Calculating the benefits of carry-on only
I've been playing around a little bit with some linear equations looking at when to go carry-on vs. checked luggage
Variables I'm considering include:
1. Average time to clear customs with carry-on only
2. Average time to clear customs after picking up bags
3. Actual trip (flight) duration (to calculate the wasted time as a percentage of travel)
4. Actual trip (holiday/overall trip duration (to calculate the wasted time as a percentage of trip)
Those are all pretty basic, but they're basically focused on the time cost of checked luggage
Considering the benefits, I see them primarily as reducing the need for specific tasks at a destination i.e. laundry, shopping, pharmacy visits etc. Does anybody have some thoughts about the best way to consider this? I imagine some are discrete rather than continuous i.e. if your carry-on can carry 6 days clothes, and your trip is 6 days, you aren't avoiding any of the benefits of checked luggage, but if your trip was 12 days you'd have to weigh the time to do laundry against the time in the airport.
What do you guys think?
So, brainstorm the things I need to consider, and if I can make my spreadsheets do some work, I may come up with something (primarily for my own curiosity, but it may be a good decision-tool!)