CDTraveler

There's at least one line on that website that is pure rubbish:

"Travelling lightly reduces stress"

For a recent 5 day, 4 night trip I had to pack for:

1. a day on the beach
2. a formal evening event (long dress, high heels, etc.)
3. 2 days casual conference
4. multiple meetings where the dress code was "very style conscious professional"

in a city where it was 95F outside and way over air-conditioned inside. There was no way what I needed was going to fit in a rollaboard no matter how hard I tried to make it fit. Checked the rollaboard with the dressier clothes, put the casual stuff in a small duffle and took the duffle and the laptop bag on with me.

If you can wear the same outfit for everything you do and there is little variation in the weather, one bag might be workable.

eigenvector

Checking a bag takes 5 minutes if you have status and can access a priority line. Otherwise, it could take up to an hour. Swing by the Air Canada international check-in area at YVR two hours before all the widebodies leave for Asia. You don't want to be in that queue if you can help it. Some airlines don't let you jump the queue if you've already checked-in online and just need to drop your bag.

At outstations, the airline may not even open their bag check until 2 hours before departure, so if you're at the airport early you have to hang around landside. And mind the queue when an airline has 1 ground agent to check in a 777 worth of passengers.

Nothing is worse than getting off a redeye and then waiting 30+ minutes for your bag rather than hopping into a taxi and getting yourself in bed.

I normally travel with a soft bag that weighs 5-10 lbs full and is around 2/3rds of the maximum allowed carry-on volume. It's no trouble for me to carry this around and I don't need to elbow people for bin space.

kochleffel

I usually prefer not to check bags, but I will do so for a trip longer than about three days if there will be little or no opportunity to do laundry, or if I also need business materials that are bulky or heavy.

But I've done two recent trips with only a carry-on bag and a very small personal item (an Eagle Creek guide bag) even though both included two different climates. One was a summer trip to Mitteleuropa with a rail trip up the Jungfrau, to 11,000 feet. The other was a winter trip to the Caribbean, where the cold part was between home and the airport and between the local terminal and a Dash-8. The key to both was an Ascent packaway vest from L.L. Bean, with an unlined raincoat over it.

On the Mitteleuropa trip, I expected to travel on a domestic airline and carried a blazer over my arm so that the carry-on bag wouldn't be too thick for a sizer. However, a misconnect had me rerouted onto Lufthansa for the last outbound leg, and Lufthansa limits cabin bags to 8 kg each. I had weighed mine and knew that the it weighed 17.7 kg.

The Caribbean routing had long connecting times and I might have liked to check the bag, but the routing was convoluted and I thought that the risk of its not arriving with me was too great.

jcp3rd

All other factors mentioned in the above posts being equal, the likelihood of IRROPS and VDB are other considerations. If I've checked a bag and a flight goes MX or I have a VDB opportunity, I won't have the flexibility to take (an)other flight(s) and routing. Better not to have checked anything.

Checking bags is primarily convenient when (1) I'm on a direct flight with no likely weather delays; (2) I'm on a multi-leg and long international itinerary; or (3) I've got wine to transport. YMMV. Cheers.

rankourabu

When a bag goes missing, insurance kicks in and one gets a new wardrobe

flyquiet

I'm with Team Check.
In my case, I blame the baggage on gender.
Makeup, makeup remover, moisturizer, hair products give me 3-1-1 problems.
Travel that includes conference (walking), meetings (sitting), dinners (fancy), personal alone time like exploring and sightseeing or shopping, running and other workout have little wardrobe overlap. Three days,for instance, requires three outfits, not just one suit and three ties. Could maybe get by with two outfits plus a different top, e.g., a dress, suit, and a sweater to go with the suit pants. Then I need clothes for down-time or walking to snack bar or exploring, plus running gear. Casual shoes will not do for work (walking shoes vs. heels).
Sure, I could throw my personal style out the window and emulate how men dress on the road, but why, when I could simply check the darn bag. That means no schlepping a rollie to the lounge or to the gate. I have a small purse and a light tote with my computer and other valuables. On the way to a running event, I will scale up to a rollie with my running gear (because there would be too little time to replace it) and check that going home. I am happy to let the insurance make me whole otherwise. That doesn't mean it's okay if they lose or delay my bag, and I reserve the right to judge them if they do, because they should be better than that, but it's not the end of my world, just business.
I must say, YYZ is becoming so much faster the last half dozen arrivals. I can power walk from the arrived aircraft, be first at the Customs hall, breeze through NEXUS, and still find the bag at the carousel before me.

