A Guide to Carry-On Luggage Strategy

Many a business traveler knows that one of the true secrets to traveling efficiently by air is to never, ever check your luggage. Avoiding checking luggage not only means you can’t lose your luggage, but it also means time savings of up to an hour on each side of your trip, by not having to wait online either to check luggage or to retrieve it. And let’s face it, any time not spent in an airport is better time.

To save time by not checking luggage on flights you need to know the carry-on rules and how to pack.

1. Find out the carry-on dimensions for the airline you are flying. Despite what you hear, there are not the same for all airlines. The best way to do this is to check airline websites. Note that carry-on rules can often differ from short, local flights to cross country and transcontinental flights.

2. Once you know the dimensions allowed for carry-on, make sure you have a bag or suitcase that is smaller, not equal, to these dimensions. Why? Because there is a “test cage” that you may have to place your carry-on into before you get on the plane – if your carry-on is the same size as the cage and refuses to fit, you’ll have to check your bag.

3. Don’t over pack! The idea here is not to stuff as much as possible into a small carry-on bag. Doing so may cause the bag to exceed the carry-on limits. Bring only what is necessary to your meeting and grooming. Consider hotel laundry services so as not to bring more clothes than necessary.

4. Know how many carry-on bags you can have. This requires understanding whether only a carry-on is allowed, or if one can also add a purse or briefcase and/or a laptop case. Yes, frequently you can get some flexibility when it comes to small items like purses and so forth, but that is increasingly difficult in an age of heightened security and increasingly crowded planes. My experience is Continental and Delta tend to be flexible about carry-on luggage and other airlines do not.

5. What about delicate objects? I frequently travel with computer equipment and/or musical instruments that are fragile and don’t fit in carry-on, but I am afraid to check. Call ahead and explain this to the airline, and ask if you can “check at the gate”. Generally if you carry these items with you up to the gate, a flight attendant will place them in a closet at the front of the plane – they are safer there and you can pick them up immediately as you de-plane. Guitars, for the record, do fit in most overhead bins, and if you’re very nice flight attendants will allow you to place them up there on flights that are not full. If you must travel with delicate, bulky objects, fly at unpopular hours for this reason.

Good luck and have a great trip!