Want a mini break? Pack ‘mini’ and the costs will follow suit

We’ve all looked out the office window on hump-day and daydreamed about jetting off for a little getaway from the spreadsheets and growing inbox. Sometimes it feels out of the question on top of other monthly expenses, but with a little bit of planning you can keep the costs down and enjoy a few days immersed in something else.

The key?
Flying light.

With budget airlines keeping ticket costs down by adding costs to aspects that would be included by middle to top end airlines, it’s becoming increasingly important to maximise any space you have. Even adding a carry on bag is a cost now, with only a ‘personal bag’ included to go under the seat. But there are ways to travel for short breaks using only this bag.

Maximise the personal bag

If you’re going on a short mini break, you really won’t need too much. Maybe a pair of jeans (comfy trousers can be worn on the flight), a rotation of tops, underwear and toiletries/makeup. The personal bag included in the price of your ticket is certainly big enough for the necessary packing, if you do it right.

Remember that maximising this personal bag means all of your other essentials will have to fit into this bag too.

Go through your everyday bag and only bring exactly what you’ll need. Usually that’s house keys, a card wallet and your passport. You could even keep this stuff in your pocket or a slimline travel wallet slipped down the side of the bag. Here’s some good ones…

Wear your coat on the plane

Anything you’re wearing is not included in baggage, there will almost always be space either under a seat or in the overhead for a coat, so don’t waste precious baggage space on your bulky items. Wear your coat, biggest jumper and scarf to the airport, I also go celeb mode and wear my sunglasses on my head - every inch counts!

Click and collect is your best friend

A genius idea floating around online is to click and collect anything heavy and/or liquids at the airport.

Check ahead which shops your terminal will have and see if there’s a click and collect option.

Purchase your suncream, toiletries and even a book online and collect them once you’re through security. This removes the stress of needing to decant any liquids into lots of little bottles and pots and saves space for absolute necessities.

It’s best to stick with companies that have an FAQ section on their website. Boots is great for this, listing the 15 airports they offer the service in and mentioning any items that can’t be purchased and taken on the plane.

Know exactly what you can take

Budget airlines can be super strict on the size and weight of what you take with you. At the end of the day they get their profits up with all of these extra costs.

An evening in front of the telly doing some research into the size limits of your personal bags means you can go ahead and find a good shaped and sized bag for your trip.

Aim to buy a bag that can be used on a number of airlines so you can reuse it over and over. (Descriptions under the product name the airlines the bag is suitable for).

Shape matters

The shape of the bag is important too. The bag will be placed under the seat infront (unless you get exit row, woo woo), so use that to your advantage.

A more cube shaped bag with a zip is best; it uses both the width and height of the space whilst having the tension of the zip to keep perfectly folded clothing and items condensed down into the bag.

Clever compact cubes

Tension with a zip can be used inside the bag as well, using compression packing cubes is a great way to condense a capsule holiday wardrobe.

Keeping in mind saving money here and there, you don’t even have to buy packing cubes for a trip. Reuse ziplock plastic bags that some online clothing items arrive in, or even use large ziplock sandwich bags from the kitchen when you’re in a pinch.

Forgo ‘choose your seat’

If you’re cool with it, don’t pay to reserve your seat at the time of booking.

To remove any chance of being bumped, make sure you do check-in as quickly as you can when check-in opens online. If the flight has a good amount of unassigned and unsold seats, there’s a good chance you’ll be placed together as a couple or small group anyway.

There’s always the chance you won’t be sat together if you don’t pay to reserve, but with most flights to Europe mainland being under 2 hours, the flight is mainly take off and landing with a quick soar in the middle.

For a big group this can save a good amount of money, maybe a round of drinks or a taxi fare. It’s up to you to decide if it’s a worthwhile saving.