Galley Gossip: Crew luggage, rolling vs folding & lifting heavy bags

by Heather Poole on

I just read the New York Times article about your packing advice for travelers. What is the brand and model of the carry-on luggage that you used in the slideshow? – Michelle

The bag featured in the article is a Travelpro 22″ flight crew series 3. My company also provides airline personnel with an 18″ rollaboard. For whatever reason neither one of the bags are featured on Travelpro’s website, but they do offer something similar – a 20″ and 22″ expandable rollaboard under the Crew 7 Series. If you’re looking to buy a new suticase, my advice is to play it safe and go with the smaller one. While I like my 22″ suiter and use it whenever I’m taking long trips, commuting to work for a week straight, or on vacation with another family member using only one bag, I prefer the smaller 18″ suitcase for the majority of my travel.

Savvy travelers know how to pack light. I do this by planning outfits around two pairs of shoes. While the suiter works well when I need it, it’s too big and bulky for shorter trips. Fully packed it doesn’t always fit inside overhead bins on smaller, older aircraft – at least that’s what I’ve been told. Though it does fit just fine on a 767. As for the 737, I’d been warned repeatedly by coworkers it wouldn’t fit, but I was able to get it inside both a regular and reconfigured overhead bin. That said, I didn’t have anything packed inside the suiter section of the bag. Who knows, maybe I got lucky. Maybe my colleagues pack too much. All I know is I got it inside the bin without a struggle and didn’t have to check it.

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Rolling is definitely better than folding, but I find that clothes which don’t need to be folded at all are better off packed flat. I usually pack everything flat except for pants and heavy shirts and sweaters. I make sure I’m wearing my heaviest clothing on the plane. Even thin shirts are packed more efficiently by lying flat and folding the sleeves over, alternating them north and south so the folded parts don’t bulk up. Of course, the rolling method is more convenient once you get there if you are going to be living out of your bag rather than operating from a base. Pulling out clothes packed flat is a pain – Ray

I, too, prefer folding my clothes to rolling on shorter trips because I have less clothing to pack. To avoid wrinkles, I lay uniform items flat in the bag, ends of the dress, pants, or blazer hanging out on one side. Then I’ll place folded items on top. When I’m done, I flip what was hanging out of the bag on top of the folded items. To give you a better idea of what I’m talking about check out photos 9-11 in The New York Times slideshow.

By using the rolling method I’m able to pack more inside my bag. This is why I always roll my clothes on longer trips. And just like you said, Ray, it is easier to get in and out of a bag when clothes have been rolled without creating a mess. As for avoiding wrinkles, make sure to roll your clothing really tight, pulling out the sides and then smoothing the material every three rolls. Or just pack clothes that don’t wrinkle easily. That’s what I do. Certain fabrics are your friend. Think cashmere and jersey. If I do end up with wrinkles, I’ll hang my clothes in the bathroom while I take a hot shower. If that doesn’t work, I’ll call down for an iron. Most hotels have them.

How much did your suitcase weigh when you had finished packing? Can you lift it into the overhead rack by yourself? Thanks. I look forward to reading your blog. – Nancy

I didn’t actually weigh the bag on a scale, but I can tell you this, Nancy, it was heavy, very very heavy! And yes, I could lift it by myself into the overhead bin. Though I’m not sure if anyone else could. For the record, I would never bring on board a bag I couldn’t lift on my own. Why should anyone other than myself be responsible for what I’ve packed? If for whatever reason I can’t lift my bag (like back when I was pregnant or when I broke my toe and wound up on crutches), I check it. Which brings me to a little pet peeve of mine – Flight attendant pet peeve #3: You want me to do what!

How to lift a heavy bag into an overhead bin:

1. Bend at the knee, using leg muscles not back muscles

2. Keep the bag close to your body, distributing the weight of the bag evenly on both sides.

3. Avoid twisting. Pivot with the feet instead

4. If possible, place bag flat on a seat back and then lift the bag using both hands into the bin.

Your bag looked big. It’s worth noting that International airlines have very restrictive weight limits for carry-ons – they range from 13 to 22 pounds – far less than the more liberal weights allowed in North America. – Steve

This is true. International carriers are a lot more strict with what passengers bring on board. But I’ve been pretty lucky in terms of traveling with my 22″ suiter overseas. Last year I visited Italy – Venice, Positano and Rome – with a bag just as full as it was on the slideshow, if not more so, and I was allowed to roll it on board both Ryan Air and Air One without a hassle. My husband takes it to London twice a year and he’s never had a problem either.

A miracle in a carry on – but no underwear? – Marie

I can not tell you how many people, complete strangers, have emailed me about my underwear! Or lack thereof. Even my own mother had something to say. Here’s the deal. I wear it. I pack it. I just didn’t want the entire world seeing it! I felt weird enough rolling a nightie, let alone my skivvies! Underwear is small and easy to pack so just throw it in and be done with it.

Stop carrying all your luggage – Road trip tip

by Gadling Staff on

When hitting the road for a long stretch, pack your clothes in a large laundry basket in the car and keep just your pj’s, toiletries, and valuables in an overnight bag. Each night, put your next day’s clothes in the overnight bag to take into your hotel or tent.

