I’ll start.
One of the “gifts” S23 is receiving is TSAPrecheck. $70 and it’s good for 5 years. If you have a Staples near you, you can pick this as your appointment location.
Also, Lands End has slipper socks for many of the colleges on sale right now for what I assume is way cheaper than the college bookstore. (Found while frantically searching for something that was $12 so I could avoid a $9 shipping charge )
@vwlizard TSA Precheck is a great idea. S22 has several trips coming up so I am wondering about the time frame for getting it approved. I am traveling in 2 weeks and would love to have it but time frame likely too short.
Thanks for the tip about Staples as a TSA location. I didn’t know that!
Do they also process Global Entry? It’s only $15 more than pre-check but includes additional benefits. So worth it
It doesn’t look like Staples does global entry.
We used miles to help D20 with some of her leisure travel while on study abroad as a part of her Christmas gift. I have been very pleasantly surprised by how reasonable hotel rates are via miles.
If your child is looking at study abroad this spring in Europe, it is a good idea to start looking for cheap leisure flights early. D20 has been open to traveling wherever cheap flights are available and her lowest round trip airfare thus far has been $28 via RyanAir.
I keep getting ads for an emergency sleeping bag thing that you keep in your glove compartment. It is about $15 and i think it is like one of those thermo silver blankets but in a sleeping bag form (developed by NASA!)
Still thinking about it.
I think Global entry can only be done by the state department. You fill out the form online and then get an appointment, and right now most appointments are 5-8 months out.
The year my kids got their licenses, I made them up car emergency kits with strobe flash lights, window breakers/seatbelt cutters, emergency batteries/charger, hand/foot warmers, shovel, window scraper, gel nutrition packs, etc.
Other good stocking stuffer type gifts:
Money onto an Uber or DoorDash account
Restaurant or entertainment complex gift cards earmarked for occasions that you won’t be with them so that they can celebrate with friends (Birthday, Valentine’s Day, First A on an exam, end of midterm cramming)
Plant or plant care kit. If your student has a nurturing side, you’d be amazed at how attached college students can get to their plants.
Bike care kit.
D22 will be getting AirTags as she is constantly losing things.
TSA pre hells with college kids who do not give themselves enough time to get to the airport:) and a great “gift” for yourself!
You have to put your number in when you book your ticket, so that will not work for your flight in a couple of weeks, but the turnaround was only a few weeks earlier in the year so sign up for an appointment. Just watch your emails for updates and notices, it is a funky system.
The gift of choice is cash, but not actual cash because they do not even know what to do with that - lol!! Deposit it or transfer it to an account.
The amount of items purchased pre and post move in at target, Walmart, bed bath & beyond, Amazon, CVS, etc…is mind boggling. I had never spent that much in one trip to Target.
Doing a mini keurig with black Friday sales
These are our go-to grad gifts, but they work great for college student holiday gifts too:
For the coffee drinkers:
kettle, cone, and filters
For the non-coffee drinkers:
a nice lap desk
everyone gets a couple of the best legal pads