Everything You Need to Know About Checked Baggage and Carry-On Baggage

Nov 27, 2019

It may have often happened with frequent travelers. All of them must have faced the difficulty of whether to carry the carry-on bag or checked baggage. Obviously, all of us are looking for bags which are easy and convenient.

Basically, we look forward to carrying a light check-in bag without the risk of paying extra for our travel requirements.

There are a lot of things which needs to be checked properly to ensure that everything is maintained in proper condition.

There are usually two factors time and money. These have an impact on your decision of whether to carry the hand baggage or check-in baggage.

Did you know ?

You may have the right to compensation for flight cancellations without prior notice of at least 14 days under the EU Regulation 261/2004.

What is carry on bag?

carry on bags
The carry on luggage refers to one of those types of luggage what you can take on the plane.

Carry on luggage may have different rules based on the country or airline you are flying with. They may also be referred to as cabin luggage or hand baggage.

All the airplanes have their specific compartments which allow them to put carry-on luggage.

It must fit in the overhead storage bin. Some small items such as a laptop bag you may put under the seat in front of you.

Nonetheless, the other type, the checked baggage is usually sent out on a cargo area.

Benefits of using carry on bags

The carry on luggage is not only easy to use but extremely light too. This, however, gives you the freedom to travel without the need for extensive worrying.

However, all airlines have different baggage allowance policies. You must check their baggage policy for weight and size allowance.

Some of the prominent benefits of using a carry on baggage include the following.

  • It is stress-free
  • In the case of checked baggage, people are usually worried if their bag was on the same plane as them or not. However, in the case of carry-on luggage, you are pretty sure that the baggage is along with you.

  • You can move freely
  • There may be situations in which you are uncomfortable in your position with your bag. Thus, you can move freely with your bags.

    You can, however, choose to do it very easily with the carry on luggage. This is because you will be able to travel easily and when you need to move, you can easily carry it.

    If your bag doesn’t have a strap, you do not need to worry about it. Also, it has spinner wheels which makes moving around easy.

  • Fast arrivals at the airport
  • Your bag will be there with you so you don’t need to worry about when it will be reaching to you. No need to wait to collect your checked luggage.

  • Simple packing
  • Your hand baggage may not have an extensive space, but you can fit all your necessary travel requirements. Which may even fit under the seat.

    If you find that there isn’t enough space, these do have some zipper pockets for your excess baggage

  • You will save the charges
  • The carry on bags is duty-free. The airlines have gradually started to impose a charge on all the important sectors. But with the carry on luggage, you do not need to pay any extra charges.

  • Musical Instruments
  • You may carry a guitar or other small musical instruments on board as part of your carry-on baggage allowance. The instrument must be placed in a hard case.

You are also allowed to bring a jacket, a reading book, camera, merchandise, food, diaper bag in addition to your one carry bag.

When can you travel with carry-on bags?

There are usually three best scenarios where the case of carrying on luggage perfectly fits. These include.

Visiting a hot place: In this case, you can pack a lot and your carry on items will be more, due to the lighter weight. You can pack in all your personal items.

Busy trip: If you have to visit one place to another quite frequently, traveling with light items is the best option for you. Therefore, in such cases, the carry on luggage prove to be the ideal choice.

What are the cons of having carry-on luggage?

While benefits may seem to fascinate you, there are certain factors which are totally against the concept of carry-on luggage. Some of these include.

  • Extremely limited wardrobe
  • You won’t have the freedom to carry everything you want. It is like you will either be under dressed or overdressed. You will have to think a lot before purchasing any dress while traveling.

  • No space for winter clothes
  • If you are traveling during winters, getting all your clothes in the bag can seem to be very very tough. The choice is pretty limited regarding the winter clothes packing

  • Continuous wash clothes
  • Since you will have a limited wardrobe, you will need to keep washing your clothes frequently.

  • Size requirements
  • You need to check with the carry on size before actually determining, what to pack?
    As per the carry on luggage rules, the size is usually 22 inches x 14 inches x 9 inches (22 cm x 35 cm x 56 cm) and you can carry in general 7 kgs.

  • No space in the overhead bins
  • Since a lot of people will be traveling with you, there are chances of not enough space being available on the overhead bins. Sometimes, the flight attendants may warn you too about this.

Checked baggage

Checked baggage
Checked baggage is delivered to an airline for transportation (in the cargo area).

Checked baggage is inaccessible to the passenger during the flight.

You must check your bag before departing to any destination can help you understand, What you need to carry, and How much?

However, you will need to wait at the airport for your checked bags to arrive.

Benefits of Checked Baggage

Although the carry on luggage has a lot of disadvantages, the checked luggage in some cases does help to cover for it.

What you want to travel with is totally a matter of personal choice. Some of the usual benefits of traveling with checked baggage include the following:

  • No stress during check-in
  • You don’t need to worry about the weight of your luggage while check-in. You can easily place it and check if the size and weight are up to the requirements. This leads to lesser trouble.

  • You can pack anything
  • While you may have to limit your packing with the carry on luggage, you necessarily don’t need to do the same with your checked baggage. You can carry whatever you want and in some cases add excess baggage (but you may have to pay for those) for better convenience.

  • Packing is easy
  • You can organize and arrange all your necessary travel requirements in the checked baggage without the fear of traveling with extra.

  • When should you travel with checked luggage?
  • You should prefer traveling with checked luggage when you want to purchase souvenirs when you’re traveling across multiple climatic zones.

    Apart from it, you should also travel with the checked bags when you have a lot of electronics to carry with you.

Conclusion

As per the experts, one should prefer traveling with carrying on luggage since there will be very few chances of the bag being displaced. However, if you’re looking forward to carrying excess travel luggage, then checked baggage would be the best option for you. Nonetheless, you will be required to pay some extra charges for it.

Sachin Suryawanshi

Sachin Suryawanshi

Digital Marketing Consultant

Sachin Suryawanshi is Digital Marketing Consultant at Claim Flights. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Information Technology. He loves to explore new places and learn new things.

If your flight delays for more than 3 hours, or was canceled, you may be eligible for compensation up to €600 based on EU 261 rule.

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