Roll Your Clothes: Folding is an attempt to avoid wrinkles, but rolling your shirts, slacks, shorts, and other attire is a sure way to equally avoid wrinkles while also freeing up precious space within your luggage. Not only that, but such an arrangement is easier for security personnel to search through, which means less hassle for them and less violations of personal space for you.

Prep Your Laptop: With more and more airlines providing travelers with on board Internet service, bringing a laptop or tablet as a carry-on is becoming a more common occurrence. But keep in mind that when going through the metal detectors, laptops must be removed from any sleeve and placed in a bin by itself. Make this a quick process by having your laptop ready to be removed upon arriving at the security checkpoint.

Check the Weather (AKA Avoid Anecdotal Evidence): It’s easy to assume that Southern California is always sunny and warm thanks to television – but residents of the Golden State see cool weather and clouds just like everyone else. The same goes for the reverse: Seattle isn’t always a rain-soaked city despite its reputation. Check the actual forecast before packing, as you want to make sure you bring the appropriate attire.

Keep Liquids and Gels in an Easily Accessible Place: Even if you’re checking your luggage, it’s wise to keep your toiletries in baggies and separated from the rest of your items. This reduces the chances of a gooey mess in the event these items are broken open during the flight, but it also reduces the likelihood of your luggage being significantly rummaged through in the event of a random search, as they primarily focus on inspecting toiletries, not clothing.

Weight Before You Go: The costs of added weight to luggage weight limits are ridiculously high, but when you’re at the check-in counter what choice do you have besides suck it up and pay? Know how much your luggage weighs before you go. Grab your luggage, step on your bathroom scale, step off, then weigh yourself again sans luggage. Subtract the difference and you have a figure you can compare to the limitations imposed by your chosen airlines.

Nobody likes the hassles associated with travel, especially the aggravations that come with luggage and security. But these hassles are ultimately in all of our best interests, and there are ways in which you can make it easier on yourself and others. If you pack like a pro, it allows you to sit back, relax, and actually enjoy your air travel experience.

So what are you supposed to do? Who buys shampoo in 3 oz. bottles? Only fools and folks looking to get through airport security!

So, not one to play the fool, I’ve don’t buy sample sized toiletries from the store. My personal favorites are the little soaps, shampoos, lotions, and conditioners from hotels. You’ve already paid for them, when you paid for the room, so you might as well take them with you if you haven’t used them up. There is a downside to this strategy, you won’t be able to get toothpaste this way. Most hotels don’t include toothpaste in rooms, so for that you’ll have to rely on samples or buy them at the store.

Number two on the list, number one for toothpaste, is requesting samples from companies giving stuff away. You can usually find loads of websites giving away samples of product, just do a quick search on Google and you’ll be inundated with sites giving stuff away.

If you haven’t been to a hotel lately or you’re just in a pinch, you can always buy the sample sizes from your local grocery store or drugstore.

(Photo: eszter)

I’ve been going to Kimpton Hotels for several years now because their service is fantastic, the rooms are spacious and beautiful, and it’s a great experience overall. What makes it even better is that you can join their Kimpton InTouch program and it gives you free Wi-Fi and two “honor-bar” items, basically $15 to spend in the room’s mini-bar. It always infuriates me when I find out my $200 a night room also charges me $20 for Wi-Fi, so that’s a perk.

The next time you are thinking about boutique versus a major chain, take a quick peek at the loyalty program to see what you can get for free just by signing up.

For instance, Southwest Airlines and JetBlue both bury their bag fee within the overall ticket price. If your luggage is lost, there’s no paper trail that will help you establish a strong case against these companies for reimbursement. In essence, the apparently lowered costs of traveling with these airlines comes with the risk of not being compensated in the event your bags don’t accompany you to your destination.

Other airlines assure fliers with promises of reimbursement in the event that bags are lost, but in practice, it’s much harder than they make it out to be. Alaska Airlines, for example, shows off a seemingly impressive reparations package offered to those who have their bags misplaced. They will either debit you $20.00 toward another ticket purchase or give you 2,000 frequent flier miles. But as it turns out, claiming these reimbursements is easier said than done. It requires that you speak to an airline authority within two hours of lost luggage and it’s only for one bag per person, so if more were lost you’re out of luck.

Delta is the only other airline that offers something even remotely close to being considered luggage-fee restitution in the event of lost bags. The Delta package is a little different, but is essentially the same thing as Alaska’s, only in exchange for a 12 hour wait time as opposed to only two, fliers get the luxury of being able to have two lost bags compensated for instead of just one.

As far as the rest of the airlines go, name your carrier and be ready for disappointment. They won’t let you board a plane with luggage without paying for the extra weight, yet they won’t refund you that charge in the event that your luggage never arrives.

