Pack Smarter, Spend Less: How to Travel Light Without Losing Comfort

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Tess, what kind of packer are you?

Light packer or overpacker?

Megan, you're going to make me admit this publicly.

Yeah, I overpacked for a trip to Europe this spring and then bought another suitcase while I was there.

Tess?

Oh, no.

I hope you're never doing that again.

No way.

Absolutely not.

I am a changed person, or at least I hope I am.

And I think listeners are going to be changed people too if they're overpackers once they hear your and Sally's packing tips today.

I hadn't heard some of these.

Give us some credit, Tess.

We can do better than packing cubes.

Welcome to Smart Travel, a deep dive into the tips, tools, and tactics to maximize your travel dollars.

I'm Megan Coyle.

And I'm Tessa McLendon for Sally French.

And we're the travel nerds ready to help you plan your next big trip.

And Sally apparently feels so strongly about packing light that she skipped packing her microphone this week.

Yes, today she boarded the new Star of the Seas cruise ship from Royal Caribbean for their media launch.

It's one of those massive floating cities complete with a water park and an ice rink.

Yeah, she's going to report back on that next week.

All right, let's do the news for this week.

As we do in pretty much every episode, we'll talk about some credit card companies that are NerdWallet partners in this episode, but that doesn't influence how we discuss them.

The benefits, terms, and fees mentioned were accurate at the time of posting, but things can change and some offers may have expired by the time you're listening.

For the latest details, follow the links in the episode description.

All right, if you have a flight on Southwest Airlines today or tomorrow, that's August 13th or 14th, you might be part of the airline's new trial of free Wi-Fi.

That is right.

Southwest is testing free Wi-Fi for Southwest Rapid Rewards members, and you can join the Rapid Rewards program for free, and it lets you earn rewards on Southwest.

Southwest is following airlines including Delta and Hawaiian, which already offer free Wi-Fi on many of their planes.

I've been really impressed with the free Wi-Fi on Delta this year, and my sisters just flew Hawaiian and said the internet worked great over the Pacific Ocean.

Yeah, American and United aren't far behind.

United started outfitting its planes earlier this year, and American is rolling out free Wi-Fi starting in January 2026.

Southwest flyers need a win this year after all the changes like new checked bag fees and seat selection fees.

But again, free Wi-Fi isn't going to set them apart from any of the other airlines.

All right.

Well, in other airline news, Alaska Airlines is adding two new long-haul international routes.

In 2026, it will begin flying non-stop from Seattle to Reykjavik and London.

These are Alaska's fourth and fifth intercontinental routes from Seattle, after Tokyo, which launched in May of this year, and Seoul, which launches on September 12th, and Rome, also launching in 2026.

And Alaska Airlines has a sleek new design for those long-haul aircraft that are flying those routes.

The livery, the appearance of the plane's exterior is inspired by the Northern Lights, which just made an appearance in some states in the U.S.

last week.

I'm jelly if any of our listeners got to see those.

Tess, you're based in the Pacific Northwest.

Will you be driving to Seattle for some of these new flights?

I'm more likely to fly from Portland.

It's a three-hour drive if you don't hit traffic, which is very, very, very rare.

But there are certainly more non-stop international options out of Seattle.

So a quick hopper up there is sometimes worth it.

By the way, I did see the Northern Lights twice last year when they made it down to our latitudes here in Portland.

And Megan, it's as incredible as you imagine.

Find a way to see them someday.

What?

Oh my gosh, did you get good pictures?

Or is it one of those things like you have to be there and just burn it into your brain?

Oh no, I am a photographer and I had my whole setup.

I absolutely froze because it was early May.

But yeah, I'll send you one of my shots.

Okay, perfect.

So if you're one of those people looking to book some of these new flights out of Seattle, those flights to Rome, London, and Iceland will be available to purchase at alaskaair.com this fall.

And also now might be a good time to join the Alaska Airlines mileage program if you haven't already.

They are offering a a $50 flight discount to new members in California or Hawaii and $25 off to new members in other U.S.

states, except for Alaska.

You just have to register by December 31st, 2025.

Then you have 28 days to use that flight discount.

So maybe wait for those new international flights to go live if you're planning on using the discount for that.

Yeah, lots of promotions right now.

American Airlines and World of High At Elites have an ongoing offer where you can status match by October 31st and get instant elite status status in the reciprocal program for the next 90 days.

Then there are two challenges to keep that elite status.

