Baggage Fees -- packing light

[perkinsrose]

I just bought flights for February 2009 hoping to avoid fuel price hikes. New baggage fees for Northwest after August are $15 per checked bag per way max. 50 pounds. So for 4 bags would add $120 to flight cost round trip.

With DH & 2 kids, we usually have one checked bag each and one carryon backpack each (Still allowed 1 carry-on per person no charge) Even though trip will be 5nights, i'm going to do laundry at resort once (probably 1 load) to try to pack extra light.

I usually overpack clothes and things and rather be prepared and have too much. But would also try to save a few dollars and squeeze into 2 or 3 checked bags. Kind of hard due to time of year/weather, i feel like i need to pack pants AND shorts and tshirts AND longsleeves & jackets.

Anyone with suggestions on how to pack light?? Will be using Magical express, won't have car at WDW.

 

[Kae]

Well since you are going in Feb you get so hot & sweaty as if you were going in say June. I would think you could each use jeans at night so wear those on the plane, also carry your jacket with you. also wear your bulkiest shoes. get small health & beauty stuff, I also save almost used makeup & stuff to take on trips I throw it away at wdw. Try to remember back to other trips for you used & what you did not.

Kae

 

[WDSearcher]

It's February and you may need to pack both "cool" and "warm" stuff, but are there ways to save there? Can you pack lightweight long pants that are cool enough for day and warm enough for evening? Instead of long sleeved tees AND jackets, maybe just one or the other. Or get the pants that unzip to become shorts.

If you already know you overpack, then pull back and reduce the amount. Sure, you want to be ready for anything, but is it financially worth it to bring that jacket when you either may not use it or may only use it once? Is it likely to get so very cold that you can't simply layer on another t-shirt? I'd go back over past trips and think about what you packed but never used and leave all that out. Shoes are usually what does it for my Sis and BIL. They pack so many pairs of shoes -- sandals, Tevas, sneakers, "nice" shoes, flip flops, and on and on. Last time down, they had 12 pairs of shoes between them and only used two pair each. So reduce your shoes!

Another option is to pack what you want to take and ship it down to WDW before you leave. That way, you only need to take your carry-on backpacks on the plane and your stuff is waiting for you when you arrive. I'm thinking the price of shipping a couple of boxes is WAY less than $120.

 

[swald91]

I think the past 3 times we've gone we only take carry-on with us. I do laundry when the kids are at the pool or when we get back from the park. I know I get all excited about the DME tags but I usually put them on our carry on luggage anyway! I know this time we booked early enough that we will not get the extra charge for checked bags. I also know the 1st time we used DME & arrived early evening & never got our luggage delivered to our room until 3am-not fun So now with the extra $$ the airlines will be charging-it's carry-on only for us!

 

[bbangel]

Check out this site http://www.onebag.com/

I found it very helpful in helping me to reduce my packing. I just did an 8 day trip to WDW with only carry on baggage.

Biggest tips I have are to only have two pairs of shoes, wear your heaviest items on the plane (shoes, jeans, coats etc), and pack bottoms and tops that mix and match.

 

[disney-super-mom]

We are also a family of four, and we easily pack a weeks worth of clothes (7 nights) in two LARGE rolling duffle bags. All of DH's and my clothes fit in one duffle, the kids stuff goes in the other duffle. We've never gotten close to the 50 pound weight limit per bag. Everything else we pack with us in our backpacks (carryon).

So to save half of the checked luggage fees, try to pack using two larger suitcases rather than using four small or medium suitcases.

 

[MsPlutoNJ]

How old are your kids? Can you give them the task of having their own piece of luggage to bring on the plane with them. Maybe getting them a cheap rolling carry-on for each of them plus two backpacks for the adults. If you each have a carry-on maybe you could get away with just two checked bags. Or maybe even one.

