1st time Flying Luggage question

[kilee]

DH nor I have every flown. We have bought tickets for our upcomming trip. Direct flight Buffalo to Orlando on Southwest. Without an extra fee, how much luggage are we allowed to bring? There is DH, Myself and DS (10)? Is it one suitcase and one overhead carry-on? Is there a weight limit on the suitcase? Nobody in his family has every flown either. Nor has anyone really recently in mine. Do I buy those little locks for the suitcases? Will I be able to have a carry-on and my purse????? Any advice and help is appreciated. Also, my sister is most likely coming too. She will be bringing her 17 month old--- what about her checking the stroller, car seat, portable crib??? How much extra for each of these???

 

[MaddieinWonderland]

Here is Southwest's checked baggage policy. You can also find their carry-on policy as well.

You're allowed three checked bags, one carry-on, and one personal item -- a purse or laptop or something -- each.

 

[kilee]

Thank you for the link and the quick response!!!

 

[SueM in MN]

That was a nice link. The only part I didn't see answered was:

Do I buy those little locks for the suitcases?

The answer to that is, you are better off not using them. Many of them use the same key, so anyone who wants to get into your bag probably could pretty easily. They also break if hit just right. On a recent trip to San Antonio, the little lock on my friend's bag popped open and broke when going thru the security scanner. The security person told her that they find many lock parts on the floor/in the scanner by the end of each day because they get caught on the belts and "spring".
If your bags are chosen for a more complete check by security, they will break the locks if you are not there when they check them.
What we have used for several years are plastic wire ties that you can buy at any hardware store. You put them thru the same place you would put the little locks and pull them tight. If security needs to remove them, they will cut them and are supposed to replace them with new ones. Just make sure you have packed a small scissor or something in one of the unsecured pcokets of one of your bags so you can get them off when you arrive.

 

[kokomom]

Don't lock the suitcases you are checking...they open them and search them now and they will break the lock to do so. Measure your bags to make sure they are not oversized! They charge extra for this...on ATA it is $25/bag each way. I just bought new suitcases...the one was too big and we would have had to pay. I returned that piece.

The extra fee goes for the weight also...I always used to pack a lot in the bags so we wouldn't have too many. We have 2 sons so I am just using a few lighter bags rather than a couple heavy ones.

I have used the space savers bags (I bought mine from QVC) and love them...they flatten the clothes out...no extra wrinkles.

Have fun!