Paranoid Prepper: A Look At Air Travel For The Prepper

Air Travel. I used to be a frequent flyer and have watched air travel change over the years from being a modern marvel, to a form of purgatory.  ☹  I don’t have any idea how to fix that, but I do have a few tips to deal with the problem of airlines trying to separate you from your stuff and other abuses.

Part of the problem comes from trying to shove more people into a progressively smaller space.  Airlines treat passengers like cattle being led to the slaughter.  There is no guarantee that you won’t be bumped from a flight, or beaten by airport security like Dr. David Dao, or simply left on the tarmac.

This leads to my first suggestion, which is if you can possibly avoid it, Don’t Fly!  If you just finished a novel about an EMP and all the airliners just crashed, it may be easy to convince you of the wisdom of this piece of advice.  😊

Amtrak

For instance, I take a regular trip to visit relatives over 800 miles away.  By air, the trip is a bit over two hours, not including time back and forth to the airport, being at the airport a couple hours early, delays in airport security, etc., or about 8 hours door to door for a two-hour flight, assuming no delays.  The trip is annoying and uncomfortable. 

Furthermore, the one airline that flies direct cancels the flight so often that you really can’t count on getting to your destination.  Fortunately, I can either drive, or take Amtrak.  Either method is cheaper, more comfortable, allows me to bring the baggage I want, I will not be bumped, and I am not at risk of a cavity search.  😊

Automobile or train does take longer, but when you count all the wasted time on the ground with air travel, the comparison is not as extreme as you might expect.  Furthermore, it is much more reliable.

If You Must Fly

Sometimes there is no good alternative to air travel, and you simply must endure it.  Unfortunately, getting through airport security is about as pleasant as a colonoscopy.  As you go through security, you want to have no baggage whatsoever. 

TSA can’t take away stuff you don’t have.  I go through security with my wallet with ID, my ticket and boarding pass, and my cell phone.  Think you need more?  Get rid of the book, and put a Kindle app on the phone.  Empty your pockets into your checked bag. 

If you can buy it between security and the gate, e.g. a bottle of water, food bars, etc. then do so.  When asked if you want a bag for that bottle of water and candy bar, the answer is “yes”.  You now have a disposable plastic carry-on.  😊

The next tip is loose, unattractive clothing.  This is not the time to be fashionable.  Do not be someone TSA will enjoy searching.  Ladies, do not wear yoga pants when flying!  There is no guarantee you won’t be searched, but why attract the attention of a bunch of minimum wage rent-a-cops who have no purpose except to make you and your fellow flyers miserable?

Finally, you want to be able to remain calm throughout this ordeal.  Lay off the coffee.  Take an aspirin or ibuprofen, maybe a Valium.  You want to be conscious, but not too conscious.  😊

Luggage

Having decided to fly, you have the additional problem of how to get your luggage to your destination.  Anything you want to check should be inexpensive, as the likelihood of it being lost or stolen is high.  If you are a prepper, this is complicated by the desire to carry a few preps, e.g. knife, paracord, etc. not to mention the clothes you need for your trip.  Consider carrying a Cheap BOB inside one of your checked bags.

Since the airlines now routinely charge you for any sort of baggage, consider just sending baggage to your destination as a UPS package.  The cost will be the same, or possibly lower, and it is less likely to get lost.  Simply send the package to yourself at your destination hotel.  Call the hotel and warn them it is coming so they know to expect it.  This is even easier on your return.  You are sending the package home.  I have sent FedEx packages of dirty laundry home from multiple trips.  😊

Some items can be purchased at your destination.  Food is a particularly good choice to simply buy at your destination, but if it can be bought in a grocery store, consider not bringing it, simply buy it after you land.  Want to have a Bic lighter?  Just buy one when you get where you are going.

If you are going to be traveling to the same destination repeatedly, leave a checked bag with the hotel so it will be waiting for you when you return.

If you are a frequent traveler who requires a few prescription drugs, fill your prescriptions at a national chain.  Your prescriptions are now in their system and can be filled at any store in the chain.  Ideally, you would have enough of your prescriptions for your trip, any possible extension of the trip, and a trek home in the event of a disaster.  

However, being able to fill your prescriptions at any store in the chain is convenient if you run out, your prescriptions are lost in transit, or your trip gets extended.  I happen to use CVS, and I have filled prescriptions in half a dozen remote cities.

Credit Cards

Warn your card company that you will be travelling, especially if the travel is international.  There is nothing worse than to be in a foreign country, and your credit card gets rejected at check in, because it sets off a fraud warning at a bank back in the US.  Consider carrying cards from multiple banks to further minimize inconvenience.  If one is rejected for some reason, use another.

Cash also works, paper not change.  😊

Cell Phones

Despite Supreme Court decisions that a warrant is required to search a cell phone, TSA often decides they need to search your cell phone.  Before trips, back up your phone to your computer, and clean out photos, bookmarks, contacts, etc. that some cretin in blue gloves might find amusing.  The longer they are playing with your phone, the longer it will be before you can be on your way.  You do want the app for your airline however.

Firearms

Among preppers the question of firearms routinely comes up.  Given the difficulties of air travel with a firearm, you often can’t take a firearm with you.  For instance, if you are not a possessor of a People’s Republic of New Jersey Firearms ID card, you don’t want a firearm in New Jersey. 

There is no such thing as a non-resident card.  New York City is no better.  In other words, properly packaging, labeling and checking your firearm and then flying to any of the New York metropolitan airports is a bad idea.  (Think felony level bad idea.)   If you simply can’t get by without carrying, the most populous states in the country are simply off limits.  Maybe national reciprocity will pass someday, but until it does, there are places in the US to avoid carrying.

Summary

My suggestions make clear that air travel should be avoided if at all possible.  Lousy service and security theater have made air travel an unpleasant experience.  If you can’t avoid air travel, keep your baggage cheap and disposable, and consider sending it to your destination in advance as a package.  Travel inconspicuously, gray man style.  Have alternatives for credit cards and prescription medications.  Carrying firearms will be difficult to impossible.  If you have time, drive or consider train or bus alternatives.