I booked my trip 7 days after the cut off for the $25 (I think) per checked bag rule for Continental. I was planning on checking both my check bag and my carry-on, so now, I'm checking my check bag and carrying on my carry-on and just bringing my little over the shoulder purse. I refuse to do laundry this year. Last year, it cost so much money to do laundry and the dryer just wouldn't dry, no matter how many quarters I put in.

I hope it works out for you. No matter what, have a great time.

 

[mountdew1]

I do believe that you still have 1 carry on, and 1 personal item per person. So between the 4 of you, that is 4 carry on's (7x14x21 or whatever your airline allows) plus 4 personal items (daypacks, purses, etc). So as long as you can pack each persons clothing in their respective carry on, or even spread between them, it's not a problem. You may run into issues with your liquids/gels using this method, but then pack 3 carry ons and only check 1 bag. Cuts down alot.

 

[Sleeping Becca]

SPACE BAGS!!!!!!!!!!!

These things are crazy awesome! They make the travel type that don't require a vacuum.

 

[CanadianGuy]

This is a topic best suited to the Disney "tips" forum here on the DIS. I'll be moving this one over there.

Thanks,

Knox

 

[swald91]

I found that space bags work great once you pack at home, but no vacuum in the hotel to pack up!!! I read somewhere about packing clothes in large freezer bags. Just put them in by outfit, I also place in them a fabric softner sheet & squeeze as much air out of them!! It does condense the space, and it has the kids clothes ready per day-just grab a bag (someone had this idea on the post already) I have been rolling change especially for our trip-(throw it in a cup after work) I know that some places sell laundry detergent for travel and I already pack a fab. softner sheet in with the clothes that way it doesn't hurt the pocket so bad when you have to wash while on vacation-works great for us!!!

 

[santa's surpriz]

My plan is too check one bag per person, but I am taking my rolling carry on and packing the heavy stuff in it. So I do not have to worry about being over the weight limit. It fits in overhead bin perfectly, as long as others do not exceed their one carry on limit (lol.)

 

[DisneyNDecember]

My son & I go every year to Disneyworld in December & I always take a large 62" suitcase (this is the airlines size limits) with both of our clothes in it, so I will not be hunting down 2 suitcases. We always push the 50 pound limit & AmericanAirlines has been gracioius to not charge us the overweight fee since we consolidated it all into one bag. But this year, I did not want to risk it.

My old suitcase weighed 17 pound with nothing in it. My new Eagle Creek Centerline Hovercraft Rolling Expandable 28" suitcase (got it on Ebags for $250 & it has a Lifetime guarantee) only weights 10 pounds, HUGE difference.
Also, I purchase the Eagle Creek packing cubes to organize our clothes much better. So this year, we should be okay.

I hope this helps. Eagle Creek has some very high quality & light suitcases. Yes, they are pricey, for $250 I could have gotten an entire luggage set by a different name brand, but Eagle Creek will repair or replace your luggage with their lifetime warranty & have excellent customer service, per my extensive research before purchasing such an expense piece of luggage.

 

[ZoZo]

Since you're already planning to do laundry, you're ahead of the game. I always do two loads (simultaneously, so it doesn't take extra time).

I figured out something that really helps me a lot when deciding what to pack. I go on www.weather.com about three days before my trip, and check the "hour-by-hour" forecast. That really helps you to figure out how hot (or cool) it will be at different times of day. It's so helpful to know that, say, at 8:00 at night it will really be cooling off compared to the daytime temperatures (solution: wear shorts or capris but pack a sweatshirt in your backpack!). I used this tip at an outdoor event just last Friday, here at home! The event lasted until 1:00 a.m., and was being held outdoors. It was so helpful to know that the temperature would be dropping down to about 57 degrees around 10:00 p.m.

