So you’ve booked afly and ride holiday? Good for you! Fly and ride adventures are a fantastic way to get to know the world from the saddle of a motorcycle, chunk by chunk. However, most of the fly and ride packages include your bike, guide, hotels, and sometimes fuel, but not the actual flight. Chances are, if you’re going on a self-guided or guided tour, you’ll have to book the flights yourself.
If budget is no issue, that’s easy. However, if you’ve spent a lot on your bike rental or tour, you’ll probably want to save on your flights as much as possible. Here are some sneaky ways to save on airfare.
Flying in Your Gear
I know, it’s not the nicest thing in the world, especially if the flight is longer than six hours. Stewing in your riding suit on the plane doesn’t sound like much fun. This is why I always pack the riding pants away but wear my riding boots and jacket: those can be taken off once you get on the lane, and the helmet can be stowed away just like any other carry-on. If your checked bag is still heavy, take the armor pads out of your riding pants and pack them in your carry on. Done!
Leg room vs savings
Booking Luggage
When you’re looking for cheap flights, most airlines show prices with no luggage. If you manage to fly with a carry on only, that’s awesome. If you need to check a bag, however, it’ll cost you extra, typically around $60-80 per 23kg. The trick is to book the luggage as you’re buying your ticket, and never go over the weight limit (or pay for the extra weight before the flight). Some airlines charge $100 or more for every 2 kg of extra weight, so be careful and plan in advance.
Shorter Layovers Are Cheaper
It’s often tempting to pick a connecting flight with a long layover simply because it’s cheaper, but look at the bigger picture. If you know you’ll be stuck in an airport for 6+ hours, you know you’ll be spending money on ridiculously overpriced food and water and, more likely than not, find yourself buying stupid crap or paying four times more for a protein bar. And if it’s a truly long layover, you might hop into a taxi to do some sightseeing or even check into an airport hotel to get some rest. When you compare all this, direct flights and flights with short layovers sometimes turn out to be cheaper.
What are your tricks of making the fly and ride adventures as economical as possible? Let me know in the comments below!
