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To Work and Wander

🛫 When is the best time to fly + 5 weekend travel tips

Published 4 months ago • 3 min read

To Work and Wander.

Long weekends are a popular time to take trips, whether it’s to visit your family, attend a destination wedding, or for an extended vacation.

Questions

  • When is the best time to fly?
  • How do you plan ahead?

When is the best time to fly? Depends.

Morning Flights

Jack and I visit my family in Arizona a few times a year. When we return to NYC, we book a night at an Aloft about 1.5 miles from the Phoenix airport. There is a hotel shuttle to the airport, so we don't need to schedule rideshare or worry about returning a rental car in the morning.

The main reason to take early morning flights is they generally leave on time unless weather conditions prevent safe takeoff.

Evening Flights

During a trip to London, we took an evening flight leaving NYC at 7:15 pm and arriving in London at 10:15 am. Since we were sleeping on the plane, we splurged on premium seats and enjoyed the foot rests when we reclined.

We loved the amenity kit which included ear plugs for a quiet night. The bamboo toothbrush and mini toothpaste was a great way to freshen up before we got off the plane.

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Tip: Get bottled water to brush your teeth, don’t use the sink water.

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How do you plan ahead?

Top 5 weekend travel tips
  1. Check weather a few days before your trip; many airlines waive fees in advance to change flights if bad weather is expected.
  2. Consider leaving a day or two ahead so you won’t have to fight heavy traffic and/or a busy airport, or consider extending the weekend.
  3. If you can work remotely on the surrounding weekdays, call ahead to check that the location you’re staying at has good Wi-Fi and work-friendly environments (not all hotel rooms have a desk 😱).
  4. Do you have TSA PreCheck? This saves time when going through security at the airport and is worth getting even for weekend trips. Benefits of TSA PreCheck:
    • Keep your shoes on.
    • Keep your laptop, tablet, and e-reader in your bag.
    • Keep your liquids inside your bag for x-ray screening, in Portugal we didn’t have to take the liquids out of our bag while they were very strict about it in London.
  5. Be prepared for flight delays.
    • Load up your Kindle with books or download movies/shows to your iPad so you’re relaxed and entertained while waiting for your flight.
    • Bring a portable battery in your personal item bag so you can easily get to it, I like to charge the phone and battery pack during the flight.
    • Bring your favorite snacks and a water bottle, which you can refill at the airport.
Reader, if you found these tips helpful, we’d love it if you could share them with friends and family who dream of traveling part-time.
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Stay tuned for travel gear reviews and remote work productivity tips to help you become a part-time digital nomad.
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If you have a travel question, reply to this email.
— Cheryl
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To Work and Wander

Why wait until retirement to travel? Explore life as a part-time nomad.

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