Checked baggage

I always check baggage, although I generally have one bag within the carry on limit plus on back pack, therefore I could do without. The reason I do so, is primarily because if I have a close connection, it is easier and faster to run through the terminals with just my backpack than having also a rolling suitcase to lug along, albeit small. Also it takes longer to go through the security checks because you will need to pull any shampoo or liquids from your bathroom case. The only draw back is that at the last destination airport you will have to wait additional time at the carousel, to wait for your checked baggage. That rarely takes more than 20 minutes. In terms of lost checked luggage that is a rare event. It has happened only once in my life, and I have flown a lot. I was reimbursed at $20 per kg x 32kg, which is the max allowed weight for checked bag. Another time my bag arrived on a later flight, since the connection was too tight. But they delivered the bag at my Athens hotel later that night.

To me it depends on how many flight segments you have and what airports you might be transiting thru. If you have a non-stop flight to Paris, I'd say no problem but are you overnighting there or transiting thru? If you are transiting on the way to Venice how long do you have between flights?

I'm leaving in a little more than a week, headed for Milan. I start in Spokane WA (an end of the line airport), transit thru Seattle and Paris so I have 3 flight segments. I'm doing carry on because that is easier for me to do than worry about lost luggage.

If you are flying with someone, I would probably cross-pack with some of your clothes in their bag and vice versa.

A friend flew from Spokane to Nice (Spokane->Seattle->CDG->Nice) the first of Sept and her baggage was delayed in Paris. It was delivered to her Nice hotel the day after her flight but she was happy she packed a spare set of clothes and shoes in her personal item. She thought one of the problems was her flight was delayed out of Seattle so she missed her original Nice flight and was put on a later plane.

One main reason why many people don’t check luggage anymore is also because many airlines charge extra for checking luggage.

We will be leaving Chicago with a lay over in Philadelphia, then on to Venice. Later, we will fly from Florence to Paris. So, still not sure. Thank you everyone for your input

OP: Leave adequate time for your connections and you should be fine. My personal rule of thumb is two hours per connection for international with checked bags, more if a premium cabin seat is in play. This leaves some padding if a flight leg is delayed.

Just flew to Geneva and back (United Airlines) with checked luggage and had no issues.

Many of my overseas trips to Europe have been for Nordic/Cross Country skiing where checking skis, poles and other gear is not an option. I have had baggage delayed because of missed connection a couple of time and the luggage was located and transported to my hotel the same day. (My skis were mishandeled on one return home flight where the airline took a couple of days to locate and deliver the skis to my home.) On group ski events where the American skiers numbered in the hunderd plus, a hand full of ski bags missed connections but most were delivered within a day or two.

The bottom line is the likelihood of mishandled luggage is very low. See the Point Guy report:
https://thepointsguy.com/news/lost-baggage-report-2022/

We just returned yesterday. Flew United airlines, Boston to Newark to Venice and then the reverse home. All flights were on time and all checked luggage arrived at each destination. We did place air tags in each suitcase and we were able to track them ourselves just incase.