

By the way, I think these would also make great bon voyage gifts as well (do people do that anymore?).

Some fantastic news for fans of Ellington Leather’s original Sussex travel tote. Some years back, mail order retailer Norm Thompson used to carry a smaller version of Ellington’s Sussex travel tote:

The Ellington Stella tote. Image from Ellington Leather.

The beauty in this bag was its simplicity; it was a simple purse with straps that, when pulled outward, would cinch the top and convert the bag into a backpack. It was great as a smart purse that you could quickly convert to a backpack at the airport if you needed your hands free, or you needed to manage your kids on the go.

The only catch with this bag was that they did away with the popular small size, and only had the larger tote bag size for quite a while. The converted backpack was about the size of a bookpack instead of a smaller purse, and too large if you just wanted a regular-sized purse.

A simple diagram showing how to convert a purse to a backpack. Image from Lazar’s Luggage Superstore.

Ellington did sell a leather version in the smaller size, but the material meant it weighed more, and it was considerably more expensive (usually retailing for over $150.00).

For 2009, however, Ellington has introduced its new “Lightweight Travel” line, which includes a revamped version of this popular bag!

Ellington’s new Lightweight Travel Tote/Pack. Image from LuggageOnline.com.

The first thing you’ll notice is that the Lightweight Travel Tote/Pack has a straighter silhouette and is more angular. The center drops down a little more, to create a more flattering shape when you wear this as a backpack. They’ve also changed the fabric from nylon to microfiber, which while a bit stiffer and not as squishable as the nylon, is very travel-friendly and will stand up to a lot of wear. The smarter silhouette means you can probably use this for business travel as well.

Finally, they’ve fixed the main problem that plagued the original small Sussex bag: This newer version now has a zipper that runs the full length of the main opening, making this much more secure than its predecessor.

This new Lightweight Travel Tote/Pack is available in four travel-friendly colors (black, grey, red, and periwinkle). You can find it at a few online retailers such as LuggageOnline as well as from Ellington Leather directly, but your best deal right now is at eBags.com, where the retail price of $66 has been reduced to $52.80. Not sure how long that sale will be going on for (they are currently having a Spring sale), but even at $66 it’s not a bad deal.

Happy new year all!

If you had any travels over the holidays, I hope they were smooth and without any problems.

You probably noticed that my posts have been MIA recently; with the holidays, I’ve been pretty busy, and I’ve been sick these past few weeks.

Nothing to fret about, though. I still plan on posting more this year!

If you tried any travelite techniques that worked well, or you ran into any problems, do let me know.

We’re finally home, safe and sound. I plan to post details when I’ve had a chance to unwind, but in the meantime, a few thoughts:

Do Europeans just not drink liquids? Prices for soft drinks were outrageous everywhere we went. Tap was fine, but when a bottle of Perrier is cheaper than a bottle of Coke Zero we found it a little tough. One of the things I plan to do is visit a local 7-Eleven just to buy a 6,000-ounce Super Duper Zuper Humongo-Big Gulp for 89 cents just because I can.

I miscalculated the amount of toothpaste I took because I didn’t calculate the fact that my husband didn’t take any of his own. Fortunately we picked up a few tiny toothpaste tubes from our amenity kits to tide us over.

Rome has a severe shortage of public toilets. It forced us to buy (overpriced) soft drinks from cafes so we could use their restrooms, but we are very spoiled in the U.S. with our ability to just pop into a public restroom practically anywhere.

I packed for layering, but did not pack for heat. Rome was quite warm while we were there (typically over 25°C—mid-70s F!) and I really wished I’d packed better. Once we hit Paris and colder weather, though, it worked out great.

A lot of you wanted to know exactly what I packed and how I managed to go with just a 6-kilogram carry-on. I’ll put details together soon.

I opened my inbox this morning and discovered email from travel supplier Magellan’s (one of my favorite) with the following subject:

“Ultra-Light Luggage! Check it in, or carry it on.”

Ooooooh, I thought. Just what me and Virgin Atlantic check-in crew were looking for! I excitedly went to read the mailer, and I see that the luggage they are promoting is from Eagle Creek. Hmmm…. a new item, perhaps?

I click the link in the email.

The $149.00 Eagle Creek Hovercraft Wheeled Underseat Tote from the Magellan’s travel supplies online store. Photo from Magellan’s.

Kachow! It takes me to a page describing the Eagle Creek Hovercraft Wheeled Underseat Tote. Basically a MiniMe version of the rolling upright. At 13.5″ by 13.5″ by 9.5″, it’s definitely within carry-on limits. But then I check its weight:

Five and a half pounds!

Let me tell you, even with a gnome-sized carry-on, the wheel and handlebar mechanism just adds so much weight. And I guess we all have different ideas of how light “ultra light” should be. Thanks to a reminder from Skip, we’ll probably travel with a couple of Outdoor Products Essential Carryon travelpacks. Well made enough, light as a feather (under two pounds), and only $29.99 from Campmor. How can you lose?