It’s a lot less to lug in and out of the car than a full suitcase or duffel.

Six reasons why I don’t like to check my luggage

by Scott Carmichael on

In the past week, we’ve posted a lot about the upcoming carry-on fee being introduced on Spirit Airlines. In that discussion, a lot of commenters pointed out that too many people carry too much stuff on their flights.

I am guilty of refusing to check my bags (when possible), but I don’t feel like I’m cheating on the airlines – if anything, I think the airlines have been cheating us for years. Here are my top reasons to refuse checking bags:

Security has made checking bags a major hassle

The airport experience is a pretty lousy one. In the past, you’d walk up to a check-in desk, hand over your ticket to a smiling airline employee, and drop your bags on the scales. That was the last you’d see of them until you landed and retrieved them from the baggage carousel.

Nowadays, the TSA has added a second level of hassle to checked bags – and in most cases, you now show up at an electronic kiosk, and wait for a staff member to call your name and tag your bags. You then need to drag them over to a TSA screening station, and in some cases, this involves waiting in line until the agents have time for you.

It is obvious that airports were not designed to deal with this step in security, but the least they could do is make the wait shorter.

The price of checking a bag

I have elite status on several airlines, and when I’m lucky enough to fly them, I don’t pay for checked baggage. But every now and then I have to fly an airline I don’t frequent, and really don’t like the idea of paying to have a bag loaded in the hold.

If I fly with my wife and daughter and we all check a bag, the price of my trip could easily go up by $300 – even though I’m getting the same lousy service I always did. Am I saving $300 on my ticket price? Nope.

The “carry-on bag fee” annoys me because you are suddenly out of options – you can either pay to check a bag, or pay to carry it on board. Either way, the airline will make money off you.

You can’t trust the airlines (or the baggage handlers, the TSA, fellow passengers or the airport staff)

Once you hand your bag over to the airlines, it passes a large number of people. And sadly, airport staff are not all that reliable.

Bags are regularly emptied of all valuables, and even when they are offloaded, you run the risk of strangers walking off with them in the terminal. Since there are absolutely no safeguards in place, someone can walk into the terminal, walk up to the carousel, and steal any bags they want.

This is exactly how a baggage thief operated in 2009 – he simply walked up to bags, loaded them in his car, and sold the contents at a flea market on weekends. Total haul? Over 600 bags!

US Airports should look at airports in Europe where the luggage area is still a sterile zone – it won’t stop fellow passengers from stealing your bag, but it will keep non-passengers away from them.

Retrieving your bags takes too long

I once waited four hours for the airline to offload my bags. Now, I’m not important enough that every minute of my day matters, but after a long flight, the last thing I want to do is hang around the airport waiting for my bags to come down the belt.

I find the baggage carousel to be one of the most depressing parts of a trip – everyone is in a foul mood, they all just want to go home, and they’ll push you and your family out of the way to reach their bags when they spot them.

The great unknown of where your bag goes

The world of technology is weird – we wait at the airport gate, remotely streaming movies to our iPad, using the airport-wide wireless Internet service, but at the same time, airlines are often unable to reliably get your bags from A to B.

A recent report shows that airlines are losing 3,000 bags every hour, every single day. Even in this day and age, waiting at the baggage carousel is like scratching a lottery ticket – you just never know what will happen next.

And when airlines do lose your bags, you never know if/when you’ll see them again. In addition to this, airlines have very little respect for your belongings. It could be a minor fire that burns everything to ashes, or it could be your priceless guitar – but sooner or later, an airline will damage your belongings.

Why check when you don’t have to?

This one is the most important of all. Airlines allow me to carry one bag and one personal item. When I fly, I’ll carry a laptop bag and a 22′ rolling case. My case fits in the overhead (wheels first) and my laptop bag goes under the seat. With these two bags, I don’t have to check my bags – because the airline rules state I’m allowed to carry them on board.

If people are carrying too much on the planes, then the airlines shouldn’t penalize everyone with paid carry-on rules, they should enforce their own rules. Even with bag sizers and gate agents, people are dragging too much on board. Two bags is the limit? Then enforce that limit. The solution is not to start charging for carry-on baggage, and it isn’t in banning all carry-on bags.

Crumpler Old Banger duffel bag review

by Scott Carmichael on

The Crumpler “Old Banger” duffel bag is the duffel bag you pick if you need two things – a good looking bag, and a duffel that’ll survive pretty much anything you throw at it.

On the outside, the bag isn’t really all that special – but it is how it is made that really matters with this bag. Crumpler built this bag around the best possible materials – 900D water resistant fabric on the outside, and 150D ripstop on the inside. All zippers are “self healing”, which means they’ll actually realign themselves if something gets stuck.

All the stitching is “bartack stitching” which makes every seam extremely strong. In addition to this, some portions feature triple stitching. The end result is an amazingly sturdy bag – with good looks to match.

The carrying handles are neoprene cushioned, so even when you stuff it full of your travel items, it won’t hurt your hands (too much). On the sides are additional carrying handles – making it easy to pull out of an overhead storage bin. It does lack shoulder straps, but the carrying handles are long enough to be used on your shoulder or even as a backpack.

