Do you weigh your luggage??

[dbhome]

I just measured my luggage (it passed) and began to pack. I'm really trying to keep it light. Do you actually weigh your luggage? I've travelled for years under the old guidelines and had a pretty good feel for what a bag should weigh. Problem is, we have big bags - close to the size limit and if we pack them full, they are sure to be overweight. Any tips, tricks etc. out there? I'm thinking of taking my packed bags to my local grocery store where they have a giant scale in the lobby. I don't want to be ridiculous but it would be a bummer to get to the airport and be charged a lot for an overweight bag. From what I read, it's cheaper just to pay for an extra bag.

[xangav]

We too have bags that are at the outer limit. If we wanted we could easily go over 50 lbs. We do weigh ours at home on our scale and try to stay a couple of pounds under in case the airport scale isn't as generous. It has worked well so far. Good Luck!

[sparky-elpaso]

I got a luggage scale at our local travel store - $10 and I can take it with me so we don't run into any problems coming home.

[PennyAgain]

I always pack the same stuff in the same checked bag. On a recent series of flights it weighed in at 29 pounds, 33 pounds, 41 pounds and 39 pounds.

 

The same bag with the same stuff!

 

The airline scales are very faulty! Not legal weights at all.

 

There is no way my bag could have weighed 41 pounds because I can't carry that much. I believe that the 29 pounds is a pretty honest weight for this bag as I have traveled with it for a long while.

 

Be prepared for this at the airports!

[dbhome]

Here's a question - I probably need to just call Northwest, but it's so much easier to just type a quick question here as opposed to staying on hold for 30 minutes. My husband is Gold Elite status on NWA. We got notice that he (not me) can still check 2 bags. We booked our flight through NWA using frequent flier miles. Problem is, the first flight is on Delta, a NWA partner. I'm wondering if he can still check 2 bags. Does anyone have any experience with this?

[JC in CA]

We always weigh our big bags. Especially the on our 19 year old uses!

Point of intrest- on our cruise to Alaska out of Vancouver- on the way home- the bags are not weighed- at least not in your sight. When you check in at the airline desk- you get luggage tags- and then you take the bags with you. Once you go through customs- or perhaps it is right before- you, personally, put it on a luggage conveyer belt.

 

I don't know what if the bags are weighed after that or not. Has anyone every gotten a bill after the fact when going through Vancouver?

-JC in CA

[PennyAgain]

In Vancouver your bags are weighed on that belt. Been there. Done that! There is a guage showing the weight that the checker can see.

[vbmom87]

We did get a luggage scale and weighed them. It was very accurate with the NWA scale at the airport. In reality, after all you are paying for a trip to Alaska, $25 for an overweight bag or an extra bag is a spit in the bucket. However, lugging a bag that weighs over 50 pounds is just way too heavy. Originally I really didn't care about paying the extra. However, the first time I weighed my suitcase it came in at over 50 pounds. Picking it up with the luggage scale caused me to put my back out. That was not fun the day before we were leaving. Anyway, we brought out our smaller suitcases and just started getting rid of things we had packed in the larger ones. We got our smaller suitcases down to about 40 pounds. That was still heavy, but much easier to manage than the larger suitcases at over 50 pounds.

[MeadMkr]

I don't worry about mine but I always weigh DW and DD... Mine is almost always 15# or more under the limit since I used the smaller of the 4 suitcases we have:D

 

Cheers

Chris in VA

[dbhome]

Talked with the airline, and while DH gets an extra bag on Northwest - no go on the partner airline - Delta. Delta's charges: extra bag - $25; overweight bag - $80; oversize bag - $150. If you check an extra bag that is overweight and oversize it states that they can charge you all three fines. It looks like keeping bags within the size requirements and checking an exra bag if needed is the cheapest way to go on Delta.

[COJOMAY]

Here's a question - I probably need to just call Northwest, but it's so much easier to just type a quick question here as opposed to staying on hold for 30 minutes. My husband is Gold Elite status on NWA. We got notice that he (not me) can still check 2 bags. We booked our flight through NWA using frequent flier miles. Problem is, the first flight is on Delta, a NWA partner. I'm wondering if he can still check 2 bags. Does anyone have any experience with this?

 

I still think you should call NWA and get a ruling. As far as I know they are more than partners. NW owns Delta I believe.

[SEPyle]

We bought a great little luggage scale at Radio Shack which cost well under $5! I weighed a 10 pound bag of potatoes and the weight is very accurate.

 

If what PennyAgain said is true with the scales at the airport not being accurate, is a bit scarry. I must say I wouldn't be a happy camper.

It's not really about paying extra; enough is enough with the airlines!:confused: I will have my little scale with me, just in case. I understand about fuel costs and all; that's why I'm limiting my luggage.

 

I will say I have bought new smaller and lighter luggage. I really don't think I will have to worry about going over the weight limit. My challenge is deciding what to take. I have made a wardrobe list; mixing and matching outfits, and listing what I'll wear day by day. I'm factoring casual clothes for each day of our 10 night independent land tour. For the cruise I'm also listing day by day, both daytime and what I'll wear each night. Today I found a really good bargain, and I came home and took something off my existing list. I call myself a reformed overpacker and will enjoy not lugging around all the bulk I have taken on cruises past. Ummm, I know I sound quite compulsive, but not really. I know how much extra I always back and this is my way of not taking more than I need! I will also add that I'm glad we'll have access to the laundry room on Holland America's Volendam!

