My wife and I are travelling to Las Vegas this coming weekend and we are having problems packing.I want to take a carry on,and my wife wants to check a suitcase.
I say that the suitcase is going to slow us down( we will be arriving at 1030pm and then we need to go to the Avis rent a car counter and then drive to Circus Circus, and I hear that now days it takes a long time to get your luggage at the airports.Who is right?

I don't know but since I'm flying for the first time in 16 years, I would like to hear the answers too!

Utahtea

If you can do it, I would carryon.

I've flown to Vegas twice in the last year, checking luggage both times, and it has only taken about 15 minutes to get the bags up. The TSA searches have also gotten very quick and added no time to the check-in process. I usually stuff my smallish rolling suitcase pretty full, and since the flights are so full these days, I find it easier to check it that to try and fight for overhead bin space.

A suggestion: One of you can go rent the car, and the other one can get the suitcase!

I always try to travel with carry-ons only.

My wife & I flew this past weekend with e-tickets and just a couple of carry-ons and it saved us probably a half-hour before the flight (no waiting in line to check-in....the line must have been 50 people deep) and a half-hour after the flight (no waiting for baggage claim).

I definitely recommend carry-ons only....if you can pack that lightly of course.

If you are just going for the weekend, split your stuff into 2 bags and carry on.
I always check when I have a lot of stuff and I travel every week. Generally it does not take too long to get your bags. I would recommend that you join the Avis preferred program so you do not have to wait in line to get your car! That can take forever!!!
If you get it today via the web, you can call to add it to your reservation for this weekend.

How many days long is the trip?

I can go on a 3-4 day trip with a small carry-on. My sister would need a full-size suitcase for the same trip...

Neither of you is "right", but maybe you can offer her some incentive for using just a carry-on?

Wow, Utahtea! Pretty amazing that you've been able to avoid air travel that long. You are in for lots of changes--I wonder if you'll find many/any for the better?

I'm curious though, as you always seem to travel with your motorhome, is this for a very special occasion and to a wonderful destination--otherwise unreachable by land?

Our (one) experience in Vegas was that the luggage was there almost immediately. That was Southwest...don't know if it makes a difference. I'd love to be able to travel with just a carry on and avoid the luggage carousels altogether, but not at the expense of bringing the things I want to wear. DH is able to when he travels alone...but he's had two back to back trips these past two weeks and with strange cold weather everywhere, did not pack properly for either...needed long pants and sweaters for golf/business meeting (in MD in June!), and could have done with a heavy coat in Chicago the week before! I've got to cover all those bases from the get go.

Question: Slowing you down for what? If you're not arriving until 10:30 p.m., you certainly won't get to your hotel before 11:30. Are you planning to start your LV evening then?
So you wife wants to check a suitcase. So what? Is it really worth a hassle between the two of you?

Since my habit is to arrive at the airport extra early (you just never know about traffic, accidents, road construction), I check the bag because a) I don't care to lug it all about the airport or have to watch it until I go to the gate; and b) it's worth the trip to baggage pickup and the wait to have everything with me I want.

I generally check bags and only occasionally have to wait more than a few minutes at baggage claim. I usually use curbside check in so it doesn't take long. It also makes it easier going through security because there is less for security to look at, esspecially if I happen to be one of the people pulled aside for a more thorough search. And I don't have to worry about lugging all my stuff through the airport and onto the plane. There never is enough overhead space anyway, so unless you are one of the first people on the plane, you might have to have your bags checked anyway.

There are few things worse than someone trying to carry-on too much and then trying to stuff it all in the overheads.

Personally my thought is to check my bag and take my time getting from the arriving plane to baggage claim.

People are too much in a hurry these days.

Well, until my recent trip to Washington I would have said check the luggage, as I hate to be burdened in the airport and I like to have what I will need without trying to be a packing genius. However, after a recent United flight to DC after which my bag did NOT appear, the United baggage person actally told me that they hadn't LOST my bag, oh no, but there was a SAFETY issue, the plane was full, so they had to offload some bags to come on the next flight!!!! I actually couldn't believe what she was saying, and was really inconvenienced by my bag not arriving until 2 AM the next morning!

I quit trying to stuff everything I need into a carry-on and lugging it through airports. (Okay, for short trips, I'll only use a carryon, but for longer trips . . . c'mon, we're not 18 anymore and don't live out of our backpacks.) It's so much easier to just check the dang thing and let someone else pick it up, lug it around, set it down, pick it up, etc.

I have not experienced any longer than usual waits to pick up luggage.

unless it'll fit under the seat in front of you, check it. even with the more restrictive carry-on rules, with flights as full as they are these days, one rarely finds room in overhead bins.

and one other suggestion....unless you absolutely need the car, cancel Avis and use the money saved for nicer accommodations.

Always pack light and carry on. Delayed or lost luggage, missed flight connections, etc. can all wreak havoc with travel plans. I'm lucky in that Mrs. MileKing-to-be has also learned how to pack light. Went to Australia for a month on business (Mrs. MK-to-be with me for two weeks) with one carry-on suitcase each. I even brought home 8 bottles of wine in that carry-on! Similar story when we visited Italy last year for two weeks; one roller carry-on each, a camera bag for me, and a small backpack for her.

I have yet to find a place where you can't do laundry. Our rule is to roll (not lay flat) clothes before packing and NEVER bring more than you can carry up three flights of stairs.

We solve this time problem by one of us dealing with the rental car counter and the other getting the luggage. Just make sure the car rental counter person is the one in whose name the car is rented. They will add spouse on at time - just have the spouse's drivers lic. with you and they can add number.

I can't imagine needing more stuff than can be placed in a "legal" carry-on size bag for even a week's trip.

You're wife's planning on taking way too much stuff. Especially considering the hot weather in Vegas (she'll only need very lightweight clothing).

Gretchen, why so hostile? Yes, I understand load factor as it affects small planes, just not big commercial flights by major carriers! And if the airlines are going to consolidate flights to the point that they can't provide checked luggage service for all the passengers, then they shouldn't be consolidating the flights to that extent!!!

Brian, what you consider "way too much" is your opinion. Alfredo's wife obviously doesn't agree with. Who's right? Who's wrong? Who's to say?
Thank goodness there is such a thing as diversity!