Tips On How To Avoid Checking Bags

By Author: Steve Robinson
Total Articles: 467
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Trips made possible by cheap travel options such as cheap airplane tickets and discount hotel rooms or cheap vacation packages often can become more expensive once passengers pay to check bags both to their destination and then home again.

The following are suggestions as how to fit everything in what you carry onto a plane:

• Make certain that your carry-on bag is close to the maximum allowable carry-on dimensions for U.S. airlines. You should check your airline’s website for allowable dimensions. You may want to consider purchasing an expandable Briggs & Riley suitcase, which fits United’s carry-on guidelines.

• Don’t waste your personal item allowance on a small bag or purse. Instead carry a larger tote bag that can fit under the seat. Such bags are easily accessible and handy to store things needed during flights. You should keep essential irreplaceable items such as money and passport in your personal item in case your plane is full and you are forced to gate check your larger carry-on.

• Pack everything in your carry-on in either zip-lock bags or packing cubes. Clear bags ...
... makes it easy to find things, helps keep everything wrinkle free, can save space so long as you compress all the air out, and makes it easy for airport security officers to check your belongings in they decide to do a hand search.

• Try to pack an entire outfit, from top to underwear, in each bag, so you can get dressed that much quicker while traveling. Placing a dryer sheet in each bag keeps clothes smelling fresh.

• Keep small items such as chargers and medicines in bags so that they are easy to find. Often it is smart to use a variety of different sized bags, ranging from small sandwich to larger gallon sized bags. Empty bags come in handy for dirty laundry accumulated during a trip.

• Rolling your clothes vs. folding them will create more space. Rolling makes items more compressed and often reduces wrinkles. Place your heaviest rolls, for things like jeans, on the bottom of your carry-on, then place small rolls on top or crammed into extra spaces. Remember small rolls often fit in shoes.

• If you will be staying at hotels, leave most of your toiletries behind and instead use the in room ones provided. Be open to packing alternatives, such as face wipes instead of liquid face wash. Saline solutions and eye drops are not included in the liquid ban, but must be separated out and declared during screening.

If you will be taking a long flight, avoid wearing your heaviest items on the plane. Sacrificing extra space and weight so that you do not have to feel constrained on a plane is well worth it.
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