 

[nemomama]

I highly recommend getting a luggage scale. We got one for only $9.99 and it is great...we pack like normal and then weigh the bags to see if we need to take anything out or put it in another bag. The scale itself is small and portable, so we took it along with us and when we weighed everything packing to go home...sure enough two bags were well over 50 lbs. We had brought an extra bag to carry on, so it was no problem to shift some stuff to that bag. Saved us a whole lot of hassle or $$ at the airport. As far as luggage, we check 3 large rolling duffle bags which are lightweight before you even pack them. Hope that helps.

 

[janiebegood]

Rolling duffles are the best! LLBean has several sizes, all very reasonably priced. They're lightweight, spacious and durable.

LL Bean's Rolling Adventure Duffle: http://www.llbean.com/webapp/wcs/st...langId=-1&categoryId=35986&sc1=Search&feat=sr

We used the "extra large" duffle on a trip to China in 2002 and we have used it for every trip since. It's a work horse! It has been the ONLY checked bag our family of three has used for six years! We can easily fit everything we need for a week in it; if it gets close to the 50 lb. limit, we put heavy stuff (books, mostly!) into carry-on bags.

Now that DD is getting bigger, we just got a new "large" size rolling duffle for her -- pink, of course, with her initials monogrammed on it. We're flying to the beach on Saturday and are taking a fold-up sun tent, a soft-side cooler, an entire stack of paperback books, beach towels, etc, and everything is fitting perfectly into those two rolling duffles.

 

[go2cindys]

Since you're already planning to do laundry, you're ahead of the game. I always do two loads (simultaneously, so it doesn't take extra time).

I figured out something that really helps me a lot when deciding what to pack. I go on www.weather.com about three days before my trip, and check the "hour-by-hour" forecast. That really helps you to figure out how hot (or cool) it will be at different times of day. It's so helpful to know that, say, at 8:00 at night it will really be cooling off compared to the daytime temperatures (solution: wear shorts or capris but pack a sweatshirt in your backpack!). I used this tip at an outdoor event just last Friday, here at home! The event lasted until 1:00 a.m., and was being held outdoors. It was so helpful to know that the temperature would be dropping down to about 57 degrees around 10:00 p.m.

I checked the weather 3 hours before I left home for our late Nov Early Dec 07 trip. It called for highs of 65 with rain several days. Turns out it was in the 80's everyday and we had about 4 drops of rain over the 10 days we were there. We had packed for cooler weather with only a couple of pairs of shorts. Luckily, we had rented a villa so had access to washer/dryer. Sweaters and jeans take up so much room in the suitcases.

We are going in August so we are hoping the weather will be cooler than predicted. I have never been in Aug so we are going to the parks in the morning, eat lunch, and maybe catch an indoor show, then back to the villa for swim and naps (hopefully) and then after dinner back to the park if it cools down some. I know it's a waste of money but I would rather get tickets for extra days than be in the parks in the afternoon with the heat being even hotter than predicted because of the reflection from the concrete.


Janet

 

[perkinsrose]

I checked the weather 3 hours before I left home for our late Nov Early Dec 07 trip. It called for highs of 65 with rain several days. Turns out it was in the 80's everyday and we had about 4 drops of rain over the 10 days we were there. We had packed for cooler weather with only a couple of pairs of shorts. Luckily, we had rented a villa so had access to washer/dryer. Sweaters and jeans take up so much room in the suitcases.

We are going in August so we are hoping the weather will be cooler than predicted. I have never been in Aug so we are going to the parks in the morning, eat lunch, and maybe catch an indoor show, then back to the villa for swim and naps (hopefully) and then after dinner back to the park if it cools down some. I know it's a waste of money but I would rather get tickets for extra days than be in the parks in the afternoon with the heat being even hotter than predicted because of the reflection from the concrete.


Janet

Thanks for the weather forcast warning. I guess I'll be packing for warm and cold no matter what.

Not clear on what you said--maybe you already know this. You can't go back on the same day and use another "day" of your ticket. It would actually be the same "day" and you would have to have park-hopper to go to different parks on the same day.