If you stay 10 nights at a Hyatt in those 90 days, you can keep the entry-level Hyatt Exploreist elite status through February 2027.

But get this, if you stay 20 nights, you can earn their top level of elite status.

It's called globalist status through February 2027.

Who doesn't want to be top tier?

In anything, right?

Yeah.

And that top tier status is super valuable.

It comes with free room upgrades to standard suites, free parking on award nights, club access, free breakfast.

Oh, Sally's going to go for that one.

And the ability to gift guest of honor status to someone for their Hyatt vacation.

Maybe you'd do that for me.

I know you're a high-attack stand.

Pretty pleased.

Yes.

Oh my gosh.

I wish.

I have to do this challenge first.

Okay.

Globalist status usually requires 60 nights per year to earn, but with this promotion, you only have to stay 20 nights.

So it's a really good opportunity to lock in high-level elite status, especially if you have a special trip coming up next year.

Maybe all the way across the Pacific.

I spent three years living in Southeast Asia, Megan, and Malaysia is a hidden gem.

Incredible food if you can handle the spice, which honestly, I barely could.

But Hyatt just opened its first park Hyatt in Malaysia last week.

It's between levels 75 and 114 of the Merdeca 118, the tallest skyscraper in Asia Pacific.

Oh, I love Malaysian food.

I also love Park Hyatts.

They are so luxurious.

Well, there you go.

You're going to Malaysia.

Yes.

Park Hyatts are so luxurious and extremely popular with travelers.

Luxury hotel chains are driving a lot of the revenue growth for Hyatt this year, according to their earnings report last week.

That's similar to the pattern we've been seeing with Hilton and other hotels.

Now, if you need a cheaper way to get to Southeast Asia, Cathay Pacific is offering travelers up to 17% savings on flights to Asia through September 3rd of this year.

They fly to Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Ho Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok, and more from the U.S.

I cannot recommend this part of the world more highly.

Go immerse yourself.

And new and existing Cafe World Elite MasterCard holders get an additional savings of up to 15% as part of the sale.

So you can stack this discount.

And to round out the international airline news, Air Canada is making some changes to its Aeroplan program.

In January 2026, it'll start awarding points based on how much you spend with the airline, not the distance you fly.

This is pretty much how all the U.S.

airline loyalty programs work with the exception of Alaska Airlines.

And I think unless you have elite status with Air Canada, you're going to be earning a lot less Aeroplan points for your flights.

And this is why it's really good to have transferable points.

It'll be harder for most people to earn Aeroplan points with flying, but it is a transfer partner of almost all the major credit card programs.

Chase, Amex, Capital One, Built.

So that might be an easier route to Air Canada points with this change.

We'll pack the list of transfer partners of all the major credit card programs.

You can find that in the episode description.

Tess, thanks so much for filling in for Sally today.

Always happy to.

See you next time.

Up next, Sally and I will share some of our non-obvious packing tips.

But before we get into that, you may have heard we're running our annual listener survey.

And yes, there are some prizes.

We're giving away the first ever Smart Travel branded merch.

It's super exclusive.

Only seven people will get it.

I don't even have one yet.

The survey takes just a few minutes and we read every response.

This is your chance to help shape what we cover on Smart Travel, how we cover it, and how the show evolves.

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All right, Sally, let's talk packing.

Now, we're not here to tell you how to roll your clothes tighter.

We're here to help you actually figure out some ways that packing smart can save you money, like hundreds of dollars, actually.

Yeah, so for starters to spell that out, pretty much every airline charges bag fees these days.

I would say it's usually about $35 for a checked bag on domestic flights.

Sometimes budget airlines or a basic economy fare on a traditional air carrier will charge you for carry-on luggage.

I think of an example like Frontier.

They charge for carry-on and checked bags.

That can run you potentially an additional $200 round trip for that Frontier checked bag and carry-on.

And if you're hearing this and thinking, well, good thing I don't fly Frontier, I want to point out that if you're flying multiple flights a year with a checked bag or you're doing a multi-city trip, those costs can add up even if you fly with a full-service airline.

Yes.

So if you really, really need to check a bag and you also need that carry-on bag, there are some ways that you can avoid these fees.

especially if you are willing to pledge allegiance and be loyal to one airline.

So you could get your preferred airline's co-branded credit card.

Of course, check the benefits, but many of these cards actually offer free checked bags as a benefit for holding those cards.

And we have a list of those cards with free checked bags that we'll put in the episode description.

