Airlines once incentivised people to bring a cabin bag on board a flight. Not having to put on so many hold bags saved time, the reduced weight saved money, and having passengers do it themselves seemed logical.
This was so successful that airlines found they were running out of overhead space. Cue an about face and airlines began charging to bring bags into the cabin, usually wrapped up in a “Priority Boarding plus Cabin Baggage” type deal.
Do You Really Need To Bring A Cabin Bag?
Have you ever watched people from your seat during boarding? It’s pretty eye opening seeing just how many people bring a huge amount of their belongings with them into the cabin. It’s not uncommon to see people pulling along the largest bag they can get away with, for starters. These often also have the ubiquitous signature of the economy class passenger wrapped around it, the travel pillow.
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- You’ll often see these wrapped around a cabin bag during boarding.
Also, there will be come kind of handbag or small shoulder bag for placing under the seat in front. Do you really need to bring a cabin bag on board? How much of this stuff do you need on the flight? I’d wager virtually none of it is relevant for the flight, even on long transpacific services or flights from Europe to Australia.
Pack Light, Be Happy
If you are bringing a checked bag anyway, why bother having cabin baggage at all? When I fly long haul, I pack everything into the big bag that goes into the cargo hold. It makes sense, because I am not going to need things like shoes, extra clothes and all the rest of it on an eight hour flight.
Instead, I bring a messenger bag on board, slung over my shoulder. Inside are the essentials, such as my house keys, wallet, a phone charger, my Passport, and any medication I might need.
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- A simple and easy to carry messenger bag.
When flying down to Australia, I also include a toothbrush, razor and travel sized toothpaste, mouthwash, shaving cream, deodorant and moisturiser. I need these at the stopover point when I have a shower in the lounge. Most of the time I will also include a change of underwear and socks, plus a different t-shirt. All of this fits into a messenger bag very easily.
Having just a small bag slung over your shoulder is a game changer at the airport. There is nothing to pull along after you, the shoulder bag weighs virtually nothing, it’s simple to get through security screening, and there’s always room for it on the aircraft. Why would you bother bringing a big wheely bag packed to the brim, when you can just avoid it?
Overall Thoughts
Bring a cabin bag on board the flight if you must. However, now you know that you can pretty much make your trip a far easier experience by not doing that.
For me, I flip flop between bringing one and not bringing one. That is down to the duration of the trip itself, or whether or not I am bringing a hold bag. Either way, packing light is the way forward. I found over the years that I would often not use various things I brought with me, so now I no longer pack them.
What say you? Are you a carry on bag type or a checked bag type? Do you have any advice? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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100% disagree. On long trips I’ll check a bag and bring a smaller roller in the cabin. In that cabin bag there will be at least one full change of clothes as well as essential toiletries and necessities. This is very wise as if the bag left behind or lost, you’ll at least have a change of clothes. I was on a flight to London that originated from the US with two connections. The bag never left the origin airport. It wasn’t mine, but my travel companion. He was without his bag for two full days. Fast forward to the… Read more »
I’ve had my bags go missing three times over the years, so I completely understand the missing bag pain. One was gone for nineteen days, the other times three to five days, so I totally understand it. It has always been found and has come back to me. I have no need to bring an extra outfit because my travel insurance gives me €75 per day to buy replacements if the bag goes AWOL. I also have a case with hard sides these days, but with my old soft bag I never had a water ingress issue as the bag… Read more »
I would prefer not to wait for my baggage at the carousel, which sometimes can be quite lengthy. Sometimes only to find that the bag did not arrive at the destination with me in the first place.
It really depends on the airport, as some are really very fast at getting your bags to you, while others are unbelievably slow. I like the Alaska Airlines guarantee – bags on the carousel within 20 minutes of arrival or else you get frequent flyer miles etc as compensation. I quite like that!
Having my bag with me in the cabin reduces that wait time to zero across all airports. Yes, if airlines had a steeper penalty for the failure to produce luggage within a set and clearly articulated period of time, it could shift behavior.
I completely agree with you. Especially when I am arriving at my home airport, all I want to do is get home, so having a cabin bag means I can head straight for my ground transport with no waiting. Yes, I think 20 minutes is reasonable, as you might have five minutes or so walking to baggage claim and a 10 minute wait there is really the most anyone should be subjected to. I’ve waited over an hour before in the USA and it’s incredibly frustrating.
If I am traveling with camera equipment I always have a carry on bag. Just can’t afford to check valuable and fragile equipment.
That’s completely understandable. Considering one baggage handler nickname is “bag smashers”, you’re right to do that. No way I’d take the risk with equipment like that.
My experience is to never rely on the airlines when flying to Alaska or Canada. In three trips one or more of the checked bags in our family has been delayed by up to 4 days. The airline had to follow our iteniary to finally get the bag to us (cudos to the airline). As a result I travel with one limited change of clothes in my cabin bag and the rest distributed amongst my and my wifes checked luggage.
Sounds like you’ve had some really bad luck there. Thanks for the heads up, it’s good to know when there are certain flights or countries where the chances of a bag being delayed are higher. Thank you for that!
My carry on is for medication, jewelry, swimsuit, 1 extra outfit (if my checked luggage gets lost) toiletries to get me thru a few days. My personal item holds cellphone, tablet, chargers, book, water bottle, snack, small pocketbook, money and travel documents. I wouldn’t feel comfortable without this stuff. Nor would I feel comfortable packing any valuables in checked luggage.
That all makes sense, and is quite smart all round really. Completely agree on valuables in checked luggage. The rule should be never to pack anything there that you would be unhappy to permanently lose. The one that gets me a lot is people packing medication in checked luggage, and then the bag going missing. You should never pack it in a hold bag, it should always go with you, just in case the bag is lost. Thanks for the comment!
They can lose it if you don’t chech it
Indeed!
I think you mean they CAN’T lose it out you don’t check it!
I wish more people would take advantage of airlines that offer free checked bags like Southwest and actually check their big roller bags. I feel like I’m being punished for coming prepared with a small messenger or tablet sized backpack that they always want me to place under the seat taking up my legroom when it’s the only bag I brought aboard. If everyone had that sized bag or even no carryons like I see in Japan, we wouldn’t have the issue with overhead space that I frequently see in the US. I normally check a bag, both domestic and… Read more »
It’s fantastic that Southwest still offers free bags on all fares. It’s a really good selling point for them. I agree, I hate putting my bag under the seat in front, because then you can’t stretch your legs out properly or easily. Great points there, thanks for that!
A cabin bag? Do you mean a carry-on?
I’m sure you can work it out 🙂