Your Favorite Packing Tip

[nkereina]

Does anyone put their clothes or cubes in any kind of protective plastic or anything like that? I've read horror stories about people who's suitcases were left in the rain by the airlines and when they got their bags, everything inside was soaked.

I had inteded on using Ziplock space bags to protect the clothes in the event of this happening (we are traveling when it rains a lot), but I ended up preferring the packing cubes. Anyone think it's overkill or foresee a problem if I put my packing cube inside a space bag perhaps? Would love to hear other ideas!

 

[ItsOnlyMoney]

My dad worked for a major airline for decades so he is pretty good at packing. I line my suitcase with a trash bag, and then pack my clothes on top of that. I put all my liquids into a Ziploc bag and then inside the waterproof makeup case, in hopes that if anything leaks it will be mostly contained. Finally I then put another trash bag over the top of the contents! He said suitcases get left on the tarmac quite a lot as they are waiting to be loaded into the plane, and if they are stuck in the rain it risks drenching everything inside! This way, the trash bags can help mitigate any luggage flooding!

I also place an index card on the top of my clothes with all pertinent emergency contact info so that if my bag is lost it can be found more easily!

These are great tips! I haven't flown in 7 years so forgot that I put a business card with contact info in each suitcase. I also plan on taking a photo of all the stuff in the suitcase incase they lose it.

 

[ebradley23]

Zip lock anything that is liquid! Liquid foundation? Shampoo? Sunscreen? make sure they are all in a zip lock bag. I don't know what is it about flying, if it's the altitude - or laying sideways, but half the time something will leak. When it does, at least it's only leaking onto the inside of the zip lock bag.

Even better tip for liquid ... Take the cap off and place a piece of Saran Wrap over the top then screw the cap back on. Nothing will leak ever.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Four of us travel and we only use two suitcases that are almost at the limit for weight.

I take a third suitcase with a few things in it. That way we have room and space for our souveniors and it becomes our "dirty clothes" luggage (if I don't have time to wash everything) that I also line with dryer sheets.

This way we don't go over on weight limits and aren't trying to force things to fit.

I also pack almost everything in ziplock bags. Shampoo, lotion, soap, any kind of liquid.

 

[Drusilla]

Packing cubes arrived and I have rolled all the clothes I planned to take for DD9 and put them in her set of cubes. OMG!!!! Everything of hers fit into a carry-on suitcase with room to spare!!! So I did the same for me and sure enough - it all fits in a carry-on!!!

I am seriously considering going carry-on and backpack only for each of us. We get in after 10pm so we would have to wait for our bags and deal with them anyway. When we fly home I can check our carry-on suitcases with ME and not have to deal with them on our flight home.

Is a week at WDW with only carry-on luggage doable??? Am I cooky for considering doing this????

 

[asmit4]

Packing cubes arrived and I have rolled all the clothes I planned to take for DD9 and put them in her set of cubes. OMG!!!! Everything of hers fit into a carry-on suitcase with room to spare!!! So I did the same for me and sure enough - it all fits in a carry-on!!!

I am seriously considering going carry-on and backpack only for each of us. We get in after 10pm so we would have to wait for our bags and deal with them anyway. When we fly home I can check our carry-on suitcases with ME and not have to deal with them on our flight home.

Is a week at WDW with only carry-on luggage doable??? Am I cooky for considering doing this????

I am going for 8 nights myself. My mom and my 2yo son are going for 4 of those nights. I am flying on Southwest both ways. They are flying on Spirit on the way down and Southwest on the way home (with me).

In TOTAL we are bringing 2 carry ons and 2 back packs. We LOVE packing cubes!

 

[maxiesmom]

I am going for 8 nights myself. My mom and my 2yo son are going for 4 of those nights. I am flying on Southwest both ways. They are flying on Spirit on the way down and Southwest on the way home (with me).

In TOTAL we are bringing 2 carry ons and 2 back packs. We LOVE packing cubes!

Wow. I'm going for 6 nights, and I would love to get away without checking a bag, but I'm not sure I can. Even the guys each want to check a bag.

I have plenty of packing cubes/envelopes. Maybe I will give rolling my clothes and putting them in the cubes a try.

 

[MataHari22]

Packing cubes arrived and I have rolled all the clothes I planned to take for DD9 and put them in her set of cubes. OMG!!!! Everything of hers fit into a carry-on suitcase with room to spare!!! So I did the same for me and sure enough - it all fits in a carry-on!!!

I am seriously considering going carry-on and backpack only for each of us. We get in after 10pm so we would have to wait for our bags and deal with them anyway. When we fly home I can check our carry-on suitcases with ME and not have to deal with them on our flight home.

Is a week at WDW with only carry-on luggage doable??? Am I cooky for considering doing this????

It's totally doable, I always travel with just a carry-on and a backpack. So does my friend I travel with. This year we're going for 8 nights and 9 days. Most people way over pack, and then they don't even wear half the stuff that they pack.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

What do you guys do about liquids with only carry ons?

I have to bring hair products and other toiletries. They will make me take those out of my bags so I have to do a checked bag.

 

[erddig]

We only travel with carry on bags (roller board) and backpack (kids), shoulder travel tote (me) and computer bag(DH).

Toiletries we use travel sizes- fill them our selves with our favorite products. I recommend a trial run at home to see how little product you actually use. And follow the 3-1-1 rule- only thing we ever buy is sunscreen.


Packing cubes are a must, for organization and compression. Tons of ziplock bags in various sizes just because we use them.

I often do laundry, more because I hate dirty laundry then I need to. Laundry sheets or pods are great!

An extra bag to check on the way home in case I over shop- bagalini makes a good one that zips into itself and fits in the front pocket if my carry on- it fits a king size comforter when expanded.