What I like about these is that the annual fee is often less than the cost of checking a bag three times.

So two round trip flights with that checked bag.

In most cases, you've already gotten your money's worth on the fees alone.

The other way is to earn elite status.

Now, I wouldn't spend thousands of dollars trying to earn elite status just to save on baggage fees, but I do want to point out that some airlines allow elite status members to bring on heavier bags for free.

For example, United Airlines lets elite status members bring bags up to 70 pounds for free instead of the usual 50 pounds.

I can bring my dumbbells.

Yeah.

Again, though, even in that case, it might be cheaper to pay the overweight bag fee than spend all the money and time earning elite status just to get that benefit.

Absolutely.

And of course, the method everyone already knows and loves for avoiding bag fees is going carry-on only.

Yes.

I'm definitely team carry-on after my whole lost luggage debacle.

I am sorry about that, but I got to say, Megan, I take it it a step further.

I ditch the roller bag, which I know you have, and I go with just a backpack.

Yikes.

Okay, so I got to say, I started doing carry-on only, and then I shrunk it down even further to just see like, what can I fit under my seat?

And I got to say, when all your possessions are literally on your back, you start making different decisions about what is necessary.

It's not just, will I use this, but will I carry this for 12 blocks in Paris up and down the train stairs where there's no escalator.

I might even possibly take it to the top of the Eiffel Tower with me.

Who knows?

Just before your flight.

Yeah, I like that.

I saw the photos from you taking your backpack all the way up the Eiffel Tower.

It also seems like it lets you be more spontaneous, which is super fun.

All right, let's do our favorite money-saving packing tips.

I think the reason why we wanted to do this show was primarily to talk about my signature packing tip.

I coined this term, I'm still working on my trademark.

It is called the $10-10 rule.

So I just got to say, shout out to a couple friends, Andrea Sachs at the Washington Post and then Elaine Gusak at the New York Times.

They both wrote about this $10, $10 packing tip that I came up with.

Andrea's story is particularly funny because it's called a ruthless guide to flying without bag fees.

Wow.

So she even considers your packing rule to be ruthless.

She did, and maybe it is.

Okay, well, why don't you explain it?

The $10, $10 rule goes like this.

If you have a just-in-case item, something that you might need, but you know you can buy it at your destination, it is under under $10 and you can acquire it in under 10 minutes.

I say don't pack it.

Okay, so give us some examples.

Yeah, so really, these are the just-in-case items.

It is like an umbrella, even if it's not raining all the days straight.

It's extra toiletries that you might need if you run out, beach towels because you're not sure if the hotel has them.

Things like that.

I'm saying do not pack the poncho unless you are absolutely sure it is rainy season.

or you know you are headed to Tiana's bioadventure at Disneyland.

And do not bring a second book unless you're you're absolutely sure that you're going to finish it first.

Basically, do not bring the sunscreen if you are not sure you're going to go tank top or shirts off.

If I'm going to be in long sleeves all day, then just get the sunscreen if you need it while you're there.

Oh man, I always bring the sunscreen.

I like this rule though, because it's flexible based on where you're going.

Like if you're traveling to a vacation rental in the middle of nowhere and the closest pharmacy is 30 minutes away, then trying to buy a new sunscreen might just be really stressful.

But in that case, packing more up front might make more sense.

So, I kind of think of this as a guideline.

And even to go someplace in 10 minutes might be faster for me because I'm super agile versus someone who's like, I got to wrangle all the kids and I got to roll out the stroller and all that.

So, I do want people to know this is a guideline.

And even, you know, someone who's on a really, really tight budget, they might say this is a $10, $5 rule because maybe they can't afford to part with $10 and that totally makes sense.

At the same time, someone might be like, my rule is $10, $100 because they want to pack super light.

And if they they might need it and they're fine, fine, you know, an all-new leather jacket for $100, go for it.

And just to clarify, you do pack the essentials though, right?

Yes, yes, yes.

So these are like just in case items because I fully understand like a toothbrush under $10, you can get it in under 10 minutes.

But these are those things that you think you might need.

So again, we're talking like sunscreen.

If you're not totally sure, you're rolling out to the beach, you might be in a sweater anyway that day.

These are the just-in-case items.

But really, I know so many people who pack these just-in-case items.

And I'm like, do not do do it.

Okay, I'm worried about our listeners.

I think sunscreen's an essential, and you should just pack it.

Okay, okay, yeah, you should wear it any day, no matter whether you're going to the beach or not.

