Denver (DEN) Travel Tips

If you follow me on Twitter or BrightKite, you will notice I travel quite a bit.  Here are some travel tips I wish someone had told me at the beginning of my travel:

• Fly One Airline
  United of Frontier.  As much as I pick on Frontier, they are consistently the best airline out of DEN.
• Pack One Bag
  Not one bag plus a carry on, but one bag.  This makes you very mobile wherever you go.  The more mobile, the more opportunity.
• Check In Online
  This is a gimme for quite a few of you, but I still see an astonishing amount of travelers checking in at the kiosk.  If you don’t have a bag, you can check in 24 hours before your flight, confirm your seat and print it out.  You can then just walk to the gate, avoiding some lines.
• Pack a Water Bottle
  I have a SIGG bottle (trying to not use a plastic water bottle this year).  For me, hydration helps my health while flying.  When I leave my house, I have a somewhat full SIGG, and I drink it before I get to security.  After that, I fill it up again for the flight.
• Park on the West Side of DIA
  $9 a day for the economy lot ($4 a day more than the Pikes Peak lot, but I find it worth it to be able to walk to and from your car).  The east lot makes you walk further.  I would love to take the bus, but it adds 2.5 hours to my trip time, which over the year would mean I would waste 2 days on the bus.
• Walk to The Gate
  The trains are really annoying to me and tend to cause waiting.  If you fly Frontier, you can walk from your car over the runway to your gate.  I love getting off the plane, walking 10 minutes and being on the road.
• I 70 Is Horrible
  If you are flying into DEN to then drive up to the mountains (Vail, Copper, Aspen) don’t underestimate how bad it can be up there.  Really consider flying.
• DEN not DIA
  Yes, you are flying into Denver International Airport, but you are flying out of an airport with a code of DEN.  You can call it by both names, but there is a difference.
• Security Speed
  My strategy for security is to be as simple as possible.  If you are wearing a jacket, put everything in your pockets in the jacket.  When you get through the metal detector, put on your jacket, put your laptop back in your backpack, slip your shoes on and start walking.
• Be Nice
  No matter how much you feel you have been wronged or feel the situation you are in traveling is wrong, it won’t be fixed by being an ass.  Be nice, and if you feel like having the situation ‘righted’ call their support line.  Or set up a website out of love.