A mother has shared how she saves £50 every time she takes her children to the airport, using a few simple hacks to avoid inflated prices. Natalie King, a travel journalist, says she got tired of spending so much money before even reaching her destination, so she now gets organised before arriving at the airport.
The high cost of airport spending
Having kids is expensive, especially when taking them on holiday. While deals like free child places can save money, it is the little extras that add up, from buying a new inflatable to the odd ice cream. However, one place King truly begrudges spending money is the airport.
By the time you arrive, you have likely already paid a significant amount for parking, or in the case of Gatwick Airport, £10 for a 90-second drop-off. Inflated prices feel like an insult and can eat into your holiday budget.
Prices are most inflated at food outlets. A couple with two kids can easily spend nearly £50 for a basic burger chain meal if their flight is near a meal time. Expenses do not end at lunch; buying essentials like water adds up, and coffee chains charge a fortune because they can.
Packing sandwiches and water
After a particularly expensive trip to Gatwick a few years back, King decided to spend as little as possible at the airport and on the plane. She starts by packing a round of sandwiches. They do not need to be gourmet, just enough to keep going.
Many airports near her have eased liquid restrictions, so she can grab a meal deal en route to the airport and take a big bottle of water of up to two litres through security. If your local airport still enforces the 100ml rule, pack empty water bottles and fill them after passing through scanners. King saw a 750ml bottle of water priced at €4.15 (around £3.50) at a European airport, sitting in a warm fridge. Filling your own bottle can save a small fortune and the water is cold.
Some food counts as liquid, so anything that can be spilled, spread, or poured must follow security restrictions. Double-walled Thermos flasks need to be empty to go through scanners, making hot foods trickier. Since taking your own coffee is impossible, King heads to M&S or Pret A Manger, which tend to have the cheapest coffee options at airports.
Avoiding overpriced snacks
King grabs snacks for her backpack to avoid paying €7 (about £6) on a certain budget airline for a mini tube of Pringle-style crisps. The same airline charges €5 for a single Kit Kat chunky, meaning you could buy two multipacks of four in the supermarket for around the same price.
She also avoids kids' snack boxes on planes. On her first couple of family holidays, she forked out £5 each for a tiny box with some Mini Cheddars, a melty Freddo, and crayons, which ended up ignored because iPads exist now.
Nowadays, when packing their hand luggage, King gives each child a plastic lunchbox filled with items from the packed lunch cupboard selection. This allows her to sneak in fresh fruit and healthier snacks to keep them quiet on the plane, and the children like having more personal choice.
Using the Too Good to Go app
For particularly frugal travellers, King discovered that some airport outlets participate in the Too Good to Go app. If you have an early-morning or late-night flight, this could be an interesting option. However, she warns that the app is basically gambling on what you will get, and you might end up with a bag of 30 croissants and a loaf of bread on the plane.