Everyone carried their own stuff, makes travel a breeze!!!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[MataHari22]

What do you guys do about liquids with only carry ons?

I have to bring hair products and other toiletries. They will make me take those out of my bags so I have to do a checked bag.

I just use travel size bottles. To expand on the 3-1-1, if you don't know what it is:

3 oz or less for each liquid item
1 quart zip lock bag must be used to put the items in
1 bag per person

I have my deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, hair defrizzer, sunscreen, body spray, another hair product, and Downey Wrinkle Release in there.

They will make you take it out and put it in the bin, so they can see it.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We stay for 9-10 days and I have tons of hair. Travel size bottles won't work. now for a 2 day trip sure.

 

[MataHari22]

We stay for 9-10 days and I have tons of hair. Travel size bottles won't work. now for a 2 day trip sure.

Lol, bummer. I have shipped my stuff down before. Last year, I shipped down Ensure, (I have severe swallowing problems and wanted to make sure I got enough calories in me) and I stuck a full size sunscreen, full size lotion, and a full size bottle of catwalk curl cream. You can just ship it to your resort, put it to your attention and write: Hold until check in. My hair is super short this year, so I'm not worried about what it looks like. Shipping it down was cheaper than checking a bag, plus I didn't have to deal with lugging around a larger suitcase and checking it.

 

[vhamilton]

One tip I've heard and plan to use is for the little guys, put their whole outfit in a freezer bag (or some kind of bag) with socks and any other things you need for that day only, so u just grab a bag and go. Then you don't have to worry about what's clean or dirty, and can start packing up for the trip home

I love, love, love, love, LOVE this idea! Did I mention I love this idea?

 

[vhamilton]

Last trip I kept all dd's princess dresses on hangers, cut a small hole in a large garbage bag and put it over the dresses with the top of the hanger poking through and then tied the bottom of the bag. I did this to keep the extremely large quantities of glitter from getting all over everything else in the suitcase.
Worked very well.

Great suggestion! Would've never thought to do that. Those darn little glitters can get EVERYWHERE! My couch is suffering from ornament glitter.

 

[Oathkeeper13]

Remember every Disney hotel has a laundry mat. Yes it costs money, but it is well worth doing a load of laundry so that you can avoid having to lug double the clothes with you and you don't have to worry about overweight baggage fees. Hotels like Art of Animation have the Laundromat right near the pool so it's very convenient to do a load of laundry while the family is hanging out by the pool.

 

[vhamilton]

I roll EVERYTHING. Socks and underwear go inside shoes. Travel-sized toiletries that I toss when we leave to save space for souvenirs. I do the 2-in-1 carry-ons too. Nothing fancy; I use the big reusable grocery bags and put my camera bag and purse in there, along with any paperwork. For the plane ride, I wear the heaviest shoes and clothes. That eliminates one heavy pair of jeans taking up space. I always take a few Walmart plastic bags for dirty clothes on the way back.

Check out Youtube for videos on how to roll clothes for space.

 

[kaymil]

I'm stealing this - put all the clothes & money you plan to take on your bed. Then pack half of the clothes and take twice the money.

 

[quakechicago]

I thought of one I forgot that I always do. I bring a soft extra duffle bag or two in the big front pouch of one suitcase. I weigh our bags before but I swear I always get a wrong scale that says one bag is over. Or I pack our coats and Chicago winter gear when we arrive at the airport and that puts us over. Or we buy too many souvenirs on the way back. With packing cubes (& southwest), it's easy and fast to throw 2-3 cubes into the extra bag to avoid any fees!

I even used one to fly our recent 53 (!) snacks from credits home. All our nephews and nieces are getting Frozen and/or Mickey Rice Krispie treat bonus gifts for the holidays!

 

[nkereina]

On my last trip just a few weeks ago, we used packing cubes from eBags for the first time and I can officially say I am a believer. I've always been skeptical of them because I couldn't wrap my mind around how adding extra things to your luggage can possibly help your packing, but it does. I wouldn't say I packed less (and my bag wasn't any lighter), but I was organized which made it easier to find things. When we got to our room, I pulled out the cubes and threw them in the drawers and I was done unpacking. When we left, I zipped up the cubes and threw them back in my bag. Very easy. I rolled all my clothes and kept shirts in one cube, pants in another, etc. With them being packed tight together in the cubes, it kept them from shifting around in the luggage so they were exactly as I had packed them when I got my luggage, which minimized wrinkles. As a caveat, I spent a small fortune on packing cubes for both me and DH since I had so much to pack, and we used all but two of them. Worth the cost for me though!

I just use travel size bottles. To expand on the 3-1-1, if you don't know what it is:

3 oz or less for each liquid item
1 quart zip lock bag must be used to put the items in
1 bag per person

I have my deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, hair defrizzer, sunscreen, body spray, another hair product, and Downey Wrinkle Release in there.

They will make you take it out and put it in the bin, so they can see it.

I've flown four times over the last three months and haven't been asked to remove liquids from carry on. Three of the four times I didn't even have to take my shoes off! I think they are lightening up on some of these things. Also FWIW - solid deodorants don't have to go in the 311 bag. Saves you some room

We stay for 9-10 days and I have tons of hair. Travel size bottles won't work. now for a 2 day trip sure.

I am a chronic overpacker and always bring a ton of skin care items, liquid makeups, hair products, etc. I buy brand name quart size bags (Ziplock - better quality) and stretch them with my hands until they are about to rip. Seriously. I fit way more in there than I ever think I'm going to be able to. You can keep things like deodorant, chapstick, etc out. Only true liquids need to go in. I surprise myself sometimes!