The outside is decorated with the Crumpler logo – and the bag itself is available in green/orange and blue/green color combinations. Like another of my favorite bags, I love the bright inner color on the Old Banger – perhaps i’m just weird, but I love wacky and bright colors on my bags. In addition to this, the bright inside also makes it easier to find things in the dark.

The Old Banger features 2 additional pockets – one on the outside (with an integrated key ring/strap) and one on the inside. All zippers feature oversized pull tabs. Despite the high quality materials and stitching, Crumpler managed to keep the bag to a mere 1.87 lbs (0.85kg). To test the inner storage space I took a quick unscientific approach – I moved the contents of my fully loaded 22″ roller into the Old Banger – and was able to pack it with ease (and close the zippers). In a day and age where gate agents are on the lookout for heavy looking bags, a duffel is probably going to pass their strict looks easier than an overweight rolling case.

The Crumpler Old Banger comes with a lifetime warranty – but it obviously only covers defects in workmanship, not wear and tear. The lifetime warranty only applies to the original owner of the product.

All in all, a well designed piece of quality luggage – at $105 it is most certainly not a cheap duffel bag, but if you treat your luggage as rough as I do, an investment in something better than a $10 drugstore duffel is a must. You’ll find the Crumpler Old Banger over at their US site, or through their global store finder.

A modest proposal: Let’s ban large carry-ons altogether

by George Hobica on

A bill introduced in the U.S. Senate last week would ban airlines from charging for carry-on luggage, according to Reuters. Two senators rightly point out that carry-ons often contain items that are “important for the safety and health” of travelers, including medication and eyewear.

But can we please keep in mind that Spirit Airlines’ now infamous decision to charge for carry-on luggage only applies to items too large to fit in the seat in front of the passenger? You can still carry on personal items for free, and that would include a large purse, brief case, or backpack into which you can stuff whatever essentials or valuables you desire. Coats, strollers, cameras, and certain other items are also carried in-cabin for free.

Let’s get real here. To avoid looking disingenuous, Spirit should simply ban carry on bags altogether rather than making them a profit center. And the US Congress should let airlines conduct business as they see fit, and if it really cares about airline passengers, instead legislate a solution to the real safety risks of carry-on luggage.

Spirit’s CEO, Ben Baldanza, with some justification, claims that the overhead bin fee will discourage carry-on overcrowding and lead to safer air travel, both for flight attendants and passengers, who are sometimes injured when lifting heavy bags into the bins and by bags falling out of the bins, despite the airlines’ constant “bags do tend to shift in flight” PA announcements.

But most likely, safety isn’t the real issue here, at least not for an airline CEO. Baldanza also suggests that the airline will be able to board and deplane their aircraft faster, which implies that Spirit will profit by faster airport turnarounds, and thus be able to complete more flights per day and earn more revenue per plane (or fly more passengers with fewer multi-million dollar jets).

Is safety the real issue here?But if safety is really the issue, then the airline should ban large carry-ons altogether, rather than charging for them. Is a carry-on that is charged $45 any safer than one riding for free? Of course not. Indeed, in the infancy of commercial aviation, there were no overhead bins at all, just hat racks into which it was forbidden to place even the smallest flight bag or other hard object. Everything else went under the seat. (OK, OK, the seats were spaced farther apart, granted.)

In any case, the US Congress should back off. If Spirit or any other airline decides to ban larger-sized carry-ons for safety reasons or to charge for them for revenue-enhanhcement reasons or to discourage passengers from using the overhead bins altogether, then that’s their business. If the government were really consumer focused, they should recognize the health hazards of large carry-on luggage and encourage airlines to ban the practice altogether, following Spirit’s model of only permitting smaller carry-ons that fit under the seat.

And there are about a thousand other things Congress should focus on when it comes to air travel, such as fixing the air traffic control system.

Then we could go back to the old model of free checked baggage, or not. But that should be the airlines’ decision. Or maybe passengers will finally “get it” that the airlines don’t want to be carrying their luggage in the first place, and they’d learn the pleasures of 5-day FedEx Ground delivery service, at least on domestic flights.

Airlines could save millions, and offer free checked baggage once again.

Although putting an end to large carry-on bags, whether free or paid, would require the airlines to hire more baggage handlers and check in staff, who are paid relatively modest wages, most likely the carriers would come out ahead by boarding and deplaning planes far faster than currently possible. It doesn’t take an airline CEO with an MBA to figure out that if every one of the thousands of flights flown in the US each day could shave 30 or 45 minutes off of their schedules by turning around quicker at the airport, then the airlines would save millions in equipment, fuel and the more expensive salaries paid to pilots, who often sit around doing nothing while passengers attempt to stuff bags in the overhead bins, blocking other passengers from reaching their seats.

With the money they save, airlines could once again offer free checked bags, just like in the good old days, when flying was fun.

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George Hobica is the founder of Airfarewatchdog™, the most inclusive source of airfare deals that have been researched and verified by experts. Airfarewatchdog compares fares from all airlines and includes the increasing number of airline-site-only and promo code fares.