Travelling with checked luggage – it’s not a sin…

Unlike a lot of my fellow flyers, I actually tend to travel with luggage (either on a return leg), or with lots of luggage both directions.

And no, it’s not sin amazingly.

The current long haul luggage set after a trip to Chicago.

A 3 bag luggage set… with some extras (65ltr rucksack) after a Tokyo Trip 

My “Light” Luggage set (2x Rucksacks) after a San Francsico Tier Point Run.

Whilst in an ideal world we could carry everything want in hand luggage there are certain reasons why not…

• The stuff won’t fit in hand luggage restrictions (go on, try putting golf clubs, tripods, stands, surf boards in your hand luggage… won’t happen)
• You might have liquids that you want to carry over the limits that are prescribed
• You’re packing for more than one or two people
• You actually are going over the luggage allowance
• You have items (like a Swiss army knife), that isn’t allowed in your hand luggage, but you need at the other end
• and so on.

The fact is a lot of passengers can’t work out of a small bag alone (or an American sized kitchen with the sink… pretty much a standard carry-on).

And it still isn’t a sin.

A few things about hand luggage before we go on… .

• A lot of airlines restrict the weight of hand luggage weight, so what one airline will happily carry, another will tell you to check it.
• Some choice allowances….
  • British Airways allows 23Kg hand baggage.
  • Singapore Airlines allows 7kg
  • Air France 12kg
  • American Airlines 18kg
  • Cathay Pacific 7kg
  • Lufthansa 8kg
  • (You can use Google to convert kilograms to pounds… some of us work in both).
• Check the size of the luggage also meets the sizing requirements. And they all vary. For some, this would mean checking their precious bag on certain airlines. Some airlines (Spirit and Frontier) will allow only a personal item to be carried aboard (with very constrained sizes). Again – check with your carrier.
• Remember what you can carry, and what you can’t carry. Hand luggage by its nature is restricted in terms of things that can be carried. If in doubt, check with your airline or friendly security checkpoint.

So if you are planning to take luggage with you, here are some things to consider:

• Check your free luggage allowance if you’re entitled to it. Lucky has compiled a list to help you out. Ensure that you don’t exceed the free allowances, as international fees can be crippling.
• Check if you can take more than one bag. Some airlines will charge for a second bag.
• Different fare classes also will allow different baggage allowance, either by piece or by weight (normally, Economy class gets one bag, Business class gets two bags).
• Elite status is your friend as this can allow extra bags if needed for no extra cash (the main reason why I hang onto Gold status if I’m honest).
• Ensure the ticket you’ve brought has a luggage allowance with it. A lot of carriers (American Airlines, United, Delta, British Airways, EasyJet, Ryanair, KLM) have fares that have no element of luggage with them. So pick the right fare.
• If needed, pay for your baggage in advanced. For example, Air France, British Airways, Aer Lingus, EasyJet, Spirit all offer discounts on buying luggage in advanced.

And no, it’s still not a sin to have checked bags, luggage or whatever.

Because as much as the ideal of travelling light is a nice thing, sometimes it is just not possible to do that in the real world – even if you have a sink of a luggage bag that can carry everything.

And personally, anything to reduce the fight for overhead bin space isn’t a bad thing at all (although in a lot of cases, the blame of the full overhead bins are down to airlines deciding to charge for luggage in the first place).

I suppose the point I’m making is that everyones travel style is different. Some can do the light travel, some can’t. If you can’t (like me), it’s best to know what the free things are… and what the possible costs could be.

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