pre-trip planning questions

[alicia1506]

hi all,

so i'm at that stage.. we've put down deposits, we've (mostly) got our itinerary figured, life is about to get real and i'm in full scale OCD planning mode.

today's topic of conversation: luggage.

on our previous trip, we took this:

that was luggage for 3 x people, but still... a lot of luggage.

so this trip, we decided we were taking one x carry on and one x checked bag each, and that was it. we must take formal/semi formal wear for the cruise, and we'll probably buy cold weather gear in chicago for the few days we are there, but i was thinking of only taking one suitcase for the checked luggage and a duffel with shoulder strap as our carry on, with maybe a smaller duffel folded inside the larger suitcase as a back up if we buy too much.

has anyone gone the shoulder strap/duffel route before when it comes to carry-on bags?

on our last flight, a sports team was onboard, and the duffel seemed to suit ideally, and could be easily squished if necessary, while still being relatively easy to lug around the terminal when dealing with suitcases for checked luggage...

thoughts on the issue??? or just any help/advice would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[aussietravellers]

I would love to be able to offer some assistance in the luggage department, however that photo you showed..... that looks like our luggage trolley..... and that is for one adult and one child

But we do go over with one carry on (well sometimes two carry ons as I take a large handbag as well as a carry on) and one suitcase each, and always each have a fold up duffle bag type bag in the suitcase as it folds flat and is treat for the trip home. Unfortunately it is not the size that can be carried on, they are large duffel style bags for check in only.

The duffel bag would be easier to bend and squash into the overhead, particularly in the US on domestic flights where they seem to take big suitcases as carry ons So I would take the duffel bag inside your suitcases for the return home if needed or use it as a carry on on the way over

 

[alicia1506]

lol. the image above didn't include our day bags or 'personal item' style bags. we got home and realised we didn't even go through 1/3 of our clothes etc. so this time we want to seriously pare it back so that we're only taking what we need, and if we have to buy something over there, so be it, lol.

had a look at some duffels (carlo took one inside his big suitcase last time and it worked really well for him as it was able to fit a lot (a huge lot) of stuff in it.. more than my small suitcase could fit anyways so i'm thinking they would be good carryons and back up checked luggage (his has wheels so good for a second checked) and we could just have slightly smaller versions for our carry ons as .. like you say... cabin space can get a bit squishy with all those large suitcases etc.

now just to scour the net looking for a good quality one that will last us through the next few trips

 

[PrincessInOz]

That's more like what I come home with. My personal record for DH, DS and myself going to the US is and a carry-on for each of us and 15 kg in one bag for the 3 of us. That's with a duffel bag squashed into the one bag; and another smaller duffel bag squashed into my carry-on going to the US. We came home with two new bags and used both the duffels.

I've never taken the duffel on-board but that's because I'm not sure how the check-in person will view the bag as carry on. Despite being able to squash it in, I've never been game enough to try it out.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

- hahaha, I'm feeling a whole lot better about my own packing for a family of 4 right now

 

[alicia1506]

my checked luggage never exceeded about 11kg, and carlo's barely weighed 5kg when we checked it... he stocked up big on geek toys in nyc and came home with collectible action figures, games and geek paraphenalia... stuff that took up a lot of room, but didn't weigh much...

we packed, then took out 1/2 and it still turns out we overestimated.

i'm thinking with the duffel, if i get one that is the same linear dimensions as a regular carry-on, i can take that as carry on and hopefully they will let me on with it...

also, i saw the sports team with theirs, and theirs were huge, but i'm assuming they paid fees or got some special 'sports person' dispensation for the luggage...

maybe if i pack a larger, collapsable duffel inside the big suitcase as a back up, and carlo can do the same... that way, we're mostly just packing a carry on each and 1 suitcase between the 2 of us... and leaving 3 extra bags to fill with clothes, souvenirs etc.