Yachtman

Like many other frequent flyers, which bag I take very much depends on the trip I'm taking. I have several different bags for different purposes, including a soft 'heli-max' bag for when I fly out to rigs, roller board for some of my quick trips (including RTW) and a suitcase for longer trips. No hard and fast rules.
I can quite easily survive a week with my roller board and a suit carrier, as long as i'm staying in decent hotels with toiletries provided. Longer if the hotel has a self service laundry. It's really dependant on so many variables.

jeebus

Checking luggage in the past has led to:
1. Broken luggage
2. Lost luggage for a month
3. Stolen camera out of family member's luggage

For all these reasons I just never do it willingly and would prefer to pack light and drag my bags for as long as I have to, despite some of the benefits others have pointed out.

MANman

I never normally check a bag, so last time I did on a flight to SZX. At the end of the long walk I waltzed through security and almost made it to the car park before I remembered.
What a complicated hassle to find the un-signposted return-to-airside channel that the staff use and then negotiate my way back through. Fortunately my 24kg bag was still on the conveyor.

kingstontoon

Regardless of trip length / destination, I never check a bag. Haven't for years. My correct hand luggage sized rucksack is comfortable being carried over my shoulder, even stuffed for a 3 week trip down under. Because it fits, it goes on with me, since then there's no need to stand in a check-in line, wait for it to come out the other end and / or worse still for it to get lost on the way.

If I had to check a bag, I'd then need a second small bag for "essentials" on the way or in the event of the bag getting lost. And if I was carting so much stuff around that it would only fit in a checked wheelie suitcase, I'd be annoyed having it slow me down as it bumps over uneven pavements in Bangkok or having to pick it up to carry it up and down stairs in Santiago.

Hand luggage only forces you to only take the things you really need, and with the correct bag, keeps you moving quickly. But this is me... I understand not everyone has the flexibility I do.

televisor

I did this at SFO on a domestic (in fact I was already a few stops away on the BART before I realised) - this is the one case where I'm happy about the carousels being publicly accessible, no hassle at all to go pick it up.


Usually I don't check, just because I can fit enough clothing for my trips in a backpack, seeing as I wear comfortable/casual all the time. For foreign countries with variable weather I do check bags though. All my valuables and important items still stay with me, putting any kind of expensive/irreplaceable items in there is just asking for trouble.

ft101

If it gets lost or stolen it gets replaced by the airline or the insurance. I'm not carrying anything I don't have to around the airport when there are other people/organisations willing to do it for me.

If the "x" minutes lost or gained at check in or bag pick up was important I would have got an earlier flight or arranged other timings differently. More folk need to relax - there's usually no need to hurry.

JustAnotherTraveler

Honestly with me it has nothing to do about travel sophistication etc... It's IROPS.

This year alone I would have been stuck overnight 4 times in the wrong city due to various IROPS (two weather and two mechanical issues) if I had checked bags. Since I was hauling them with me it's much easier to negotiate alternate routes.

Of lesser concern is the damage factor:

Out of approximately 200 segments in the past two years I've checked a bag 4 times on vacations with the wife (not counting gate checks due to smaller planes). Out of those 4 times my carrier managed to crush an entire corner of my bag (Briggs and Riley) completely - tossed from the plane hold to the ground? On another flight (FCO - CLT) baggage handling decided I had too many zippers on my bag and kindly removed one for me (not just the pull piece - the whole zipper) .

My views may change over time but for my peace of mind I'll hold onto my bags thanks.

AB Flyer

Flying domestic (US), this is my typical experience. Waiting for checked bags adds 15-30 minutes on arrival, particularly if I have a preferred seat near the front of the plane.

Most of my travel is 3-5 days and what I need fits comfortably in a small suitcase and often a backpack will do. Skipping check in and baggage claim makes up for having to "drag" the bag through the airport.

turnleftbrighteyes

I check bags all the time, for many of the reasons mentioned above, but primarily because I'm happy to let the airline do the heavy lifting. I hate the scrum for overhead bin space, even in domestic first. I try to avoid checking bags when flying AA, at least domestically, because their baggage delivery is generally awful, but otherwise I'm happy to see my bags on the other side (or collect the delayed bag comp from my credit card.)

However, the bags I check are generally not heavy, or big. I always check my Tom Bihn Aeronaut 45, which, because I am extremely good at packing a lot into a small space, often is around 25-28 lbs, so more than I want to schlep through an airport when I could just have a light bag. I recently checked a Red Oxx XS Aviator, because why not? I could unload a bunch of books, and I have full faith in that little bag surviving whatever. I recently bought a teeny tiny Rimowa (15 x 15 x 7 in. trolley-- it is adorable), and I totally plan on checking that, probably with booze and skincare containers larger than 3.5 oz. I can't wait!