NEWS FLASH Ladies, older women hold 70% of the wealth in the United States. About 45% of all consumer spending is ours.  Basically, we don’t want more stuff. We want experiences and, above all, while healthy and active, we want to travel and learn. Many university trips are branded ‘travel learn’. Those are the magic words to the 55+ crowd.

So why do we hesitate spending a bit more on ourselves?  And how do we improve our travel experience without blowing it on multi thousand First Class tickets.  More demand and fake scarcity of first-class seats make airfares increase crazily. Sometimes a Business or First-class plane ticket is more expensive than the river cruise or the tour.

Here are a few suggestions to enhance your next flight. They are budget friendly suggestions which I use; they might help you as you board your summer plane.

General advice is to arrive at the the airport 3 hours before international departures. ( 2+ for domestic flights).  Why not subscribe to TSA or to Clear? Clear is often packaged into expensive credit cards or can be purchased separately for $207. Looking at the lowest American Express, colored Green, you get a $209 credit which covers a Clear membership.  Cheaper is TSA which costs only $85 for 5 years. Yes there is some paperwork involved; do it. Check out the TSA website for the list of 45 credit cards and loyalty programs which offer a full or partial discount for TSA. Now that TSA is back in business, this is a good deal.

Why do I use Clear? I don’t like paying this private company and sometimes the machines are inoperative;  but generally the Clear line is shorter.  You get ahead of other passengers and thus are more relaxed about forfeiting valuable bags to a machine. Many travelers are nervous when seeing their most important items disappear into scanners while they are detained to bee examined.  In the Miami Airport, my money belt disappeared in the scanner.  I panicked and thought it stolen; I was preparing to leave the airport when an airport worker climbed inside and rescued it. Lesson to be learned, don’t put small objects into scanners; package them into larger carry ons.

Treat yourself to an airline or other lounge. Lounges are busier each year and might turn you away. However some like Priority Club allow you to pre book a time. Again get to the airport early for busy lounge access.  Lounges have accessible and cleaner bathrooms, short lines for food, free wifi, and in, some, showers and newspapers. If you need a wheelchair or other assistance, staff is likely to fuss over you more in a lounge. Airline lounges cost $40-80 per visit; free if included in your credit card. Again many credit cards offer entry to airport lounges. An airport meal in a major city sets you back 20 minutes on line and  $25-30 for  lunch.  Do the math and relax in a lounge.

(Istanbul Airport has the ultimate amenities; if you fly certain classes, you may use the spa for free or pay a small amount ( $40?). My friend, Maggie, had a long Istanbul layover on our trip to Saudi Arabia. Rather than pay for a hotel room; she booked back to back lounge massages for 5 hours). I had my hair done in the Heathrow Virgin lounge via a Delta Amex Card. And my son’s family recently recently rested for  8 hours in the Air France lounge when NY snow storm cancelled flights from JFK.

Another budget option is a capsule hotel.  These airport hotels offer private rooms priced by the hour. One of our clients going to Ixtapan Resort arrived at 3AM for a 10AM transfer. She booked a capsule room which included a tv, bed, toilet, wifi and desk. Cheaper capsule rooms have  shared shower facilities. Her cost was hourly but the rest was priceless. (Capsule hotels have full time staff and surveillance cameras. One chain called Minute Suites charges less with Priority Pass.The first hour at JFK which I assume is on the high end is  $48 – $65  Additional 15 mins: $12 – $15  Overnight: $155 – $215  Shower Only: ~$30 (approx. $20 for Priority Pass). Some capsule hotels divide areas by gender. One issue is they are only single occupancy. Not a capsule but similar I took a day room at the Ibis adjacent to  Charles de Gaulle Airport. It was a mini room with bathroom and shower. Ibis is the lower end of  Air France company hotels. Ibis still had great croissants in the cafeteria. It was clean and cheap.

Getting to the gate early. is again a stress reliever. No rushing or worrying about security line delays. You now have plenty of time to change your seat, and ask about upgrades. My experience about upgrades is as follows: You see your name on an upgrade list-make sure you have already checked upgraded wanted on the airline app. You hunt for empty seats on the flight’s seating chart. Closer to departure, you look again; same, maybe shorter upgrade list, same, maybe fewer empty seats. By now airline staff  has a better idea of no shows. Go ask staff if there is a chance for one of the empty seats. Again my experience, they might call you rather than use a public announcement. Make sure your phone is on.

If you are over 75, ask staff to permit you to pre board. Preboarding is another stress reliever. You can stow you bag easily and settle in. (I suggest you put your bag in front of you so you can see if someone opens the compartment. Always lock it.)

A few more relaxing suggestions: wear soft non binding clothing, bring a pillow not a neck pillow. Buy a half size bedroom pillow, and use a real pillow case. Bring some snacks and load entertainment onto device. Airplane noise creates stress. Buy a $30+ pair of noise cancelling earphones. Some foreign airlines might not have entertainment you like. But for me, the best entertainment was on Emirates and in economy. The TV section called ‘binge TV’ had years of popular American shows. 10 hours of Big Little Lives got me to Dubai.

So if you want to feel better and not spend on First Class, treat yourself to some of the above enhancements. If you get on the plane relaxed, you’ll fly relaxed.