Another Vote for Carry-on

I check a bag, too. I don't like having to haul around my bag while I'm going through security, waiting for my flight, etc. And I generally only take nonstops, so missing a connection isn't an issue. And it's so much easier when getting off of the plane to not have to wait for someone to get out of your way so you can get your bag down. (I'm a hazard when doing that anyway, because I'm short and can usually just barely reach it anyway.) So what if it takes a few minutes to wait for luggage when I get to my destination? I use that time to mentally organize myself for picking up the rental car, getting cash, or whatever.

I pack very light with most everything in my "Rick" bag. Yet I almost always check my bag. I find it very liberating and comfortable to wait around for my flight with just a small shopping bag with my netbook and a couple of other things. It also makes going through the security checkpoint less of a hassle. As I live in the New York City area I have access to non-stop flights to most every major destination in the world except Australia and New Zealand, so the risk of my bag getting lost is almost zero. It also helps that I'm an elite frequently flier so I don't have to pay for checked bags, and my bag is offloaded first.

I'm with Michael Schneider. I usually check my bag but have carried on. I plan to carry on for my summer trip to Spain as I have a tight connection. But I also like the freedom of traveling with only my purse to keep track of. I've never had my bag lost when traveling internationally.

Because by the time I get to my seat, 9 times out of 10 I will find that the overhead bin is already full with other passengers oversized bags, coats, giant purses or shopping bags which means I'm stuck shoving my carry-on underneath the seat in front of me which restricts my leg room even more. I also live in a city where I can get many non-stop flights. I almost always take public transit or a shuttle bus from airports and they tend to leave about every 10-20 minutes (no waiting in long line for a taxi), international flights generally get in very early and I typically can't check in to the hotel anyways, so what is the giant rush to get off the plane? I rarely wait that long for my bags to come off the plane by the time I use the 1st airport bathroom I see and then make my way to baggage claim, my pack has often been circling the track waiting for me to pick it up. Only 1 time on a domestic flight to L.A. did I get separated from my bag for a couple days due to a major blizzard starting to bear down on Boston where I got out on standby on the last plane out, but my luggage stayed behind. Even then, was not a big deal. I had a small day pack with 2 changes of clothing and plenty of underwear. My delayed bag was delivered directly to my hotel room in L.A.

i love travelling carry-on only. i feel so light and agile. now i just need to get my wife to do so as well. i think she is ready to convert after our last trip. i've done it now for two different trips, each of them for 2 weeks. it is so liberating.

Why? Because I like it so......much better when trying to cram 3 weeks worth of clothes into one small bag. I suppose it comes down to ones' preference and whether to inconvience ones self or others.

Aug 2009 I arrived at the Munich airport. As I was well back in the economy section, I was not the first person off the plane and, by the time I got to Passport Control, there were lines. After Passport, they dumped us out in the baggage claim room where my plane mates were standing around looking at the stationary carousel. I got money from the ATM and left through the nothing to lane for the S-Bahn station. As I left, I looked back at the others, still gathered around the non-moving carousel. I was certainly glad to have carried on. On two of my first three trips to Europe, my luggage almost stayed in the US once and almost went to So. America once, so when I read Rick's suggestion to carry on, I embraced it immediately. Two trips later I was on a flight from Denver connecting in an eastern city. We had an hour to make the connection and were an hour late leaving Denver due to deicing. The met us at the gate with a van and took us around to the international flight. I doubt that any luggage made the connection. I was pleased to have my carryon bag sitting in my lap in the van. Five hours after landing in Frankfurt I was four hours away by train and far from any airport.

Brad, I follow the same philosophy as Michael and the others. It's not really a big deal to check my main Pack and doing so makes the travel experience a lot easier, as I only have to deal with a small Daypack (with my Netbook inside) and a Camera bag during flights. Also, as someone else mentioned, the overhead bins are often stuffed full with a varied selection of luggage, coats, etc. (many of which are clearly over the size or weight limits. Since I must take my Camera bag as carry-on, there's no way I want a bag obstructing my leg room on a 10-12 hour flight! Most of the time, the luggage starts to appear on the Carousel within about 15-minutes, so that's not a huge inconvenience. Cheers!