Simply put, paying for luggage is a certainty and being compensated for lost luggage is a rarity in a world where airlines are severely strapped for cash and fuel costs continue to skyrocket.

The result has been a series of mix messages sent out to the public. The IRS is telling citizens to approach their respective airlines for the way to get back their tax payment. Airlines are telling customers to go to the IRS. In the middle, are a number of unhappy individuals who just want the money entitled to them by law.

The mishap occurred as congress failed to continue funding the Federal Aviation Administration prior to the August recess. After President Obama pleaded with congress to not let 4,000 workers employed by the FAA be left with uncertain fates, congressional leaders returned to restore funding to the federal agency. However, for the brief time in between, the FAA was not being funded and therefore taxes typically applied to airline ticket purchases were removed. The resulting action on the part of the airlines was to make up for the price difference with increased fare charges.

The IRS is currently attempting to establish a dedicated means for customers to get their tax refunds through the government agency’s website. They apparently have to sort out the complications of having no paper trail for electronic ticket purchases. It’s for this reason and the simplicity for airlines to track customer records that the IRS is currently asking airlines to handle the refund and for customers to try to reach an agreement through the airlines before submitting paperwork to the IRS.

The government might be borderline broke, but bureaucratic bedlam never takes a break.

Overbook happens because airlines anticipate that on every flight there will be a few “no-shows” in addition to unoccupied seats. They sell more seats than the plane has in order to maximize their profit per flight and avoid the inevitable likelihood that one or two reserved seats on a high demand flight will go unused. The proactivity of this measure is often undercut, however, by the event of a flight’s anticipated no-shows showing up – and the oversold flight has too many passengers allotted that can be fitted onboard.

The DOT mandates that airline policy in this situation be to first see if there are any passengers who can afford to wait for the next available flight. This is called voluntary bumping. While there are likely several passengers who simply cannot afford to wait on any given flight, typically one or two are in no immediate hurry to get to their destination and can stay behind. In the event that an airline selects you as a candidate for a volunteer bump and you oblige, the following information should be considered:

The DOT has no specific rules regarding exact amounts of compensation for voluntary bumpers other than a guaranteed future flight arrangement. They do advise you to inquire about the compensation offered to those involuntarily bumped and negotiate an agreeable deal based off of that. You’ll have to be wary of when the next available flight will be, because you want to ensure that a hotel stay if necessary as well as ground transportation costs are covered by the airline. These factors are familiar bargaining chips to airlines and shouldn’t be a problem getting if you make the case for them.

Those involuntarily bumped are entitled to more rights per DOT. If the rescheduled flight is more than a certain amount of time after the original flight, you are entitled by law to receive a refund on your one-way ticket cost. If the time is doubled, so is your compensation. The time varies from flight to flight so check with the DOT. The aforementioned guidelines regarding voluntary bumps receiving hotel and alternative transportation compensation also apply.

If you find yourself being asked to be bumped from a flight or forced to be, know you’re well protected. Airlines are required to hand out pamphlets informing bumped passengers of their rights and entitlements, but don’t take their word for it. Know the laws before you’re bumped to better ensure you bounce back up without losing sleep or your shirt.

“I think the expectation of a bargain is wrong,” said Suzy Gershman, author of Frommer’s “Born to Shop” guides. “You may get a bargain, but I wouldn’t count on it.”

For the most part, there aren’t many savings, agreed Stephanie Abrams, host of the nationally syndicated radio show “Travel With Stephanie Abrams.” She only shops duty free if she needs something, like a last-minute gift.

Now, I look at Duty Free shops a lot like I look at big box discounters like Costco and Sam’s Club. In general, the prices are better but you shouldn’t assume that they’re better than what you get elsewhere. Savvier shoppers, who look for deals all the time, may be able to get a better deal, even after you consider taxes, by shopping online instead of in Duty Free.

One other discovery I made while flying through Heathrow two years ago: there are times when a manufacturer won’t offer a “regular” retail item in Duty Free. The Macallan, a famous Scotch distillery, has a special series of bottlings it offers only in the “travel” market – i.e. duty free. You can’t, at least least two years ago, buy a Macallan 12 or 18 in Duty Free!

So, you might be able to find a deal in Duty Free but considering all the sales and other promotions available at home, don’t assume you have a deal.

(Photo: nechbi)

For example, I didn’t know about “air deviations.”

In addition to offering air to cruisers, some lines also offer a compromise deal called “air deviation,” which allows you to book with the cruise but still choose your own carrier, route and flight times. The benefit is that the line will be aware of your flight schedule (and any delays), but again, there is no guarantee that they’ll hold the ship for you. Be aware that they also charge a one-time fee of between $25 and $50 per person for this “service.”

It is nice to not have to freak out (as much) in the event your flights run into any problems. When you consider most cruises are to warm destinations and the passengers are from frigid ones, it’s not surprising that people run into weather related problems.