Calculating the benefits of carry-on only
#106
Join Date: Sep 2005
Programs: UA Million Miler
Posts: 1,358
Curious that such a question could elicit a long thread. OK maybe not.
I find the time at the baggage carousel to be low productivity time. You don't know how long it will be though hopefully not too long. Often standing among lots of people. When luggage comes out you are looking at the bags. It is not pleasant and far from comparing to time at a Starbucks or equivalent. It is mostly a write-off and to be avoided.
I've never lost a checked bag though maybe 20 times in my lifetime the bag did not arrive on my flight and was later delivered by a courier I think always within 24 hours.
I've lost a couple of things in checked bag though nothing too valuable though once a gift item ($10 value) was missing in the checked bag.
My clothes tends to be expensive (e.g., a suit costs about $2000) so while it would have little resale/market value (not much of a target for stealing) it is highly valuable to me. Losing it would be painful and not an item that you can just pick up at the mall at the last minute.
I find the time at the baggage carousel to be low productivity time. You don't know how long it will be though hopefully not too long. Often standing among lots of people. When luggage comes out you are looking at the bags. It is not pleasant and far from comparing to time at a Starbucks or equivalent. It is mostly a write-off and to be avoided.
I've never lost a checked bag though maybe 20 times in my lifetime the bag did not arrive on my flight and was later delivered by a courier I think always within 24 hours.
I've lost a couple of things in checked bag though nothing too valuable though once a gift item ($10 value) was missing in the checked bag.
My clothes tends to be expensive (e.g., a suit costs about $2000) so while it would have little resale/market value (not much of a target for stealing) it is highly valuable to me. Losing it would be painful and not an item that you can just pick up at the mall at the last minute.
#107
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Southern California
Programs: AA EXPlat, 2.4MM; HHonors Diamond
Posts: 580
#108
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: SJC/SFO
Programs: WN A+ CP, UA 1MM/*A Gold, Mar LT Tit, IHG Plat, HH Dia
Posts: 6,285
Time waiting for bags is sometimes overlapped by time waiting in queue for passport control. Generally I'm more willing to check a bag on a foreign trip because by the time I clear passport control my bag is already on the conveyor belt or is just arriving. Of course, this is not true traveling between countries in the Schengen zone, nor has it been true of my arrivals home since enrolling in US Global Entry a few years ago.
#109
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 167
Spending 10 minutes on email while waiting for your bag is no different than doing the same at a Starbucks.
When you started this thread, you posed the issue as a question, giving me the impression that you were genuinely interested in feedback. However, it's increasingly apparent that you have strong views, which you were hoping the forum would validate.
When you started this thread, you posed the issue as a question, giving me the impression that you were genuinely interested in feedback. However, it's increasingly apparent that you have strong views, which you were hoping the forum would validate.
I have no preference either way, but I refuse to let someone completely invalidate a core principle of this sort of analysis, that time saved is value gained.
There are people here saying that avoiding time at a luggage carousel is irrelevant.
This basic truth is fundamental to so many policy decisions. Time is indeed money. Or, more correctly, time is utility, which can be analogised as money.
Sometimes, carry-on saves time. And yes, sometimes checked luggage gets lost. But a sober analysis compares the 100% probability of various time effects and the almost infinitesimal chance of luggage being lost.
#111
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Prince Edward Island
Programs: Air Canada P25K, Hilton Honors Gold, Marriott Gold, MGM Gold
Posts: 1,582
You are not only saving time by not checking a bag but you are also saving the checked bag fee that many airlines now charge. I think that's a prime motivating factor as many people don't mind spending an extra half-hour at the carousel because they view that as an acceptable cost for the convenience of packing extra luggage and having someone else handle it. However, many of the same people aren't willing to pay the airline $35/bag for the same convenience.
#112
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: SJC/SFO
Programs: WN A+ CP, UA 1MM/*A Gold, Mar LT Tit, IHG Plat, HH Dia
Posts: 6,285
It's also unclear whether that figure counts only bags that are truly lost (i.e., never delivered) or includes bags that are delivered hours or days later. Personally, I've never had a bag lost-lost but I have experienced delayed delivery a few times. From experience I can tell you that it's a real drag on my productivity/enjoyment during the trip -- and that's even with me carefully packing into a carry-on high-value items (laptops, cameras, etc.) and anything I expect to need in the first 24 hours.
#113
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 9,307
I have no preference either way, but I refuse to let someone completely invalidate a core principle of this sort of analysis, that time saved is value gained.
There are people here saying that avoiding time at a luggage carousel is irrelevant.
This basic truth is fundamental to so many policy decisions. Time is indeed money. Or, more correctly, time is utility, which can be analogised as money.
There are people here saying that avoiding time at a luggage carousel is irrelevant.
This basic truth is fundamental to so many policy decisions. Time is indeed money. Or, more correctly, time is utility, which can be analogised as money.
#114
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 42,033
While I think it's cool -- admirable, even -- that the OP took this challenge upon himself, his 3 variable approach simply doesn't reflect the complete picture.
In my case, there is NO benefit to schlepping my bag 1.6 km from check-in to gate at SZX just so I can escape SHA 3 minutes faster.
#115
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 56
Lost is not an issue for me, it happens infrequently enough as to not be much of a hastle, it's the theft and rifling that bother me the most, even if items are not stolen it is an invasion of privacy when an an unauthorized search is done (TSA would be authorized), no good statistics exists but based on my personal records 80%+ of my bags have had thier zipper opened not by TSA (I do not count events where a TSA note is left)..
#116
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: VPS
Programs: IHG Diamond, Delta PM, Hilton Gold, Accor Gold, Marriott Silver
Posts: 7,268
I fly Delta primarily, mostly domestic, between 135 and 180 segments per year for the last 4 years. I check either one or two bags every trip and have traveled to, from, or through 64 different airports in that time. My bag has been "lost" one time, when it failed to make a connection in DTW. I picked it up the next morning at MHT because I was staying right next to the airport and it was quicker than waiting for delivery. Looking at my most recent records, Delta has missed their "bags on time guarantee" (20 minutes) 10 times in the last 12 months. Of those 10, only one was greater than 30 minutes - and that was the one that was 'lost'.
Delta's 20 minute guarantee starts from when the door opens at arrival, so a portion of that time is consumed while I get myself to the baggage carousel. It is extremely rare that I would wait more than 5 or 10 minutes.
#117
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: SJC/SFO
Programs: WN A+ CP, UA 1MM/*A Gold, Mar LT Tit, IHG Plat, HH Dia
Posts: 6,285
Lost is not an issue for me, it happens infrequently enough as to not be much of a hastle, it's the theft and rifling that bother me the most, even if items are not stolen it is an invasion of privacy when an an unauthorized search is done (TSA would be authorized), no good statistics exists but based on my personal records 80%+ of my bags have had thier zipper opened not by TSA (I do not count events where a TSA note is left)..
#118
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 42,033
#119
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 56
I use metal hvac tape on the inside in 3 places, as I am zippering closed I carefully reach in and place the tape, when I open it, I carefully check the state of the tape. I have tested such a setup by throwing the bag from a great height, dragging it behind my car and jumping on it like the samsonite gorilla...the tape always remained enmeshed in the zipper hidden from view...if the tape has been disturbed, someone without question opened the bag.
#120
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Kitchener, ON, Canada
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 1,266