One of the best ways to be a frugal traveler is to plan ahead. At times we all forget including me, but I hate to pay those extra fees airlines try to impose.

While I was in Utah I decided to replace my 15 year old skis with a new pair. There is a budget warehouse house in Salt Lake City called Ski Truck that has great deals on ski and snowboard equipment. The new skis I bought are wider skis and weigh a few pounds more than my old ones. I was so excited how my new skis would feel on the slopes that I forgot to think about if these new ski would cost me more money when I got to the airport to fly home.

Here is a link with airline baggage fees from airfarewatchdog.com. Baggage Fees

I knew as we drove to the airport that Southwest would allow each of us to check two bags and we still had one more bag checked allowed for our group. All of our bags were fine except the ski bag that had two pairs of skis and boots. We were told at the curb in front of the SLC airport that our ski bag was over the fifty pound limit and it would cost us $50 to check that bag. Luckily my husband and I had remembered to pack our collapsible duffel bag. We pulled out this flat lightweight bag and unzipped it into a full size duffel bag. Out came my boots and a bag of dirty clothes from the ski bag and we put them in the duffel bag. We now had one more bag to check, our limit for the group. The ski bag was under the fifty pound limit and so we avoided the $50 over the limit bag fee.

Since we find these collapsible duffel bags an important part of our packing routine on every trip, I had hoped to provide you with a link. They seem harder to find than I expected. I am thinking about having a travel saving tip contest and giving away a few of these collapsible bags to the winners. Your thoughts and suggestions regarding this possible contest will be appreciated. Email me at frugaltravellawyer@gmail.com.