Megan, we should tell the listeners: we are talking right now in San Francisco where it is foggy, it is 50 degrees.

We rolled up in our full parkas, so face sunscreen is essential, but nothing else.

Yeah, sunscreen first, everyone.

Okay, our next tip is sort of related to that one.

Stay with us, you'll hear it in a minute.

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All right, Sally, our next packing tip, don't pack the hotel freebies.

Yes, I love this one.

And this totally goes in the whole $10 rule where you can acquire a lot of things in under 10 minutes, particularly if you are staying at a hotel.

And generally, the nicer hotels do this.

So I learned this a few years ago.

I was flying to Santa Barbara.

The TSA took my toothpaste.

Boo, TSA.

And so the safe with Sally and me was like, let me just go down to the lobby of this hotel in Santa Barbara and see if by any chance they have toothpaste.

And you know what?

They did.

They handed me like a little case with like toothpaste, toothbrush, some razors.

It was amazing.

And it was free.

Wow.

I've seen fancy hotels have all sorts of things, not just toothpaste, but like little combs, like a razor if you need it.

You just have to call the front desk.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I was at the Kimpton recently and they had a whole sign of like all the things that you could request.

And they were even things that like I don't use in my everyday life.

But I was like, oh my gosh, maybe I should get some nice face lotion or something.

Absolutely.

The other thing is that some hotels even take this a step further.

So I was talking to someone who represents Lowe's Hotels.

They are a smaller hotel chain and they even offer what they call hello bellow baby kits.

And these include all sorts of items for babies because we talked about how much parents might need to pack more or it's harder to wrangle children, but their baby kits include things like baby bathtubs.

Oh, that reminds me.

Even Disneyland First Aid has a bunch of stuff you might need, including free band-aids if you start getting plus

walking.

Yes.

You know, you just go to City Hall and Main Street and they hand you like a little stack of band-aids.

Yeah, it's great.

Okay.

So one of my biggest packing tips is just don't be afraid of doing laundry.

Yeah.

Cruises have it.

Some vacation rentals have it.

And if there is easy access to a washing machine, you 100% do not need to pack so many clothes.

My mom used to have us literally bring three outfits for our two-week trip to visit family in Hawaii.

I respect your mom.

Yeah.

It's really easy to toss a couple of laundry pods in your suitcase.

Yeah.

I know that probably falls under your 10, under $10, but since I usually only need one or two, I just pack them from home.

But you also know you're going to need it.

You know you're going to do laundry.

So you pass my test.

Sometimes I'm a little ambitious about it.

I'm like, I'm going to do laundry like three times and I do it once, but it's fine.

No one knows.

You can pack two extra laundry pods.

I also always like to bring a random plastic bag.

Oh, yes, that's such a good tip.

Yeah, like from the grocery store or takeout or whatever, because you can put so many different things in it.

You can put your wet bathing suits in it.

You can put your shoes in in it.

You can put your dirty laundry in it.

But if at the end of the trip you find yourself with some random souvenirs that don't fit in your carry-on, you put them in your plastic bag as if you bought them from the airport.

Yeah.

And the gate agent usually won't count like a plastic bag of takeout food or your snack haul as part of your carry-on allowance.

So it just gives you a little extra breathing room, but it has to be in that little plastic bag.

Yeah.

Oh, you know, I actually thought when you said plastic bag, I thought you meant like Ziploc bag, because I always bring a Ziploc gallon bag for like my swimsuit and all that.

And then sometimes sometimes like if you have snacks or whatever, I was at the graduate hotel and in the room, they gave like little checks mix, but it wasn't like pre-packaged.

So I put it in my gallon bag.

Oh, wow.

Okay, but the gate agent might stop you if they saw you carrying around a Ziploc bag.

They might be like, that's a third item.

Nah, I don't think so.

Test it out, people.

Find out.

Find out.

Right.

Okay.

And then I also think that travel-size things are a scam.

Yes.

They're so expensive.

Yeah.

Like the cost per unit is just laughable, especially if you're buying some random travel size thing at a tourist track.

I swear, like mini toothpaste is more expensive than just normal toothpaste.

Oh, 100%.

It is absolutely worth the money to buy some of those travel-size containers and take the products you already like and use at home with you on travel.

Yeah, you know, my hack, I do pack sunscreen when I'm going to beach vacations, Megan.

And I take like prescription drug containers.

And then when I'm done with them, I put sunscreen in those.

Oh, yeah.

