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