Several years ago I went to England to visit my daughter, who was spending a semester abroad. We had planned to spend a week together in Scotland, but that turned into 3 days because I spent my first 4 days in Newcastle waiting for my checked bag to show up. And believe me, Newcastle is not exactly a place I'd generally choose to spend 4 days! My bag had gone from Denver to Heathrow to Amsterdam, then Dallas, then finally back to Heathrow and up to Newcastle. I have not checked a bag since on the outbound portion of a transatlantic trip, although we do usually check our bags coming home (because they are generally filled with bottles of wine and olive oil). Twice these checked bags have been delayed for 48 hours, but were eventually delivered to us at home.

I just wish that somehow, someday, in some glorious future nirvana, a new airline would come along that would enforce the carry-on size limits.

I traveled from the cold winter to the hot Cayman Islands and checked my bag.... four days later I still had no clothes. I checked everything so I had to buy makeup at the drug store, clothes from the Marriott gift store ($$$) I had to check daily as they kept saying it would arrive...never could find shoes (I wore winter shoes) so went barefoot most of the time. No bathing suit...etc. And for all my hassel and the clothes that cost me $800 I received $400 after 6 months. Learned my lesson....Clothes are not something you shop for in the Caymans. I carry on whenever I can....the benefit...on a flight to Frankfurt that was overbooked I was able to give up my seat because I had my luggage with me... 3 hours later flew first class to London, got 24 hours there to explore, then first class on to Frankfurt plus $600...because I am flexible I was able to benefit, but had I checked my bag I would not have been able to do this.

Tom, I think your Nirvana awaits only the airline realizing they 1) they are losing money on ever person who has a bag too big for carryon but doesn't check it, and 2), they can make even more money off those people trying to sneak over-sized bags in at the gate. Checked bags cost $25-$35. How about tripling that fee for gate checking, $75-$100. Just put a sizing box at the gate and make everyone who can't fit it in, gate check it. Bring your credit card to the gate, folks.

We always do carry-on to our destination and generally check luggage on the way home. Will be rethinking that after arriving home last week from Paris only to find our bags soaking wet to about halfway down inside because they'd been left on the tarmac in Miami when a thunderstorm came through and all ramp personnel had been pulled in due to lightening strikes nearby. We had no liquids and for once did not have to expand our luggage due to an over abundance of souvenirs, but decided to check the bags just, as others have said, to have the freedom to move around without them and not have to struggle to lift them up into the overhead compartments. Luckily some boxes of candy and printed materials were far enough down inside the suitcases to stay dry, and the white jacket that had a red scarf bleed all over it came clean after two washings with a bit of bleach.

I always checked luggage until my last trip because I thought I didn't want to have to deal with my back pack while running between planes. The last trip I did carry on only and didn't mind at all having my backpack with me. I fly out of St Louis, so all trips to Europe involve at least two flights. Coming back to the US is so much better without checked luggage that has to be picked up and then rechecked at the first US airport. I also really liked not having to wait at the carousel, hoping my luggage showed up, even though it always has showed up, every time.

My husband is not a light packer and probably never will be. So since we have to wait around for his luggage, I check mine too. I do like not having to lift it into the overhead. And it allows me to bring things I can't take in a carryon like a nail file and decent size contacts solution. I have to say it really aggravates me when people try to stuff suitcases that are too big into the overhead carriers. I don't see why the airlines let them get away with it.

I am in the camp with Faith. We carry-on the way there, partly to avoid any hassles with delays or lost luggage, but also, if we were to lose luggage, only part of the time do we have an address to send the bags to over the next several days, usually we are off and running. We do almost always check bags on the way back, usually due to liquids (Wine) but really just to not have the load. In fact, often in my carry-on, I pack an extra duffle or Rick Steves Bag, so on the way back, as we pick up stuff, we check an extra bag or two. I figure if things are delayed on the way back, no big issue as long as all is not lost. In general, my experience is unlike others, I have never, in many trips, encountered a situation where my main carry-on did not find room in an overhead. I am a good passenger in that my daybag or briefcase bag is at my feet. but I usually am in it repeatedly during the flight.