 

Oh yes, one last thought...this won't help with weigth, but I've also purchased the plastic bags at WalMart that you can roll and squeeze the air out. That will help with my new suitcase. Actually it's smaller, but is very efficient.

[mousey]

My SIL gave the DH one of those small luggage weigher thingys. When we weigh our luggage we always make sure that our luggage doesn't weigh over 45 lbs., to make up for any difference between our weight and the scale at the airport. We almost always check our luggage at the curb, so they rarely weigh it. We have gotten our luggage back at the end of the flight with stickers on it that says our luggage was overweight, but we have never been charged for it.:eek: Anyway, I always travel with an extra, lightweight, nylon duffle bag, so if I'm overweight (which I have been once or twice, before we got the luggage thingy), I just pull it out and start stuffing stuff in it until the other bag is okay!:D Ever since 9/11 the airlines have been using it as an excuse to nickle and dime ya to death! I think one day its going to come back and bite them in the tush!:eek: I know we try to avoid flying anymore, if we can. Unfortunately its a necessary evil as we live on the West Coast and have family on the East Coast. We travel back to see the folks twice a year. I used to love flying... now I actually hate it!!!:eek: As I mentioned on another thread, the last two years we have specfically taken curises that leave out of the West Coast, so we don't have to fly. We'll also be taking a lot more road trips! California is great for that!

[baron45]

Easiest way to get luggage weight is to get on a regular bathroom scale and weigh yourself. Then grab the suitcase and look at the weight on the scale. Now just subtract your own weight.

[mytime53]

Always!!! We usually take extended trips with several destinations with varying weather--usually everything from warm/hot desert or jungle to cold/snow/rain. Makes bringing home souvenirs challenging sometimes!

[Grego]

Easiest way to get luggage weight is to get on a regular bathroom scale and weigh yourself. Then grab the suitcase and look at the weight on the scale. Now just subtract your own weight.

 

Where do you pack your scale for the return trip? Buy one of the inexpensive hand held travel store scales that you can easily pack to take with you and keep the suitcase weight under 45# to allow for any issues with the airports weighing system.

[dbhome]

In the past, this has been one of the reasons I like to check bags curbside. It's cheaper to tip the curbside guy nicely than to pay for overweight baggage - and for some reason it just feels better too! With today's new rules, I'm not sure if the curbside guys are stricter too or not.

[bkw67]

We just got back yesterday morning from Anchorage. At the United gates there was a scale outside the checkin area where you could weigh your bags. We were a little heavy on one and re-distributed before we got to the 'official' scales.

 

Just and FYI, we came home with close to 25 pounds more than we came up with. :eek:

[PennyAgain]

I don't have the nerve to hold up a $10 scale in a dispute with an airline check in person! One of the Dallas tv stations did a consumer segment about the lack of accuracy of airline scales. Curiously there is no government regulation of these scales. It's not like the scale in the meat dept in the grocery store. Honest measure!

 

With overweight charges being what they are, that is high, I will fuss if there is a situation where my reliable luggage is said to be over 50 pounds.

 

One check in person told me it made a difference if the bag was standing upright or was on its side. How can that be?

[inkmahm]

I still think you should call NWA and get a ruling. As far as I know they are more than partners. NW owns Delta I believe.

It's the other way around, Delta won and the headquarters for Delta/NW are moving to Atlanta as a combined airline.

 

As for weighing luggage, we weigh it at home on our scale just to be sure because I tend to carry bottled water with me on the outbound trip and that adds weight. On the way back, we have a hand held scale that we just bought to start taking with us. For Vancouver though, I know the hotel we are staying at has scales in their bathroom so we won't have to take the hand held scale with us.

[cardfans]

We also bought an inexpensive luggage scale from Magellan's before our Alaska trip. It came in very handy. My DH had to be sure to not jerk the luggage when he lifted it with the scale or the weight would be higher. Our scale said about 48 lbs and we passed with no problem at all airports. It was invaluable on the way home. My sister and brother in law used it to check their bags and they would have been over on the largest one, so they moved some stuff. I would much rather be rearranging my bags in a hotel room than in the airport.

[cruise junky joan]

We asked the concierge, i'm sure that's spelled wrong, about weighing our luggage in the gym in vancouver and they sent a bathroom scale to our room. this would have been great but it read a different amount each time. It's a pain in the butt, however I would think the dog scale at your vet's would be great for luggage.

[Nana4x]

I don't have the nerve to hold up a $10 scale in a dispute with an airline check in person! One of the Dallas tv stations did a consumer segment about the lack of accuracy of airline scales. Curiously there is no government regulation of these scales. It's not like the scale in the meat dept in the grocery store. Honest measure!

 

Our scale was under $30 at Amazon dot com.

We packed our large bags to around 48.5 lbs. The bags are so big that I had to add a garbage bag full of foam packing peanuts to keep the clothes from shifting around. I wrote the weight of each suitcase on the identification tags. The airline weight was nearly identical.

 

I would have no qualms about whipping out my scale and showing the airline employee the "correct" weight. After all it's $25 to $100 per suitcase times going and coming. I'll pay for the extra weight if needed - but I'll be sure to put forth a good effort if I feel that my suitcase is NOT over weight.

[iowa cruiseman]

Hi

Hey on the way home just go the work out center

!!!!!!!!!!