orangetravelcat

We don't take more than we used to; in fact, the bags we check are carry on size. We just don't like to shlep from one gate to another to make our connections, lugging stuff. So, unlike those who are thrilled that they can now take only carry on bags, we have gone the opposite route! Anyone else?

janisj

Nope. As I just posted on another thread <<My main issue w/ checking luggage is that the current stats = 8 bags per 1,000 are lost. So on the average 777 w/ 300+ passengers and 1.5 bags checked per person -- 4 of those folks are going to arrive w/o their luggage.>>

StCirq

Nope, I haved no problem "lugging" my 22" suitcase to a connecting flight. I can practically balance it on my head and run with it by now.

MelJ

Not me. Lost luggage and lifting the biggies onto trains, etc. convinced us ages ago to stick with the carry-on method. Rolling the little bags (we now have the four-wheel spinners) from place to place is easy and exiting the plane and bypassing the luggage carousel is a nice bonus.

eliza3

I generally check luggage and have never been a great fan of carry on only. I don't take large bags but they would generally exceed carry on size. The size of terminals is one reason and I feel the time waiting for luggage in the whole scheme of getting to an airport 2 hours before a flight, then the flight itself, is relatively minimal. That said, I have never lost luggage so may rethink if and when that happens!

packed

Internationally we used to always check luggage but after losing luggage for five days two years ago, and not being able to catch a connecting flight the next year because luggage was checked, we'll be trying to carry on this year.

twk

I take a carry on legal rollerboard, and a smaller daybag, and check the rolling bag. I've got the important stuff in the daybag, along with a couple of days change of clothing in case the checked bag gets lost. I've had some luggage lost (for 3 days on my very first European trip) and I still don't think it's worth the hassle to lug around that much stuff in the cabin.

smartcookie

I used to love to just take a carry-on. Oh how I hate the new liquid laws, which are pretty useless in my opinion. Now, I can't go the carry-on route anymore since the only brand of hair product that works on my crazy curly hair is over 3 oz or whatever ridiculous limit they have. I hope they revert back to the old laws soon.

I just cannot see how limiting liquids to 3-4 oz is saving any lives. If someone really wants to carry something dangerous on, they know the rules too and will find a way. I really feel like it's there simply to make people "feel safer", when in reality it doesn't really do anything besides make some of our lives harder by having to check in our luggage.

Yes. I know it's a rant

packed

Also have curly hair and didn't know how I could live without my products, but when my luggage was lost for five days, I made a discovery. There are great products in Europe and it became an adventure to find them, especially in a tiny town on a weekend. It was also an adventure picking out underwear at the weekly market, guessing the size. Those are the experiences I remember the most and while a little traumatic at the time, now add to the lore of the trip.

Michael

I check at least one bag because that is the only way I can take my picnic knife with me.

danon

not a chance.

ggreen

I am so with you!! After schlepping a 22" carry-on through the endless corridors that are Dallas-Fort Worth Int'l Airport, I vowed that my back's health and my stress level just weren't worth it! Then I did it one more time: at small TF Green airport in Providence, RI, I carried my bag all the way to the gate, then out on the tarmac because the prop plane was too small to bring up to the gate - and also too small to bring my luggage onboard. (Would have been nice for them to tell me at the check-in counter...)

That was years and years ago, and I have checked my bags ever since. (Of course, I always bring back-up items in my carry-on, just in case something were to happen to my checked bag. But so far, so good!)

Pausanias

Absolutley with you. Hate the carry-on crowd, whom I suspect of harboring loathsome diseases. Idiotic concerns of lost luggage are akin to hopes of a lottery win -- in over 35 years of international travel I have yet to have a problem with lost luggage. You are more likely to be run over by a London cabby.

To Hell with them and their prissy little Rick Steve's concerns. Take back our airplanes!

Kristina

I always carry-on when I can.
However, my next trip, to Thailand on Thai airlines, has a 15 lb max carry on limit.
No matter how hard I try, I don't think I can get under 15 lbs with the weight of the bag included.
So, this time I will check it.

ggreen

Hmm, Pausanias, you just brought to mind something that was simmering at the back of my brain: I wonder if there's a correlation between the carry-on crowd and the money-belt crew? Because I feel the same way about all the "what if" posts touting the benefits of sweaty, unnecessary money-belts as what you identified regarding the fear of lost luggage!

callalilli

nope. i only take one carryon backpack. no matter how long my trip or how far. i love the freedom of not having to carry anything any time. i dont store it in the overhead, therefore not taking up anyone's precious space but my own.. and i always have a built in footrest. i'm a happy traveler!

danon

money-belt?
isn't it like a smaller, more uncomfortable fanny-pack?
As a member of a carry on crowed
I love leaving the airport while the other guys are watching the bags dripping onto the carousel - one by one ..by..one. , going around... and ...around..

dandj

<Nope, I haved no problem "lugging" my 22" suitcase to a connecting flight. I can practically balance it on my head and run with it by now.>

Hilarious and so true for alot of us..

Also I would never risk checking luggage. I would rather wrestle with it than not have it.

L84SKY

It’s been a while since my last total carryon- and I am free!
After taking a flight when no one was allowed to bring on much more than a paperback and a purse, I am a convert. We were off that plane in no time. It was great.

Now I carry on a tote with a change of clothes and some basics and trust my 22" bag will be waiting for me.

During a long layover, I'm free to get some exercise by walking the airport without having to baby sit my bag.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the airlines started boarding people with carry on luggage in the back of the plane?

While they‘re hauling their heavy luggage from the bins, we who just bring a quickly accessible tote can clear out of there.

suze

Count me in!! I travel with a 22-24" roller bag, but I check it in these days. Traveling solo, I hate to schlepp my stuff thru airports, bathrooms, airport shops and restaurants, on and off the plane.