When is a carry-on not a carry-on?

[LOL!]

You can wash your underwear and socks in your hotel sink. In China it's cheaper to buy new underwear and socks daily.

I once lived out of a carry on for more than a month when my checked luggage got lost.

 

[FIREd]

Perhaps you have an advantage of being able to have your clothes washed during the stay?

I would rather carry less if I could get my clothes washed. The cheapskate in me does not want to pay for hotel laundry charges.

Yes I do have the advantage of being able to wash some of my clothes during my stay. But if you do not want to pay hotel laundry charges, a cheap laundromat around the corner could do as well. Cheap clothes (T-shirts, socks, underwear) can also be cleaned by hand in a sink and allowed to dry on a towel warmer for example.

I personally follow one rule: I pack up classic and color-neutral clothes which allows me to mix and match. That way I can wear a different outfit everyday for 2 weeks by cycling through a small number of items.

 

[NW-Bound]

... a cheap laundromat around the corner could do as well. Cheap clothes (T-shirts, socks, underwear) can also be cleaned by hand in a sink and allowed to dry on a towel warmer for example...

It did not occur to us to inquire about nearby laundromats, but we always walked about a lot and to this day have not seen one. About hand washing, have not tried that either, as we moved about quite a bit and did not want to pack away moist clothes. Next time, will check out laundromats.

 

[JustMeUC]

OH! Is this a sore spot with me!! I got bumped off a direct flight and they moved me to a flight that had a connection. I had to literally RUN to another gate halfway down the terminal. When I got there they were holding the plane for me, and told me that I had to check my bag as they overhead bins were full. I was REALLY rushed and handed it over.

When I got to the connection, they told me that the bag would be forwarded to my next flight. When I got to my final destination, a little after midnight, 6 hours after my original direct flight arrived.... you guessed it. NO BAG!!!!

Now, here is the real problem. MY CAR KEYS WERE IN THE BAG!!!!!

They located my bag about 3 days later. That night I ended up in a hotel and ended up spending several hundred dollars getting into my car the next day and having a new key made since it was one of those with chips.

They gave me a $200 flight voucher. woohoo... I fussed and cussed but to no avail, that was all they were willing to do.. I will NEVER FLY USAIR AGAIN.

 

[ItDontMeanAThing]

Cheap clothes (T-shirts, socks, underwear) can also be cleaned by hand in a sink and allowed to dry on a towel warmer for example.

I have traveled for over a month with just the synthetic travel clothes that fit into a carry-on. Given the turn around time on non-hotel laundries, that means washing everything in the sink.

I hate doing laundry in the sink. Sometimes the universal stopper doesn’t work, sometimes the sink is too small to fit a pair of pants, water gets everywhere, the detergent drys my skin, etc.

Instead of laundry in the sink, I do laundry in a sack. A dry sack to be specific. Dry sacks are used by kayakers to keep the things inside dry. I use it to keep the things inside wet and the world outside dry.

The rest my thoughts on this are in my blog post.

A great source of info and philosophy on packing light is http://www.onebag.com/

 

[kaneohe]

Now, here is the real problem. MY CAR KEYS WERE IN THE BAG!!!!!

Sounds like car keys need to be added to the forbidden list like prescriptions, cash, glasses, etc.......I guess they're all not exactly irreplaceable but certainly very inconvenient.

 

[Htown Harry]

This water-breaking news story is on-topic to this thread's title, at least...

Baby Born On Southwest Flight Forced To Divert To DIA - Denver News Story - KMGH Denver

No mention in the story of the baby's size, but this type of carry-on should be fine if it's the typical 7 lbs / 17 inches.

 

[Meadbh]

You can wash your underwear and socks in your hotel sink. In China it's cheaper to buy new underwear and socks daily.

I once lived out of a carry on for more than a month when my checked luggage got lost.

Ah, but Chinese laundries do a wonderful job (in my anecdotal experience).

On several occasions when travelling to a business conference I have packed dirty clothes and on arrival at the hotel immediately sent them off for overnight cleanering. The cost is generally the same as at home and they are delivered to my room pressed and ready for day 1 of the meeting. And I have saved time by not having to deliver them and pick them up again.

 

[jessy]

I fly a few times a year. This year I did all my flying with a book bag computer case with a change clothes and a 21/14/9 carry on. My wife dose 2 carry ons but she will not listen about making on of them a book bag.

We upgrade to first class at the gate if it’s a longer flight. If you do it at the gate it’s a lot cheaper most of the time.

For long trips in the US we will pack a suit case, box it, and ship it ground mail 10 days before we leave. We also send stuff home the same way. All hotels have different polices so you have to call them before hand.

 

[Goonie]

Back when I used to travel by plane, I packed one small carry-on containing 2 changes of color coordinating, wash & wear clothes (black!), rolled & packed tightly, along with a very small shaving bag with razor & necessities in it. Never had any problems.