And you have like mini packs of sunscreen.

Oh, I love it.

Like you take one every day, see?

The last one I think people don't talk about enough is if you're going on vacation where you know you might be buying some stuff and you might not have enough room on the way back,

you should pack things you're okay with getting rid of at the end of a day.

Oh, I totally do that.

This is also a good hip.

Like, I brought an old pair of running shoes when I went on a cruise because after the cruise, I just tossed those because they were falling apart, and that gave me enough room to take back a new pair of sandals I bought.

Right.

Oh my God, that's my favorite trip.

I'm glad you do that too, because I was like, Am I the only unhinged one who's like, my shoes that are too smelly to wear again, their last trip will be in Europe.

Yeah.

It's the way to go, I say.

Sorry, Europe, that I'm wearing smelly shoes.

But reuse as many things as you can.

I don't recommend buying things to toss them away.

Yeah.

So, Megan, now I know you're quite the reader.

Yeah.

You like to pack books on your trips?

I love packing books.

I felt like a little targeted when you mentioned like, don't pack a second book.

That was aimed at me, wasn't it?

Well, I don't know.

I don't know.

Well, what I do is I don't take my most prized books on vacation.

So I'll take like a beach read that I got as a gift and then I'll finish it on vacation.

And then you know how some hotels have like a little bookshelf?

Yes, free library.

Yeah, I'll just put it there at the bookshelf for the next person.

So that makes me feel like I've donated it or like I've given it another chance at life.

Last item that you use, leave it behind.

You don't need to bring it again with you.

Yeah.

I really like that idea.

And then the other thing is when you're actually buying souvenirs, I always think about being targeted about what I'm buying.

And often I'll buy souvenirs that I can actually use on the trip.

So you might say like, I need a sun hat.

Rather than buy a sun hat from, you know, Target in your local town, just if you're going to the beach, just buy a sun hat there.

I was in Thailand and there's so many cool beach tanks, beach hats, all these things.

Just buy that in Thailand and then you have your souvenir there.

There you go.

I love that idea.

And plus you'll always remember it.

It's like multi-purpose souvenir.

When you come back, you'll also be like, I was in Thailand.

I have a cool banana romper from Thailand.

Oh, cute.

Okay, I think that's a good one to end on.

I think it's hot takeoffs time.

Ready?

Yeah.

Megan, you have one?

Yeah.

Sort of related to packing, but I like using a clothing rental service for months that I'm going to travel a lot.

I've never used a clothing rental service.

Oh, I think you might actually really like it because it feels like part of the vacation budget is buying clothes that help you fit in there.

You know, like if you're going to beach, you want like beachy clothes and stuff like that.

And maybe you don't always have that just like laying around or it's from like your trip to the beach like three years ago right but you do a clothing rental service and suddenly you have access to all these different clothes and you can't people who want to look cute on vacation yeah cute clothes who doesn't want to look cute

i want to look like a fit in yeah i don't want to say i don't want to look cute because we all do but like i'm so functional that i'm like i don't even care I was really surprised because I started doing newly for some of these destination weddings that I've been going to.

How do you spell that?

N-U-U-L-Y.

Interesting.

A lot of these startups have like ridiculous spellings.

Oh, definitely.

If I didn't tell you, you would have no idea.

But I will say that service has saved me a couple of hundred dollars because I literally rented my bridesmaid dress.

Interesting.

I rented my Western outfit for a trip.

I rented a bridesmaid dress.

That's great.

Yeah, I rented a going-out outfit for Mexico City.

I know people who rent like ski jackets and stuff from there.

Interesting.

There's a couple of companies that do this.

Rent the Runway.

Yeah, that's what I've heard of.

Newly, Stitch Fix.

fix i think there's actually a bunch of them out there and there's a lot of different price points like the one for newly you get six pieces for like 110 or something like that for one month but you get multiple pieces whereas like rent the runway sometimes you can only get one piece at a time so find the one that works for you hope you guys look fabulous on vacation listeners you heard it you can look fabulous and also pack light email us at travel at nerdwallet.com or you can even leave us a voice memo where we can play it back on the show and follow us on Instagram.

I'm Miles with MeganCo, Megan with an H and Co.

like CO.

And I'm on Instagram as at SaveWithSally.

Instagram is fun because this podcast is just us talking to each other, but then we can talk to you too on Instagram.

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This episode was produced by Hilary Georgie and Tess Viglund.

Claire Soci helped with fact-checking.

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