The “Essential Carryon” travelpack by Outdoor Products. One of the most plain travelpacks on the market, this one is also one of the lighest, at under two pounds. Photo from OutdoorProducts.com

My plan to pack my carry-on lightly enough to fit Virgin’s strict 13-pound limit (for our upcoming trip to Europe) is going well! Once I finalize my list, I plan on packing everything and putting it on a scale, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be OK. The challenge is in seeing if we can do the same for my husband, who is considerably taller and larger than I am. However, over the years he’s devised his own carry-on system; he already has the concept down pat, so he will just need to make a few adjustments in his wardrobe to lighten his bag. His biggest challenge will be his camera gear, since he wants to take his digital SLR with him. Depending on how much spare room I have, I may carry some of his clothes just for the Virgin Atlantic segments.

Edited to add:

I’ve gotten some requests to provide links for those retailers who carry this product:

• Campmor.com: $29.99
• OutdoorPros.com: $36.86
• LetMom.com: $37.23
• Great Outdoors Depot: $39.95
• CampBound.com: $49.95

Note: Although prices vary widely, check each site to see which is the best deal for you. Some sites, like LetMom, had a promotion (50 cents shipping for backpacks) that may be worth shopping around. Some sites carry a lot of other good merchandise you might want to buy, and in most cases you save on shipping if you shop for more goods from one place rather than a few items from a number of different vendors.

A little piece of news snuck through last Friday: Beginning this October, United Airlines is imposing minimum stays for its economy class round-trip tickets. How long you have to stay depends on the price of your ticket and where you go, but this is yet another way a major carrier is trying to find ways to increase revenue. From someone who’s flown on United for no purpose other than to get enough miles to bump up to the next frequent flyer status (and who sat at the airport in New Hampshire for three hours), this is really heinous.

If you must do a previously unnecessary overnight trip and you’re on business (and you’re not a Mileage Plus Premier member), you have the additional challenge of trying to minimize your stuff to avoid United’s $15 first-bag check-in fee. The main thing you need to do is to minimize your entire load and still take the things you need to be able to work:

Consider switching to an ultralight portable laptop, like the Asus EEE or the Apple MacBook Air.

The Asus EEE PC might not have all the bells and whistles of a 15-pound brethren, but it does most of the things you want to do while on the road.

The Asus EEE is tiny, but it still lets you do a lot of your computer work.

If all you need to do is check your email, browse the Web for fun and stay in touch, consider getting something even smaller, like a Blackberry or iPhone. If you are making presentations, consider storing everything in a portable USB flash drive, and using the computer at your client’s site.

A USB flash drive takes up almost no room in your belongings, but can pack tons of data.

The main goal here is to lighten your electronics as much as possible, because doing so frees up a lot of room in your carry-on for overnight items, such as clothes and toiletries.

Make sure you keep your work stuff separate from your overnight stuff by keeping the two in separate compartments. The easiest way to do that is to pack your overnight items in something like an Eagle Creek Cube. Get ones with a mesh side and a carrying handle so that you could easily remove them from your carry-on.

An Eagle Creek Pack It Cube makes packing clothing a little easier.

Finally, chuck that horrible laptop bag! There’s nothing as heavy and cumbersome as the traditional black leather laptop case. You can tuck your laptop into a compact sleeve (made from padded materials like Neoprene) and slip it into the side of a regular carry-on bag.

The Redmaloo felt laptop sleeve is an innovative little laptop case that folds out to provide a built-in mousepad (product Web site).

If you need it to look presentable for work, consider purchasing a laptop sleeve that comes with carrying handles and that looks presentable on its own.

The Sherpani Laptop Sleeve (available from Luggage.com), is easy to slip into a carry-on but has a shoulder strap so that it could be carried around on its own and still manage to look presentable.

This may be heresy but one option is to go the way a lot of business now do, and just start flying the low-cost discount airlines where you can (like Southwest). The perks aren’t as great but their counter service is terrific—it will be the friendliest bus ride you will ever take.

Reading today’s blog entry from travel consumer writer Chris Elliott (“The coming dehydration crisis for airline passengers”), I was disconcerted to learn that the new policy US Airways is implementing for charging passengers for soft drinks includes charging them for bottled water (read the press release from the airline).

I don’t know about you, but I’m not a huge fan of drinking “tap water” from airplanes—they’re regular water hosed into a holding tank on the plane. On drinking water on airplanes, travel safety advocate and author Diana Fairechild says:

I stopped drinking airplane water my first year of flying after I saw floating particles in the water, and also after I saw mechanics filling the airplane water tanks from hoses on the runways, wherever we landed–even Bombay.

Serving tap water to passengers is common because the airlines don’t provide enough bottled water. They prefer to fill the limited supply spaces on board with liquor and soft drinks, both of which actually increase the passengers’ jetlag because they exacerbate dehydration.

I have a one-word reaction for ya: Ewwww.

The problem is, you can’t take your own bottle of water through airport security. You have to pay money for a new bottle of water once you’ve passed security. And if you have a long flight, that one-liter bottle of water probably won’t cut it for you.