At night when I was getting ready to hit the pillows, I'd wash and wring out the clothes that I'd worn that day, and hang 'em over a chair in front of the A/C or heat vent, or on the shower curtain rod to dry. Repeat each day. Or I'd just go to the hotel laundry room if available every other night.

Oh, and those things that they have in hotel bathrooms that are plugged into the wall outlet, that women think are hair dryers.....not so....those are hand-held electric clothes dryers!!!

 

[Goonie]

For long trips in the US we will pack a suit case, box it, and ship it ground mail 10 days before we leave. We also send stuff home the same way.....

My old boss used to do that all the time! He and his wife went to Florida with his in-laws every year, and they'd UPS all of their stuff down there a week before they left home. That way all they had to carry was a small bag (or just his wife's purse) with their meds and camera in it. No luggage to drag around or try to keep track of, no need to wait in the luggage retrieval area after the flight. And returning home was about the same routine...box their stuff up and it off at UPS the day before they left for home. They happily traveled like that for years!
----------------------------

Oh, and on another note, one of my all time pet peaves......people who have seats near the back of the plane, and stow their carry-ons in the first convenient overhead near the front of the plane!!! Jerks!!! On a trip to LA one year I saw that happen going out and returning! And on the return trip, as I waiting to get through the aisle to my seat I saw this jerk put his oversized, overstuffed bag in the overhead above my seat, and then proceed to his seat about 10 or 12 rows back behind that....so he didn't have to drag it all the way back with him!

So I got to my seat, look in the overhead....no more room! Cr*p!!! So being half way p*ssed off, and thinking quickly....I pulled the jerk's bag out, and sat it on the seat in front of me, and put my bag up there. The person came aboard whose seat the jerk's bag was on, and asked whose bag it was.....everyone shrugged and said it was't ours. He hailed a flight attendant who promptly made sure it became 'checked' luggage, and we were off!!!

I bet that jerk was pretty p*ssed off when we arrived, and he found out his bag had been 'checked'! Sweet revenge!!!

 

[Meadbh]

What a great idea! I have never seen someone dare to upload his/her stuff far forward from the seat, but if I do, I am going to use your strategy!

 

[LOL!]

Now, here is the real problem. MY CAR KEYS WERE IN THE BAG!!!!!

They located my bag about 3 days later. That night I ended up in a hotel and ended up spending several hundred dollars getting into my car the next day and having a new key made since it was one of those with chips.

Hmmm, my spouse has a set of keys. But if no spouse, I would've rented a car, driven home and gotten my other keys. A 2 hour car rental is not that bad a hit.

 

[LOL!]

Ah, but Chinese laundries do a wonderful job (in my anecdotal experience).

Taiwanese hotel laundry was dirt cheap. So is South African hotel laundry.

Beijing hotel laundry was outrageous. I made the mistake of assuming it was cheaper than Taiwanese hotel laundry.

So check prices before using.

 

[RunningBum]

Oh, and on another note, one of my all time pet peaves......people who have seats near the back of the plane, and stow their carry-ons in the first convenient overhead near the front of the plane!!! Jerks!!! On a trip to LA one year I saw that happen going out and returning! And on the return trip, as I waiting to get through the aisle to my seat I saw this jerk put his oversized, overstuffed bag in the overhead above my seat, and then proceed to his seat about 10 or 12 rows back behind that....so he didn't have to drag it all the way back with him!

So I got to my seat, look in the overhead....no more room! Cr*p!!! So being half way p*ssed off, and thinking quickly....I pulled the jerk's bag out, and sat it on the seat in front of me, and put my bag up there. The person came aboard whose seat the jerk's bag was on, and asked whose bag it was.....everyone shrugged and said it was't ours. He hailed a flight attendant who promptly made sure it became 'checked' luggage, and we were off!!!

I bet that jerk was pretty p*ssed off when we arrived, and he found out his bag had been 'checked'! Sweet revenge!!!

VERY nice!! I see this happen a lot. I always try to be the first in my section to board if I want to put something overhead, to make sure I find room. Sometimes there's nobody 2 rows ahead or behind and there's crap in the bin already. I did see a British Airways attendant tell someone not to do that once. Then a few people later, someone else did it and she didn't say anything.

btw, on doing laundry in your hotel room, a lot of places now have notes in the room NOT to do this. Too much water damage to furniture (wood and upholstery or dripping on the floor. If you use a line and dry it over the tub I don't see how they could complain, or know.

 

[Meadbh]

Many of the hotels I stay in have a retractable clothesline above the bathtub. I think most guests wash underwear and socks in their hotel bathroom.

 

[LOL!]

I always bring a plastic hangar or two to hang up wet clothes in the shower. No chance of rust.

