Checked vs. Carry-0n Bags

Cindy, if you get to the airport at a decent time and aren't stuck in the back of the line, you should have room for carry-ons. I'd carry-on unless you plan to shop. You can probably bring a second smaller bag on board for the things you need on the plane-check with the airline. have fun, I love London!

If you really are packing very light, your bag can just go under the seat if there really is no bin space. Something the size of a non-overstuffed college backpack fits under there. Usually though, you can find space for a carryon that isn't maximum size even if the bins are too full for another roller.

I have a separate plane bag packed with the things I will need on the plane. This goes into my main carry-on. Once on baord, this small bag comes out and the main carry-on get stored in the overhead. No need to touch it until I leave the plane.

Should it ever happen that I need to check the bag at the gate, the smaller bag still has everything I need--and anything of value.

Unless your "packing light" means carrying a maximum allowed size roller bag, you should be fine.

We just returned from 17 days in Spain & Portugal and our first time of taking just two carryon bags...No problem with our flights including one while we were there (Vueling from Lisbon to Madrid) Skipping the wait for luggage on arrival and arriving earlier to the customs on return are two bonuses. Enjoy. George, Pittsburgh

I've made eight round-trips to Europe in the last 9 years, all with a carry-on bag. I've always found room in the bins. Of course, since I use a softsided convertible, not a rigid roll-aboard, it fits into almost any shaped space.

What really annoys me is that the airlines don't enforce their own size limits. I got on my flight to the U.S. last month early and sat there watching person after person with oversized roll-aboards putting them into the overhead bins sideways, because they wouldn't fit long axis across the plane, taking up 24 inches of bin width instead of 16.

As I understand it, if you have a regulation carry-on bag, and there is no room in the bins, they will gate check it, which means it will be returned to you at the arrival gate.

I agree with others, that you should go for carry on. International Flights usually are on bigger planes and seem to have more space. Probably because a lot of people don't travel light to Europe and so you don't have the huge number of roll aboards that you see when you fly domestically. Pam

Hey, this is Rick Steves website! What would Rick do?

Check with airline web site. The suggestion to pack another bag is helpful for shopping if you need to carry extra stuff on return trip. Enjoy

If you are flying American, you probably couldn't put your bag under the seat. They put their entertainment electronics under the seats, thereby drastically reducing the underseat space. There's hardly enough room for big feet.

Check with your airline for their weight limit on carryons.Lufthansa allows 17.6 pounds.In June I took my two daughters to Italy on Lufhansa and they are heavy packing people.They had their bags at 10pounds and 15 pounds and made out very well and were happy they did it.For four days it should be easy.

Cindy,

For a "quick 4 day trip" and since you'll be packing light, I'd definitely suggest going with carry-on only. As the others have said, the bins are larger in the aircraft you'll likely be using, so have greater capacity. I find that if the bins over my seat are full, I check the ones on either side and almost without exception I can find room somewhere.

Again as previously mentioned, you could also place the bag under your seat, but I've also found that on occasion that there's some kind of "equipment" mounted under the seat so in some cases there's not much room. The equipment usually seems to be mounted on the side of the window seats.

What kind of luggage were you planning to use? If you want maximum flexibility, soft-sided luggage is your best bet. Some of the best products for carry-on are the Tom Bihn or Red Oxx products. That won't help you for this trip, but something to keep in mind for the future.

Unfortunately, given the fact that airlines are starting to charge for checked luggage, I suspect many more people are going to start using the carry-on method, so the Bins are going to be even more crowded in future.

Happy travels!

Cindy
What can I say the others have not?
4 Days? I do not know what I could pack for 4 days that would fill a carry on let alone a bag big enough to check.
Carry on is the only way to fly.
Have a great trip!

Can't even imagine checking a bag for a four day trip( um,, can't imagine taking a four day trip,, but my flight is longer )

We did 26 days with carry on (22inch) luggage,, I could do four days with a large purse almost.. LOL

Checking your bag means possibily losing it,, and definately losing a bit of time waiting for it,, carry on means alot more freedom to me.

We just returned from our trip to London! Had a great time and each carried on one bag. I did end up checking one bag coming home because I had some marmalade from Harrods

Save some of your shopping for the departure area at Heathrow. Harrod's has a shop there where I bought my marmalade. A few years ago I had my marmalade confiscated at security, so I learned to wait until I could buy it after passing thru security.

I'd definitelty try to do carry-on for the trip TO London. For the way back home you could consider checking your bag in, thus allowing for taking along souvenirs the security controll might refuse.