Monday, June 12th, 2006...11:13 am
Lifehack: Travel Tip…
As many of you know, I just returned from New York. I learned a hard lesson when I arrived at LaGuardia last Saturday. Typically, I have carried my computer bag on the plane as a lone carry on.
It rained that Saturday in New York. This put several flights from O’Hare in Chicago back to back to back in arriving to New York. So when I arrived, our luggage did not come on the plane with us (I thought there was some law in place about this because of terrorism, but maybe I am wrong). We waited around for an hour until the next plane arrived. Fortunately, our luggage came on the next flight. So we were ok.
While we were waiting, I spoke with the baggage claim office at the airline that will remain nameless to protect the innocent. Those tags they put on the jacket of your boarding pass…depending on the airline, they may be worthless. When asked to locate my luggage, I got a the “It might be on the next flight” response. I once flew another airline and changed flights. They got on the phone using those tags, located my luggage, and rerouted them in minutes. Apparently some airlines only use the tags to make you think they have a clue. But when I have a claim tag and no one can tell me what plane my bags are on…it is a little unsettling.
I also spoke with a lady who was waiting for her luggage. She had returned to the airport to pick them up herself. Now remember that is was Saturday. She flew in on WEDNESDAY!!!
Having my eyes opened by this experience, I made a resolution.
I will make sure that I have a carry on bag capable of loading a couple of days worth of clothes. Some simply have a small 17″or 21″ bag that serves well. I am currently looking at a Brookstone bag that will carry my notebook, plus a couple of days of clothes. In this case, I could do both with one bag.
But the point is…make sure you have a day or two of clothes with you on the plane…just in case you fall victim to such incompetence.
- Jason
10 Comments
June 12th, 2006 at 1:09 pm
And luckily, 43 folders just gave some tips for packing light!
http://www.43folders.com/2006/06/12/packing-light/
June 12th, 2006 at 1:13 pm
Sweet!!! I love it when great minds work together. When I am in sync with Merlin, I am having a good day. Thanks for the supplement.
June 12th, 2006 at 1:55 pm
Jason, I always travel light, with a carryon and a shoulder bag. Trips are too short to spend them standing at carousels waiting for luggage!
Maybe I’ll post on that some day.
June 12th, 2006 at 2:01 pm
In this case, I was traveling for 8 days (thank God it was for vacation), which is highly unusual for me. If I had a two day trip, then I would probably not check a bag either. That thinking makes me lean to the 22″ bag. If I can get hygene items and a couple of days worth of clothes in, I think I can do that. Unfortunately, my tendency is to overpack.
The game Melody and I had to play on the way back was putting enough in our carry on to keep the check bags under 50 lbs (since we bought stuff for family while we were there).
The article referenced in Ruben’s comment above is a good one. I need to tag it for future reference.
June 12th, 2006 at 3:23 pm
Ah, but we travel for two weeks on a carryon bag each, plus the “personal item” which can be smaller backpack, shoulderbag, laptop case, etc. (wink)
June 12th, 2006 at 10:20 pm
With the size of clothing that big guy here has to wear…that is not possible.
June 13th, 2006 at 1:35 am
Wow. I knew these things happen a lot in International travel. This is the first time I am hearing of this happening in domestic. Very interesting. While doing International travel, I always manage to get a pair of jeans and 2 thin t-shirts (easy to pack) into a backpack. The jeans+tshirt+deo combo will keep me cool for a couple of days
GCM
June 13th, 2006 at 7:32 am
Hi,
just funny, I had the same problems. There is a guy making a website about this. It´s http://www.onebag.com. Just with hints and tips for traveling with … one bag.
Have fun!
Gregor
June 16th, 2006 at 12:11 pm
[...] It seems that travel and packing has been on the minds of at least a couple of GTD gurus lately. [...]
June 18th, 2006 at 5:31 am
Tom Bihn make’s great bags. They’ve released a couple of months ago a maximum carry on bag: the aeronaut. Check it out.
http://www.tombihn.com/
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