I have to pay how much for checked luggage?!?!?

[MarriedToAPrince]

$182


Seriously. That is INSANE!

 

[maggiew]

EEK!

Maggie

 

[Ava]

Wow, what airline & how many bags are you checking?

 

[MarriedToAPrince]

Delta Airlines. 3 checked going down, 4 coming back.

 

[princessbride6205]

The airlines are so insane! I have been looking to book my holiday travel early this year, to hopefully avoid high ticket prices. Well, flights home for Christmas are running $600, even though every flight appears to have only 0-4 seats sold (on the seat map on the Delta site). Flights for Thanksgiving were the same, but finally came down to the $400 range yesterday.
Oops, sorry that went off the topic of baggage fees - but those have become ridiculous too. I supervise travel booking for 100-200 flights per year at work, and we have started booking more and more people on Southwest, since they have no baggage fees.

 

[AK_Christina]

Baggage costs make me not want to travel at all!!! But not enough to keep me from Disney =)

 

[Handbag Lady]

I heart SouthWest.

 

[homercrispy]

we just came back from disney world with carry on only. we saved $50 per person, and just bought a few extra things like shampoo rather than carry them.
it was no problem and saved time at the baggage area.

 

[mickaholic4077]

I get away with a carry-on and a personal size bag(the Mickey Mouse backpack that they were giving out for signing up for a Disney Visa). Honestly,if there are no stains on a piece of clothing,you can wear it again. I stuff my backpack with all my underwear & socks,and my clothes in my carry-on. I can last 8 days with just that. Of course,it helps that I stay at relatives and so have access to a washer/dryer.

 

[okeydokey]

Can you reduce the bags to just 2 each way?

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

It's just the three of you... with 4 bags? I think it's time to learn how to pack lighter.

 

[n2mm]

I heart SouthWest.

I heart Jetblue.


OP, was that airline your only choice? You must now crunch the numbers to include baggage fees when buying your airfare. What appears the cheapest isn't always correct once you add in the baggage fees, and seat assignment fees.

 

[dzorn]

Pack less, use carry ons.

We had one checked bag for the 4 of us.

Denise in MI

 

[kahblue]

We just came back from Disney and flew Southwest down. A little longer (went to OK first to visit family) but 2 free bags each. We flew AirTran home with a direct flight. We went down with 4 bags (and carryons crammed packed) and came home with 3. We bought a cheap $3.99 suitcase at Goodwill and left it behind to save baggage fees. We needed more room due to diapers but they were used up by the time we left.

KIM

 

[ccgirl]

As others have suggested; you can pack much lighter. We are a family of 4 and we only have 2 bags going down and 2 coming back. Use spacesaver bags or ziplocs to pack more into your bag. Just don't go over the weight limit because that's another fee. There is no need for a complete outfit every day. You could always do laundry mid week if needed. In addition, you might want to look into shipping a box down. Not sure of the age of your child but if diapers are still needed you can ship those down and save a lot of room in the luggage. My DH and myself are travelling to FL for 4 days and are each only carrying a bag on the plane. We will purchase shampoo when we get down there to save the money.

Good luck.

 

[beansmom]

that's why WE love jetblue. IF I had to pay for checked bags, I would definitely travel lighter and if i had lots of souvies to bring home, I'd just have Disney mail them for me.

We are going to Italy in January and I plan to TRY to do it in a carryon because I don't wanna lug a huge suitcase all over the country. Wish me luck!

 

[crisi]

We have a Delta AmEx which gives us free bags. In the Twin Cities Delta is the primary airline, so we are stuck. The Delta AmEx is a great card if you fly often enough for the annual fee. And we get miles.

On the pack lighter front - if you are packing groceries or snacks, consider grocery delivery. They'll deliver diapers if you need them.

 

[mamaLori05]

I agree with space saver bags. We have also used gallon size ziplock bags, squeeze the air out, and works the same. By using those we tend to get all of our stuff into 1 sometimes 2 suitcases for a family of 4. (dh, dd5, ds3, and myself). That includes 1 outfit per child per day with some spares and a couple pants/sweatshirts for cooler times, and 1 outfit per day for my husband and I. Also includes 3 princess dresses for dd, and a pirate costume for ds. If we take 2 suitcases it usually includes breakfast foods.

If it is just the 3 of you, you should have no problem fitting everything into 1 bag. I'm not sure how many souvineers you are buying, but I would think you should be able to fit those into a carry-on duffle for the way home.

 

[reagan75]

I heart SouthWest.

Me too!

 

[eliza61]

It's just the three of you... with 4 bags? I think it's time to learn how to pack lighter.

LOL. This is my serious downfall. traveling with me is like traveling on Cleopatra's barge. I need stuff. I seriously admire people who can go to Europe for 2 weeks on 1 bag. I actually think they are really aliens that work for MIB.

Op,
Can you ship some of your stuff? hotels will hold packages now.