 

[aussietravellers]

my checked luggage never exceeded about 11kg,

Each of my checked bags have never been under 30kgs I don't think I have ever travelled with a piece of checked luggage that doesn't contain the bright orange "HEAVY" tag

I'm sure my carry on has never exceeded 11kgs

I am very very impressed that you haven't had a check in over 11kgs. I would love to be able to travel that light

 

[alicia1506]

correction: i went back and had a look at our pics... mine was 17kg, carlo's was 9kg. sorry... i slightly understated the weight of our luggage in my previous post.

maybe it's just that most of my cothing is lightweight pants (in a chiffon-style fabric) with lots of tshirts and lightweight materials and that we didn't take any heavy weather gear and i took (to my sister's horror) only 2 pairs of shoes for the whole trip

i don't think it's really the weight bothering me... just the actual quantity of clothing i took that i didn't wear that made it unneccessary bulk and everytime i had to grab the bags off the carousel for baggage claim, i thought... why did i need to bring all this stuff!!?!?!? lol. this time, we're trying to be more conscientious about what we need/really need to pack

 

[OziJo]

A duffel as carry on would work well. My girls have medium size duffel that they use for dancing from Country Road and Sportsgirl. I thought they would be too big for carry on but I saw a couple of others carry on the exact same bags. My girls took smaller backpacks but I'd wished they had taken their duffel's as they could have fitted some extra stuff into them on the way back.

We packed fairly light and had 4 bags for 5 people on the way over. We bought a large duffel in Wal Mart for $15 and another one in Honolulu to bring back all our goodies. So came back with 6 bags checked. One bag was over at first but we put a pair of shoes in carry on and were sweet.

 

[alicia1506]

yay... so glad to hear someone else has done it... i'm thinking it would work well for clothes/souvenirs and so forth.

now to just go find 4 x duffels. 2 x for carry-ons and 2 x for spares in the luggage. i'm thinking ebay might be a good place to start

 

[Caroline NZ]

Hi,
I'm not exactly sure what you are calling a duffel bag. But Kathmandu has tanker/cargo bags ( in various sizes) that come with shoulder straps.

http://www.kathmandu.co.nz/Packs_&_Luggage/Travel/Cargo_&_Pocket_Bags/40337/Tanker_Cargo.html

http://www.kathmandu.co.nz/Packs_&_Luggage/Travel/Cargo_&_Pocket_Bags/40282/Pocket_Cargo.html

 

[alicia1506]

hi caroline -- thanks for the suggestion - will go check them out.

this is the type of luggage i was referring to when i say duffle bag:

http://www.online.luggagegear.com.au/high-sierra/2135-bubba-duffle.html

 

[aussietravellers]

Alicia, Country Road have really cute ones. We have a few of these that we have collected over the years and my son got his own last year. Great for an overnight bag, going to a theme park, carry on.

They last forever, I have seen some really old ones and they are still in great condition. They have really cute designs, great for men and women.

Wait for a sale too and get them even cheaper.

They are here (there are more on the second page too, if you click on page 2 down the bottom to see the others)

 

[alicia1506]

hey, AussieTravellers -- thanks for the link -- these look great. i used to have one and don't know where it went... must have gotten lost in one of our moves!!!

thanks for this recommendation -- hugely appreciated

 

[ame]

you should see what we have for six people!!!

We have "duffle bags" with wheels for DS 1 & 2 that we bought at Target USA. They sit fairly flat when tehy don't have too much stuff in them and have a zippered section in the bottom where they put things that are slightly fragile and shove clothes on top with shoes in a pocket on the end.

http://www.target.com/p/Embark-Drop-Bottom-Duffle-Bag-Orange/-/A-13234968#?lnk=sc_qi_detaillink

They've lasted the return trip from LA, return to SIN, a school camp and SYD-LAX-SEA return. Showing some signs of wear and have another trip or two in them (as long as they don't go on a cruise, suitcases come out of there trashed!!)

 

[alicia1506]

well the duffel carlo took on the last trip were slashed by the conveyor belt, and one of the handles was ripped while getting it off the conveyor belt (a much larger and heavier suitcase was lying on top of it).

i just today ordered from luggagegear.com.au 2 x duffels for our carry-on luggage, and 2 x larger duffels for our checked luggage. the larger duffels are more industrial strength and size duffel bags that are designed for use as checked luggage. the smaller carry on luggage is a little more trendy, and suits our needs for carryon.

for the 2 of us for a 3 week trip travelling from brisbane to the carribean to chicago to anaheim and back in nov/dec and the various temperature/weather changes that will entail, we are hoping to get away with taking 1 x carry on each, and 1 x checked bag between us, with the duffels folded inside the carry on as backup for any shopping/souvenirs/purchases. we are probably going to be doing most of our xmas shopping while over there, so i imagine we'll probably need the large duffels