You might argue that if I can afford to pay for an airline ticket, I should be able to spend $3.00 for a bottle of water, yes? Except that I think it’s ridiculous that the airline is charging for clean water. Food? Sure. Salted peanuts? OK. Booze? Of course. But clean water? Aircraft cabins are very dry and it’s common for people to wind up with symptoms of dehydration; I’m with Chris Elliott on this one—US Airways has some gall. I think I’d refuse to buy their bottled water on principle.

What to do if you don’t want to keep paying for overpriced bottled water at airports? Assuming that the water from drinking fountains at aiports is potable (that is, safe for drinking), my suggestion is that you take an empty vessel with you to fill once you get past security:

Refill a disposable water bottle – the easiest method is to take an empty disposable water bottle. If you’re the type that wants to look like you just bought a new bottle of Evian, this is one way to go. This way you can easily toss them when you’re done. As long as your bottle is empty, you can take it through airport security without a problem.

A few years ago, Evian used to sell the Nomad, which made carrying them really easy. I stopped seeing them about five years ago, although I saw them a few years ago in Singapore.

The Evian Nomad; alas, no longer sold in the U.S.

Bring and fill your own reusable bottle – For a while, Nalgene had a real hit on its hands with its wide-mouth Lexan bottles (purchase here). You couldn’t walk through a college campus without seeing these dangling off of people’s bag straps.

The popular 32-ounce Nalgene drinking bottle.

The problem was, you had to unscrew the top to drink from it, and because the opening was wide, you were likely to have some splash issues if you were say, flying in turbulence. Nalgene has begun selling modified versions of their popular bottle, but for my penny I’d rather spend it on the Camelbak Better Bottle (purchase here).

The Camelbak Better Bottle.

Unlike its Nalgene cousin, the Better bottle uses Camelbak’s patented “bite-valve” straw. It means no leaks, no splashes, no unscrewing the top to drink. The loop in the handle means you can hang these off your bag, and the plastic is the same hearty stuff that Nalgene uses.

Use a collapsible water bottle – One really good option is the Platypus. Not nearly as common as other bottles, this one is marketed specifically for backpackers and travelers, and seems to be a custom fit for our particular situation. Designed for backpackers, the Platypus Platy Bottles (purchase here) are made of thick flexible plastic that collapses completely flat. They come in various sizes, and you can easily carry a couple of these with you for your flight. Just fill them up at a water fountain once you’re past security. Slip them into the seatback pocket in front of you, and you’re all set.

The Platypus Platy Bottles.

The Platy bottle is probably your best solution if you have to fly US Airways. My suggestion? Fly another airline.

If you’re like me, you probably think the Transportation Security Administration’s ban on liquids is pretty ridiculous. Their current policy (what they now refer to as “3-1-1″) was implemented in August 2006 after they foiled some liquid-based terrorist plot. Remember that shoe-bomber guy, and how we now have to remove our shoes to go through airport security because of him? I’m just waiting for some terrorist to sharpen the underwire from bras into pointy weapons; I’m sure the TSA can’t wait to prohibit women from wearing bras. These inconveniences are like death by 1,000 paper cuts, and the sad part is that it’s being done to us by our own government.

All complaining aside, if you find yourself having to fly, you will need to mind their 3-1-1 policy for taking liquids with you on the flight. Here’s how the TSA explains it:

Make Your Trip Better Using 3-1-1

• 3-1-1 for carry-ons = 3 ounce bottle or less (by volume) ; 1 quart-sized, clear, plastic, zip-top bag; 1 bag per passenger placed in screening bin. One-quart bag per person limits the total liquid volume each traveler can bring. 3 oz. container size is a security measure.
• Consolidate bottles into one bag and X-ray separately to speed screening.
• Be prepared. Each time TSA searches a carry-on it slows down the line. Practicing 3-1-1 will ensure a faster and easier checkpoint experience.
• 3-1-1 is for short trips. If in doubt, put your liquids in checked luggage.
• Declare larger liquids. Medications, baby formula and food, breast milk, and juice are allowed in reasonable quantities exceeding three ounces and are not required to be in the zip-top bag. Declare these items for inspection at the checkpoint.

There’s actually quite a lot you can do within their allowed parameters, and I’ll be going over each of these steps in detail separately:

• Use a nondisposable plastic bag. There are way better alternatives that let you fit your bottles better.
• Pack liquids in your own containers
• Reduce the number of items that are in liquid form
• If you’re traveling with a partner or a group (such as a family), each person can carry a 3-1-1 bag, so consider distributing liquids evenly among all party members.
• Don’t bother carrying the stuff with you; that is, ship it, buy it there, store it there, or go without.

If you’re visiting here now (as in, mid-2008), it’s probably because you’ve been hearing about all the new rules the airlines have started implementing for charging us a fee for our first piece of checked luggage. While I normally don’t check in any luggage myself, I think this policy is preposterous, and I think airlines are completely misguided if they think this is the way they could recover some of their costs.

That said, now more than ever, it makes sense to learn how to travel lightly!

I’ve moved out of the 20th Century and right into the contemporary internets with a blog-focused format, which will let me post more frequently.

If you’ve been a reader of my site for a long time (and I think we’re going over 10 years now), welcome back!

More shortly.

In the meantime (until I figure out where I want to link stuff from), if you are looking for my older content, please visit my archive page.

– Lani