Do you check your bags?

[cpdrn7]

I have the 24 inch bag and the size W+L+H that is under the carryon size of 55inches. Yet each time, a flight attendant makes a comment about bags of that size.....I just can not see paying to check my bags!! We always fly Airtran and wondered how other people mostly do it. I have two teenagers, a husband and me....we really don't need to check it like others--for example, a young child with that may need to.

So I wish I could post a poll...do you or do you not check your bags?
TIA

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

Yes, I check my bags. But then, I fly Southwest and so far they aren't charging for checked bags. I really have no desire to drag my bag through the ariport.

I guess as long as you're willing to keep the bag under the seat in front of you if the overhead is full there should be no problem. Hopefully it will fit there. With so many people avoiding baggage fees by carrying on their bags, those overheads get full quickly!

Moving this to the transportation board.

 

[shoes99]

I paid $15 to check one bag this past week. It was worth it for two 60+ seniors If our reservtions were not separate, we would have gotten the bag for free. I have a Continental MC, so the first bag for the cardholder and all others on the reservation is free. We like to check the bags so that they are eligible for Magical Express luggage service to the WDW hotels.

 

[PurpleSurfer]

I would love to do the single bag thing even before the charge for bags thing came about but my husband thinks that vactions must be taken with large amounts of clothing. So since he is taking a large checked bag I take one for the rest of us too.

 

[duffy]

I have the 24 inch bag and the size W+L+H that is under the carryon size of 55inches. Yet each time, a flight attendant makes a comment about bags of that size.....I just can not see paying to check my bags!! We always fly Airtran and wondered how other people mostly do it. I have two teenagers, a husband and me....we really don't need to check it like others--for example, a young child with that may need to.

So I wish I could post a poll...do you or do you not check your bags?
TIA

I do, if it's oversize. If I choose to fly on a plane that charges for checked bags, I have to play by their rules.

I hate it when I get on the plane, and my legally-sized bag can't fit in the overhead compartment because it's filled with huge, oversized bags. I have the right to put my bag in too, but if everyone else has filled the compartments with too-big bags, I can't.

We flew to WDW in 2000, and it was also two teenagers, a husband and me...and a pre-schooler. We were there for a week, and used only carry-ons.

 

[dioxide45]

We flew AirTran last week using a bag that came in just under the 55" limit. If it fits in the three-seat side of the plane wheels first, there really shouldn't be a problem. We didn't have any and our barely fit, but the door did close. We may take two of these on our next trip.

People are used to checked bag fees now and are more willing to pay for them now. There was still plenty of extra space in the overhead bins even with our larger than standard bags.

 

[DebbieB]

I travel alot on business alone, so it's alot to stuff in a carryon bag. My laptop is my personal item, which means I would have to put my purse in the bag too. I just don't want to drag all that stuff around the airport. I'm lucky because I have elite status with Delta/NW and USAir so I don't pay for bags. I did have some flights on AA this year that I had to pay (well, I expensed it). Many times I'm gone 5 nights, that is too much stuff for a carryon. Most airlines are 45".

 

[francie57]

Our carry-on is only about 21/22". A 24" one could very easily be considered a suitcase and have to be checked - even if the measurements come in under the requirement. We were on a return Delta flight in Aug. and they made a woman and her two daughters check their bags because they were overstuffed. The woman complained the whole flight since her husband and son didn't have to check the same bags. When we got to the airport and saw the three bags in question, they were so overstuffed that they would never have fit in the overhead bin. We have always been told by our TA that the bags have to fit in the bin with the wheels first and not sideways. As more people push the limit with carry-ons the airlines are cracking down on making people check oversized ones.

 

[cpdrn7]

Yea...that is my point...I am under the size limit and yet because they are larger than the average sometimes, I hear the flight attendents talk. I may just be too sensitive. But if it is in the rules, then I should just ignore it.
Thanks!

 

[Haley]

On our last few trips we just take a bag that fits within the carryon requirements and do laundry halfway through the trip. We take along a zip out baggalini bag and when we get to Disney put all our dirty clothes in it and check that on the way home.

This works for WDW-- if I was going to China or something it would be a different story