I have bilateral torn rotator cuffs & tendonitis in my forearms from lifting carryon bags week in & week out (business travel) over almost 8 years on the road. I do pack in a carryon size but have a rule I always follow- if you can't carry it yourself (or pay someone), you can't bring it. Since I now can't put it in the bin & no airline I have yet encountered has on-board sherpas, checking it is. As a side benefit, I too enjoy more freedom of movement through the connections. And, also fit the profile of having a husband who can't pack lightly- so, if I'm going to wait for one bag, I might as well wait for two.

My question, is anyone still checking bags? If so, why? Because there's always a bottle of cranberry juice in my suitcase which I give as a gift. If I could bring that along as a carry-on I'd not check my luggage. Especially after our last family trip to Germany during winter when flight cancellations en masse meant that our luggage was stuck in Frankfurt for 10 (ten!!!) days before we saw it again ...

I think it's a matter of personal choice. If you like to travel with everything crammed in one bag and carry on, good for you. There is nothing wrong with people who prefer to check their bags. What works for you, doesn't necessarily work for others. I'm a bi-polar traveller myself. Sometimes I check and sometimes I carry on. I just use the the option that feels right for that trip and that situation.

I carry on my day pack containing camera, shaving kit, 1 pr of socks & underwear and a spare shirt. This bag also contains all important items & info. My convertible carry on bag is checked and contains mainly clothing and other nonessentials. As stated by others, I enjoy the freedom of checking my main bag, strolling on the plane with a small bag and also do not like finding the overhead bins crammed with everyone elses multiple bags. My convertible carry on is not over packed or heavy and the day pack is loaded into it after landing. This system works for me.

I like cary on only. If Im staying in the city where I land then checking is not so bad as I can get the bag the next day. However if I am leaving that city immediately then I dont want to run the risk of my bag being late.

We either do carry-on only, or carry-on there and check luggage coming back home. I do carry-on only going to Europe for many reasons. I like to have my toiletries with me for freshening up before landing in Europe, plus a change of clothes, so no point in checking if I'm going to carry that much on the plane anyways. I have never had issue with the overhead bin being too full. I also like to put my carry-on in the little area in front of my foot so that I can put my legs on it while I try and sleep (can't sleep with my foot dangling and I'm too short to have my foot comfortably on the floor of the plane or that little footrest). I always adhere to the carry-on rules even if no one has ever, ever checked to make sure that I do. I like being able to go directly to my destination without waiting and don't find my carry-on to be a hassle in the airport. Don't even want to worry about my luggage not making it and dampening the trip. Carry-on also affords you more flexibility (once our connecting flight to IAD was delayed significantly and we were able to switch to a flight going to DCA because we did not check our luggage; wouldn't let the guy who checked his luggage do it). As you may notice, I listed many personal preferences. So no right or wrong, or a competition. Just basically what works for you.

"I carry on my day pack containing camera, shaving kit, 1 pr of socks & underwear and a spare shirt. This bag also contains all important items & info." That sounds just about like my only bag, which is carryon. Maybe that's the difference.

We carry our bags on planes which saves time when arriving at the destination airport and no need to file lost reports. Further, we've made many tight connections that would have otherwise turned into a mess as we often jump a train or rent a car immediately upon landing.

We used to joke in the Air Force that, "Flexibility is the key to airpower - which translates loosely to 'always carry on your bag'." There are great advantages to making tight connections, accepting deals for giving up your seat, not waiting for your bag when you arrive, or changing flights when yours is canceled or a late arrival causes you to miss a connection. My first day is part of my vacation so I value that time as much as the rest of my vacation. We do still check a bag coming home occasionally when we bring home something that can't be carried on.

You're welcome Brad.