Hand Luggage

With all the horror stories I've been hearing about lost luggage, I thought I'd share my packing theory.

As well as making sure you've got all your travel documents etc - I always pack a change of underwear, swimwear, and t-shirts and a small tube of suncream.

It's paid off on more than one occasion, when we had to overnight en-route to our final destination, and were stuck in a hotel for 24 hours - if we hadn't had the swimwear the kids (and us) would have been miserable.

Caroline

Good tip that! Talking about luggage Caroline, I'm really sorry if I'm about to upset anyone here but we had to do four flights (courtesy of my husband's KLM points) to get home last week, and the number of passengers trying to stuff what I would call suitcases on wheels into overhead lockers scared me! I know a lot of us have the airline-type pull alongs, but I'm talking 'oversize' here. So many of them were obviously outside the limit that they were being taken from the passengers as they were boarding the planes!

Having lost all our luggage (I know it's getting boring now!) I sympathise with anyone who has had the same/similar experience but trying to get all your worldly/holiday goods into one container!!! These bags obviously do not fit in the guideline box at check-in, and then they all appeared to need help from fellow passengers to lift it into the overheads and then more help to try and shut the damn door on it. It starts to look like there's livestock in there, the amount of wrestling and swearing that goes on!

My first aid kit - a good bottle of scotch! Kills/numbs anything/anyone any occasion<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

Sandra

My hand baggage tips are to always pack your makeup in it, your medication and a spare pair of pants as a minimum. Well, you could get a flight delay and have to stay overnight somewhere...

We've been on airlines before now where the hand baggage rules have been strictly enforced (so that passengers could be seen unpacking and stuffing the excess into their suitcases) at the check in desk!

Be warned, some airlines weigh hand baggage - the usual weight restriction is around 5kg (which isn't much if you've got all your worldly goods packed into it!).

TIP - weigh your hand baggage container (holdall, small wheelie case, etc) without anything in it. Do this by standing on your bathroom scales and weighing yourself. Then repeat this holding your bag - you'll find out by deducting one total from the other what it weighs with nothing inside. You then have a guideline of exactly how much you can stuff into it without going over the weight limit.

When you've packed it, repeat the above to find out what it weighs then! It'll almost certainly be too heavy, so take something out and try again!

I'm assuming, of course, that you've already checked the dimensions of your hand baggage container and that it meets the maximum size guidelines for your airline!

Blott