 

[eridanus]

I measure my luggage before a trip to make sure it fits.

For European luggage, don't you mean 22 kg? At least, that's what it was for intra-EU flights a week ago.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Looked around for some replacement luggage per my OP today. I like the information on onebag.com about going light and wrapping right, "bundle wrapping" and all that. If you lift one of the roll-aboard standard 22" cases it is amazing how heavy it is, even empty. The wheels and handle steal about a third of your packing space and an additional 3-6 lbs of weight to carry around. OTOH the wheel-free types weigh only 3 lbs.

Red Oxx (Air Boss and Sky Train) and ToughTraveler (Tri-Air) seem to be among the higher-end durable bags. They are expensive in the low $200 range. The local luggage stores only have carry-ons with wheels. If the bundle wrapping works as advertised I think I can pack at least 5 days of stuff in one of the no wheel type. Not sure if back-pack convertability is important to me and I'd rather not deal with two more straps to stow.

Either way it looks like my old roll-aboard is approaching extinction from new, stricter size limits -- not to mention one of the wheels falling off.

 

[bbbamI]

When is a carry-on not a carry-on?

I keep waiting for the punch-line.... Sorry Rich, I couldn't resist...

 

[Martha]

Looked around for some replacement luggage per my OP today. I like the information on onebag.com about going light and wrapping right, "bundle wrapping" and all that. If you lift one of the roll-aboard standard 22" cases it is amazing how heavy it is, even empty. The wheels and handle steal about a third of your packing space and an additional 3-6 lbs of weight to carry around. OTOH the wheel-free types weigh only 3 lbs.

Red Oxx (Air Boss and Sky Train) and ToughTraveler (Tri-Air) seem to be among the higher-end durable bags. They are expensive in the low $200 range. The local luggage stores only have carry-ons with wheels. If the bundle wrapping works as advertised I think I can pack at least 5 days of stuff in one of the no wheel type. Not sure if back-pack convertability is important to me and I'd rather not deal with two more straps to stow.

Either way it looks like my old roll-aboard is approaching extinction from new, stricter size limits -- not to mention one of the wheels falling off.

Traveling by train I liked to pack efficiently to avoid dealing with a lot of luggage. I liked Eagle Creek's luggage and packing system. The cubes and folders are very handy. The folders work well to keep shirts from wrinkling. http://www.eaglecreek.com/

Or, you can use the cubes and do the bundle thing.

 

[FIREd]

I measure my luggage before a trip to make sure it fits.

For European luggage, don't you mean 22 kg? At least, that's what it was for intra-EU flights a week ago.

No, I mean 10 kg/ 22 lbs for the carry-on. Actually, on Swiss and Lufthansa, it's now only 8 kg. Each piece of checked luggage can weight up to 20-23 kg depending on your destination.

Hand baggage
http://www.lufthansa.com/online/portal/lh/us/info_and_services/baggage?nodeid=1769620&l=en&cid=1000390&blt_p=US&blt_l=en&blt_t=Info_and_Services%3EBaggage&blt_e=Content&blt_n=Free%20baggage%20allowan&blt_z=carry-on%20baggage&blt_c=US|en|Info_and_Services%3EBaggage|Content|Free%20baggage%20allowan|carry-on%20baggage

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

I liked Eagle Creek's luggage and packing system. The cubes and folders are very handy. The folders work well to keep shirts from wrinkling. Eagle Creek

Yes, those are nice. I have a medium sized one and I like the external cinch straps to snug everything up.

I couldn't find an Eagle Creek carry-on in the 22x14x9 range that didn't have wheels. Do you know of any? It appears to make a big difference in overall capacity / weight.

 

[Martha]

Yes, those are nice. I have a medium sized one and I like the external cinch straps to snug everything up.

I couldn't find an Eagle Creek carry-on in the 22x14x9 range that didn't have wheels. Do you know of any? It appears to make a big difference in overall capacity / weight.

No, I have one with wheels. I am a wimp, I like the wheels. But I could do without the backpack straps and have though about cutting them off.

 

[WanderALot]

Most Asian airliners seem to be pretty liberal with carry-ons. We just took Singapore Airlines to Tokyo and we had 3 carry-ons (2 of us plus a baby) of normal size and it seemed like we had smaller carry-ons than most.

I've only flown inside Europe a few times took the trains everywhere else. When I flew Lufthansa from the US, they didn't balk at the American-sized carry-ons that most people had, but maybe fighting that on a flight from the US is a thankless task.

Laundry through most of Asia is so cheap to send out! We rarely stay at "Western" places, so most places charge about the same or refer you to a close-by laundry guy. On a couple of occasions, we have actually sent out all our dirty laundry before our flight home because it was so cheap!

I've also bought a bunch of easily washable travel stuff from REI and its been great when I've had to do handwashes.